R.E.M. Call It A Day

[Kudzu Guillotine]

From REMhq.com:

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." R.E.M.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Wow. Kind of sad yet inevitable I suppose. One of the most influential bands of all time and one that meant a lot to me personally, especially in my twenties. Godspeed guys, you've done well.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Part of me is sad to hear this.

The rest of me is sad that I'm not sadder to hear this.

Thanks for the memories, guys.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

The fact that there was little to no promotion for Collapse Into Now, no tour and that their contract was up with Warner Brothers Records were all tell tale signs that the end may have very well have been nigh. It was. Glad I saw them at least a couple of times each on the past few tours.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

From RollingStone.com:

R.E.M. Break Up After Three Decades
Legendary rock band have 'called it a day'


Michael Stipe of REM performs during the Voodoo Experience Festival in New Orleans.
Sean Gardner/Getty Images

By MATTHEW PERPETUA
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 1:25 PM ET

R.E.M. have announced that they have broken up after 31 years together. "As lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band," the band said in a statement on their official website today. "We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished."

In just over three decades as a band, R.E.M. released 15 albums including landmark works such as Murmur, Reckoning, Document, Out of Time and Automatic For the People. The band's final album, Collapse Into Now, was released in March of this year. There were reports over the summer that the band had spent some time in an Athens studio, but it is unclear whether anything will come of that session.

[sactochris]

Part of me is sad to hear this.

The rest of me is sad that I'm not sadder to hear this.

Thanks for the memories, guys.

This!

[Gator McKlusky]

Wow! Like TC said a huge part of my early 20's (80's) but I haven't really cared for them since Document

[Cubfan06]

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night

The photograph on the dashboard taken years ago,
turned around backwards so the windshield shows.
Every street light reveals a picture in reverse
Still it's so much clearer

I forgot my shirt at the water's edge
The moon is low tonight

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I'm not sure all these people understand
It's not like years ago
The fear of getting caught
The recklessness in water
They cannot see me naked
These things they go away
Replaced by every day

Nightswimming,
remembering that night
September's coming soon
I'm pining for the moon
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit around the fairest sun?
The bright tide forever drawn
Could not describe nightswimming

You, I thought I knew you
You, I cannot judge
You, I thought you knew me
This one laughing quietly
Underneath my breath
Nightswimming

The photograph reflects
Every street light a reminder
Nightswimming
Deserves a quiet night
Deserves a quiet night

[kohoutek]

Part of me is sad to hear this.

The rest of me is sad that I'm not sadder to hear this.

Thanks for the memories, guys.

Weird. That expresses EXACTLY how I feel. I really don't like to say I have a favorite band (the importance of music to most of us is too abstract; it's not measurable), but no band better fits the cliche of having been the soundtrack to my life (wife feels the same way). I expected to be more devastated, but I think I feel a sense of closure.

I refuse to discredit their having stayed together after Bill left. I still think Up is one of their best albums, and their other post Berry albums have at least some enviably good songs on them. I am EXTREMELY glad they did not do any sort of farewell tour. There is nothing cheap or tawdry about how this happened. I feel like they were capable of more and maybe had another great album in them, and I thought they might do something interesting unencumbered by a record label. Ultimately, they must have decided that is not the case. As much as I'd have loved just one more show, this is for the best if it reflects what they feel and their capacity to work in this format any longer.

[Clams]

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night

The photograph on the dashboard taken years ago,
turned around backwards so the windshield shows.
Every street light reveals a picture in reverse
Still it's so much clearer

I forgot my shirt at the water's edge
The moon is low tonight

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I'm not sure all these people understand
It's not like years ago
The fear of getting caught
The recklessness in water
They cannot see me naked
These things they go away
Replaced by every day

Nightswimming,
remembering that night
September's coming soon
I'm pining for the moon
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit around the fairest sun?
The bright tide forever drawn
Could not describe nightswimming

You, I thought I knew you
You, I cannot judge
You, I thought you knew me
This one laughing quietly
Underneath my breath
Nightswimming

The photograph reflects
Every street light a reminder
Nightswimming
Deserves a quiet night
Deserves a quiet night

I was never a huge REM fan but that is one of my favorite songs of all time. I absolutely love how the last three on that record - Man on the Moon, Nightswimming and Find the River - flow into each other. Tremendous.

[dogstar]

They're probably the reason I'm here on this board. They were the first great American band I fell in love with and started me on the road that lead to the truckers. It's a sad day but I'm glad they've decided to call it a day rather than just slog on.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Since added to the story at HQ:

In their own words: The guys share their thoughts on why now.

MIKE

"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, 'what next'? Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together.

"We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this--there's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart. The time just feels right."

MICHAEL

"A wise man once said--'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it.

"I hope our fans realize this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way.

"We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years; our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It's been amazing."

PETER

"One of the things that was always so great about being in R.E.M. was the fact that the records and the songs we wrote meant as much to our fans as they did to us. It was, and still is, important to us to do right by you. Being a part of your lives has been an unbelievable gift. Thank you.

"Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone who has followed us and supported us through the years. Even if it's only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of the club: watching a group of 19 year olds trying to change the world."

