The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 597

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Number 597 - REM

Number 597

REM

"Drive"

(1992)
.

Genre:Alt Pop

Hmmmm, that was nice to spend time in Mellow Mix Vol 1. Its now updated to Number 61, that should keep a few people more happier that are more liking of the "newer" music. Also Number 61 has Pamela Anderson half dressed.... HEY! get back here!

I had to cry in my Weetbix the other day when i heard that the Spice Girls were reforming. I had proudly stated I'm MM Vol 1 Number 89 back in March '07 that i was praying never for a re-union & frag a duck, here they were announcing this week they are going to make another album. This news is more crueler than the All Blacks losing to the Wallabies! (and that did hurt). Why do they have to return? Does Posh Spice really need the money? Mind you she does look undernourished. As one fellow comrade said in Digg.com recently "There is no God: Spice Girls are back together again - announce reunion ". You have to shake your head at Pop Culture sometimes. Anyway... Back to the MUSIC!

Turning away from the sweet pop of Out of Time, R.E.M. created a haunting, melancholy masterpiece with Automatic for the People. At its core, the album is a collection of folk songs about aging, death, and loss, but the music has a grand, epic sweep provided by layers of lush strings, interweaving acoustic instruments, and shimmering keyboards. Automatic for the People captures the group at a crossroads, as they moved from cult heroes to elder statesmen, and the album is a graceful transition into their new status. It is a reflective album, with frank discussions on mortality, but it is not a despairing record -- "Nightswimming," "Everybody Hurts," and "Sweetness Follows" have a comforting melancholy, while "Find the River" provides a positive sense of closure. R.E.M. have never been as emotionally direct as they are on Automatic for the People, nor have they ever created music quite as rich and timeless, and while the record is not an easy listen, it is the most rewarding record in their oeuvre. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, [All Music Guide]

For more on REM see Number 712 (& a decent bio too!)

What does Rolling Stone think about REM?

The most popular college-rock band of the '80s, R.E.M. underwent a steady, decade-long rise from underground heroes to bona fide superstars. The quartet's arty mix of punk energy, folky instrumental textures, muffled vocals, and introspective, often oblique lyrics influenced a generation of alternative-rock bands. By the time of its $10 million, five-record deal with Warner Bros. in 1988, the band had gone from playing hole-in-the-wall pizza parlors to major arenas.

It took three years for the band to return with the highly anticipated Out of Time, which rocketed to #1, went quadruple platinum, and included “Losing My Religion” (#4, 1991) and “Shiny Happy People” (#10, 1991). The video for the former was banned in Ireland for allegedly homoerotic imagery; the latter was a duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52’s. Out of Time also featured an expanded instrumental palette of horns and mandolins. The somber Automatic for the People (#2, 1992) featured string arrangements by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Its hits were “Drive” (#28, 1992), “Man on the Moon” (#30, 1993), and “Everybody Hurts” (#29, 1993)~ edited [from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)

For Led Zeppelin see Number 957

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Didnt quite cut the mustard) and the Album ranked at Number 247

This song has a crowbarred rating of 72.2 out of 108