R.E.M. Interview (2008)

[annikaluke99]

After 20 years, it's my reminisceing (and the death af a friend) of my R.E.M. days and going back and revisiting old R.E.M records (Murmor, Reckoning, Life's Rich Pageant, Fables) that has made me want to finally pick up my guitar and "try" to finally learn. Peter Buck is one of my heroes.

[annikaluke99]

"Murmur" is and will continue to be one of my favorite albums.

[truefaith00]

I can't believe they'd release a finished product like this. I've been a R.E.M. fan for so many years and find Accelerate a true return to form for the band, but the sound quality is horrendous. Whoever mastered the CD needs to get fired -- ASAP.

[kaliyuta]

i'm a little unnerved by the fact that they have said several times in this interview that they are almost ashamed of their previous work.At least that's my take on it.

[BarryBriercliffe]

@kaliyuta they are talking about the work they did after Bill Berry left 1998 onwards... they're not saying they are ashamed of the stuff they did from 1998 onwards, they are just saying it took them a long time to get used to working as a three piece without Bill and that Accelerate felt like they'd finally settled into being a 3 piece band.

[kaliyuta]

@BarryBriercliffe i get and understand and respect that point.however it seemed as though they were saying that Albums like Murmur,reckoning,and so on are a distant and far past that they dnt want to acknowledge or something.

[BarryBriercliffe]

@kaliyuta Judging from what Stipe says I don't think he's saying they are ashamed of their old work, I would say that they just didn't want to repeat themselves and wanted to keep developing and growing as a band and wanted a producer who would help them. Accelerate for me personally was the best album they've made since Up.

[codern]

i saw them in winnipeg 2004 i believe..and me and michael had a convo..in between songs i yell..."play find the river!!!!" stipe looks back at me and yells..."hey you!!! NO!!! " Man it was great!! :D

[ihavebig]

This interview could be cut down to 4 minutes without the fuckin MTV flashy graphics inbetween each question.

[Caraninaxo]

did they tour with the songs from accelerate?

and what countries did they go to?

[BarryBriercliffe]

yeah they toured the Accelerate album last year around Europe and America. I seen them in manchester in the UK last August.

[Caraninaxo]

GO ON TOUR!!!!!!!!!

:)♥ please!

[BarryBriercliffe]

They have just come off a tour haha. It will be a while now until they next tour, if they decide to carry on.

[ILoveMikeyStipey]

they will decide to carry on wont they? i hope they do i love them and i wanna go see them live!!!!

Ta for posting this by the way!

[BarryBriercliffe]

I hope they do too. will be interesting to see what they do next.

[ILoveMikeyStipey]

yeh, i hope they carry on along the lines of accelarate, that was a brilliant albulm!

[rem857]

@BarryBriercliffe A few weeks ago on REMHQ they showed two short clips of recording. Apparently, the new album will be in a way like Monster. Accelerate was like "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" But they are recording and now Stipe has a beard (not very thick but still there) and likes straw hats. Yup!

[BarryBriercliffe]

I've seen those videos, looks interesting that they're working with a brass section. Also Stipe's beard is brilliant, he looks too cool with that beard, he should keep it haha

[ToulacAxeHand]

Peter Buck and Mile Mills are recording new demos for a possible album. See the official R.E.M. website for details.

[ILoveMikeyStipey]

cool, i loved accelerate but i wish they would add in more of their key chords, they were kinda lacking in accelerate - the R.E.M. jangle was gone. Still amazing though.

[ToulacAxeHand]

Aye, I missed that as well.

But the fast-paced rock rythm from Peter Buck really accompanied Accelerate and it's mirroring of Bush's demise (which I think Michael Stipe was trying to put across).

What makes Accelerate special is that it's one of Stipe's first non-autobiographical albums since Automatic for the People. Asides from Hollow Man, the other songs are very much narrative.

[ILoveMikeyStipey]

yeah, accelerate was amazing for a variety of reasons, yet i still prefer the jangle of guitars that made them so orginal in the early days. Still, whatever they do im sure ill love it - allways do.

[haddingtonbb41]

why did rem lower their standard to give an interview to the dreadful radio 1?

accelerate is brill!!!!

[musicenthusiast86]

i think stipe has aged well,he has such intense energy

[Impostorzim]

Hey thanks a lot for putting this up for the rest of us.

[BarryBriercliffe]

you're very welcome :-D

[googlego]

3ks

[Compy01]

Pretty much every album in their catalogue is awesome in my opinion, the weakest they have done is Reveal and Around The Sun, still good albums and worth the money though ;)

[BarryBriercliffe]

Yeah i agree. Reveal has some good songs on it but doesn't work as an album same with Around The Sun. Each R.E.M. album is amazing in it's own way, here's to the next one :-D

[complicatedcarrot]

those MTV idents are really annoying.

plus...

..They've heard of French and Saunders??? wow

[remrule]

hey do you know if you van still get this video from o2?

[BarryBriercliffe]

it was only available to download to your phone for a week only.

[coolstuff2003ad]

REM aren't THAT good. They have like 4 really good songs-

Man On The Moon

Loosing My Religion

- and a couple others, but man, they've released some great.

[Lcacique]

WTF are you talking about?

All of their albums up to Green are full of great songs. Murmur is one of the greatest records of the 80s.

[BarryBriercliffe]

well said Murmur is a great album! Life's Rich Pagent is another great early R.E.M. album aswell. Automatic For The People, New Adventures In Hi-Fi, Up and Accelerate are all great albums aswell :-)

[Compy01]

Don't forget Out of Time, the greatest album of all time.

[BarryBriercliffe]

Your damn right! Out Of Time is amazing aswell, well said :-D

[BarryBriercliffe]

also lets not forget the amazing Monster album aswell :-D

[lunaberry]

i love Michael's voice. could listen to him all day!!

[BeginXtheXBegin]

So true.

[nicolexxxd]

Cool interview.

Thanks for posting this!

[xelesx]

Thanks for posting it!!!

[BarryBriercliffe]

your welcome :-)

[coolstuff2003ad]

Michael Stipe is begining to look like Patrick Stewart.