[oilpiers]

Murmer changed my perception of rock music. I saw them 4 times, from a small movie theater, to a bigger theater, to the Santa Barbara Bowl, to Blockbuster pavillion. Each venue was progressivly bigger, fuller, and they were treated as a more important band each time. I was at one of the last Bill Berry shows. I loved R.E.M., and each time I had to take someone not familiar with them. Having said that, I have no sad feelings for them hanging it up. It is time.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I agree that it's time but I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn't sad about it.

[linkous]

About 25 years too late. It was all downhill after Lifes Rich Pageant. A crying shame how this band turned out really.

[Cubfan06]

About 25 years too late. It was all downhill after Lifes Rich Pageant. A crying shame how this band turned out really.

.....okay. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

About 25 years too late. It was all downhill after Lifes Rich Pageant. A crying shame how this band turned out really.

Even though I was a fan prior to the release of Lifes Rich Pageant, I never saw them live until that tour. I wouldn't trade the post-Lifes Rich Pageant years for anything in this world. With Collapse Into Now, I think they've gone out on a high note and with their dignity firmly intact.

[beantownbubba]

Seems like a good ending, but what's the over/under on the reunion tour/album. 3 years? 5?

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Seems like a good ending, but what's the over/under on the reunion tour/album. 3 years? 5?

Never say never but I hope they handle this just as Johnny Carson handled his retirement. When he retired from The Tonight Show, he truly did retire. What other celebrity has ever done that and stayed true to their word? I'm sure Stipe, Mills and Buck will continue to pursue their individual projects just as they always have but at least there was no "farewell" tour. To me, that would have cheapened the sentiment of their retirement as R.E.M.

[linkous]

About 25 years too late. It was all downhill after Lifes Rich Pageant. A crying shame how this band turned out really.

.....okay. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

And lets face it LRP was a disappointment after the first three albums, although still a very good album.

When I first saw your comment I thought it said Rock and Roll Hall of Farmers

[linkous]

Seems like a good ending, but what's the over/under on the reunion tour/album. 3 years? 5?

I posted on another forum it would be 2016, maybe 2017.

I think it will be tour only though, bit like Pixies.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

About 25 years too late. It was all downhill after Lifes Rich Pageant. A crying shame how this band turned out really.

.....okay. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

And lets face it LRP was a disappointment after the first three albums, although still a very good album.

I don't think Lifes Rich Pageant was a "disappointment" by any definition of the term. If anything, it had finally captured the energy of a live R.E.M. concert on record for the first time since Chronic Town.

[linkous]

I don't think Lifes Rich Pageant was a "disappointment" by any definition of the term. If anything, it had finally captured the energy of a live R.E.M. concert on record for the first time since Chronic Town.

Each to their own, and I respect your opinion even if I dont share it. I take it from your comment you never saw REM on the Reckoning tour, if that wasn't energetic well I dont know what is? Most of my friends and I were massive REM fans from the get go, and most of us lost interest after LRP (although some stuck it out for Document and Green) because it was obvious that they wanted to compete with U2. I would rather listen to U2 than listen to albums like OOT and AFTP and I freakin hate U2

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I don't think Lifes Rich Pageant was a "disappointment" by any definition of the term. If anything, it had finally captured the energy of a live R.E.M. concert on record for the first time since Chronic Town.

Each to their own, and I respect your opinion even if I dont share it. I take it from your comment you never saw REM on the Reckoning tour, if that wasn't energetic well I dont know what is?

I wasn't saying their tours weren't energetic, I was saying that aside from Chronic Town (which is bristling with energy), that Lifes Rich Pageant was the first studio record of theirs to capture the energy of their live shows. As I mentioned, I was a fan from the beginning but I never saw them live until 1986 when they played at Duke University in Durham, NC on the Pageantry tour.

Most of my friends and I were massive REM fans from the get go, and most of us lost interest after LRP (although some stuck it out for Document and Green) because it was obvious that they wanted to compete with U2. I would rather listen to U2 than listen to albums like OOT and AFTP and I freakin hate U2

I never got the impression that they were trying to compete with U2 (or any other band for that matter). Although it is Automatic For the People which is often heralded as their masterpiece, I have always been more of a fan of New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I jumped off the R.E.M. bandwagon because I truly hated Out of Time and although I have come to appreciate a few of the tracks on that record, I still hate it to this day. I did, however, respect the fact that they followed it up with Automatic For The People which I thought was an excellent album that actually backed off from the ultra commercial path they had been paving since Document. It was too little and too late for me at that point though and I really never listened to much after that. All that being said I never felt, even when they were courting commercialism with a vengeance, that they lost their integrity. I think they believed in what they were doing and you can never dog a band for that.

Linkous mentioned U2, who I loved nearly as much in the early eighties, and conversely I don't think they believed in what they were doing as they turned towards the commercial. I think it was cynical and the very definition of selling out. How anyone could think that Achtung Baby was anything but crass money grabbing is beyond my comprehension. I don't think R.E.M. could have ever made a record so blatantly designed to sell records without any regard to artistic merit.

[oilpiers]

I jumped off the R.E.M. bandwagon because I truly hated Out of Time and although I have come to appreciate a few of the tracks on that record, I still hate it to this day. I did, however, respect the fact that they followed it up with Automatic For The People which I thought was an excellent album that actually backed off from the ultra commercial path they had been paving since Document. It was too little and too late for me at that point though and I really never listened to much after that. All that being said I never felt, even when they were courting commercialism with a vengeance, that they lost their integrity. I think they believed in what they were doing and you can never dog a band for that.

Linkous mentioned U2, who I loved nearly as much in the early eighties, and conversely I don't think they believed in what they were doing as they turned towards the commercial. I think it was cynical and the very definition of selling out. How anyone could think that Achtung Baby was anything but crass money grabbing is beyond my comprehension. I don't think R.E.M. could have ever made a record so blatantly designed to sell records without any regard to artistic merit.

As early as 1982 U2 and R.E.M. were easily my 2 favorite bands. I think they parralled each other in many ways. I was often surprised they did not mix it up with each other. They will always be the Yin and Yang(EuroVsAmerican) of guitar rock for the 80's, because of influence and success. I never considered Achtung Baby as crass and money grabbing, but even considering that might be true, Acrobat, Ultraviolet, and Until the end of the World( which live on the Zoo TV tour was unbeleivable), are 3 of their greates songs ever.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Don Dixon on the demise of R.E.M., from Scholars & Rogues:

Former REM producer comments on the band’s break-up

Don Dixon and Mitch Easter co-produced REM’s first two (and arguably best) albums, Murmur and Reckoning. S&R contacted Dixon earlier today to ask if he had any thoughts on the band’s break-up. Here’s what he had to say.

I’ll miss R.E.M. but I completely understand why they’re calling it quits. I haven’t spoken with anyone in the band yet but I believe they’re sincere when they speak of this as a group decision and point to their mutual respect. I think each of them want to move on to other things and not end up hanging around too long like some bands we know.

One must remember when these guys came of age. They took the threads of several styles and wove together a sound that was fresh, original and exciting. R.E.M. was a huge influence on young musicians while still a cult act but then they went on to have unbelievable success here in the U.S. and all over the world without compromising the basic tenets they held from the start.

Hit records by their own rules…what could be a better epitaph?

[Cubfan06]

I jumped off the R.E.M. bandwagon because I truly hated Out of Time and although I have come to appreciate a few of the tracks on that record, I still hate it to this day. I did, however, respect the fact that they followed it up with Automatic For The People which I thought was an excellent album that actually backed off from the ultra commercial path they had been paving since Document. It was too little and too late for me at that point though and I really never listened to much after that. All that being said I never felt, even when they were courting commercialism with a vengeance, that they lost their integrity. I think they believed in what they were doing and you can never dog a band for that.

Linkous mentioned U2, who I loved nearly as much in the early eighties, and conversely I don't think they believed in what they were doing as they turned towards the commercial. I think it was cynical and the very definition of selling out. How anyone could think that Achtung Baby was anything but crass money grabbing is beyond my comprehension. I don't think R.E.M. could have ever made a record so blatantly designed to sell records without any regard to artistic merit.

As early as 1982 U2 and R.E.M. were easily my 2 favorite bands. I think they parralled each other in many ways. I was often surprised they did not mix it up with each other. They will always be the Yin and Yang(EuroVsAmerican) of guitar rock for the 80's, because of influence and success. I never considered Achtung Baby as crass and money grabbing, but even considering that might be true, Acrobat, Ultraviolet, and Until the end of the World( which live on the Zoo TV tour was unbeleivable), are 3 of their greates songs ever.

Love Achtung Baby. But back to REM....I came of age during Automatic For the People and Monster and as much as those are criticized by the hardcores I love those albums. And probably enjoy New Adventures in Hi Fi even more than each of them. From age 16-20, I found those albums to me to be a flawless trio. It gave me a gateway to go back and pick up the older albums and love those as well. I know that it was the same for a lot of my friends. So you can't those three albums for that purpose alone, even if they weren't cool enough for you once hipster music geeks now old farts...... j/k

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I can't say I ever thought of Acthung Baby as a stab at crass commercialism either. If anything, I thought of it as a reinvention and a pretty crafty one at that. Even if I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, I grew to over the years and look back it at with a certain fondness now. Though not the same fondness I have for War.

Back to R.E.M., the Raleigh, NC News & Observer has posted this article along with a photo gallery of R.E.M. from over the years here. I feel very privileged to have been in attendance at several of the concerts depicted in the photo gallery.

[oilpiers]

"Don Dixon and Mitch Easter co-produced REM’s first two (and arguably best) albums, Murmur and Reckoning."

Arguably is right. I did not like Fables of the Reconstruction much when it came out, maybe because the 2 songs I like the least were the supposed hits, Feeling Gravity, and Can't Get There. Now, along with Chronic Town, it is my favorite to listen to, and those two records define the R.E.M. sound more than any other albums.The lush melody's on Fables are a blueprint for 2 decades of "Indie" rock songs. Toad The Wet Sprocket, whom I love, could never have existed without that album, IMO.