Anyone buy the latest cd from REM....if so, how is it?
Also, anyone have Keane's latest cd? It's terrific.......they really have a nice and diff sound.
Its a sadder kind of album, subdued, lots of gentle guitars, keyboards and electronics. Its more suited for theater shows, like the tour would suggest. I like it alot, and Ive been an r.e.m fan for a long time. I recommend it. :thumb:
Yeah I've been into Keane since I saw them open for Travis in TO last year. They are great on tape, but you've gotta see them live. Such a phenominal band, on the verge of exploding
Cheers
Pat
Keane is very popular here in Europe and rightly so, they have some great songs. :thumb:
I absolutely love the Keane CD...very good stuff.
you guys got me interested in this Keane, Ive never heard of them until today, is there a website for this band, id like to check them out
hock:
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.keanemusic.com">www.keanemusic.com</a><!-- w -->
Keane and Snow Patrol are on top of my new favourites list right now.
I cannot recommend the R.E.M. album. I downloaded it, as I always do, because I couldn't wait for it to come out in stores. And this is the FIRST album by a band/artist I like in five years of pre-release downloading that I will not buy. I simply can't bring myself to put burn 20 beans.
The songs are there. The songwriting itself is as good as Reveal. But the production, my god, it's like Reveal squared. Somebody needs to beat Peter Buck over the head with his own guitar to remind him it's there. The whole album is a big swampy soup of techno effects, keyboard layering and god-awful instrumentation. I truly hate it. And not like I dislike The Hip's IVL, which I can actually listen to - between Reveal and this album, I can safely say I have written off R.E.M. Unless they get rid of Pat McCarthy as producer, I will never buy another album. I'd still pay to see these songs live, where hopefully - HOPEFULLY - they rely on organic musicianship and not Japanese video game arcade-sounding electronica.
grooveless touque Wrote:I cannot recommend the R.E.M. album. I downloaded it, as I always do, because I couldn't wait for it to come out in stores. And this is the FIRST album by a band/artist I like in five years of pre-release downloading that I will not buy. I simply can't bring myself to put burn 20 beans.
The songs are there. The songwriting itself is as good as Reveal. But the production, my god, it's like Reveal squared. Somebody needs to beat Peter Buck over the head with his own guitar to remind him it's there. The whole album is a big swampy soup of techno effects, keyboard layering and god-awful instrumentation. I truly hate it. And not like I dislike The Hip's IVL, which I can actually listen to - between Reveal and this album, I can safely say I have written off R.E.M. Unless they get rid of Pat McCarthy as producer, I will never buy another album. I'd still pay to see these songs live, where hopefully - HOPEFULLY - they rely on organic musicianship and not Japanese video game arcade-sounding electronica.
Interesting comments. I've only listened to the song you sent me and thought it was good. I didn't think it was great however. The only thing about REM that kind of turns me off is when they are stuck in first gear. Some REM stuff I love but some just doesn't reach another gear, and seems to just drag on. BTW, what did you think of Monster?
Monster was very good...my favourite albums are New Adventures from the 90s and Lifes Rich Pageant from the 80s, so I definitely lean towards their heavier stuff. But Murmur and Automatic were also absolutely incredible albums, so I am open to all of their stuff. R.E.M. were actually the very first band I ever loved. I heard them first in 1993, got the (casette!!) tape of Automatic, and never looked back. I was only 10 at the time so I guess one could say I've been a fan all my life. But back to your question, Monster was a great 'raw' record, and some of the songs such as Kenneth and Circus and King of Comedy are among my favourites. I wouldn't say the album is one of my favourites, because even though they really kicked it into the highest gear, some of the songs try too hard. But I do like it.
I still like the song I sent you. In fact, R.E.M. was long overdue for a straightforward 4/4 ballad. I find Leaving New York a better song than I'll Take the Rain, which was good, but again, I felt it tried too hard. Between the lyrics and the wonderful vocal harmonies and the truly bittersweet tone, I would say LNY is a better 'fit' for the band than an attempt to have a great epic soaring song like ITTR. LNY is my favourite song on the record. The only other songs I can listen to are Aftermath (not just because it's faster and louder, but because it's almost, ALMOST, a natural-sounding song without too much sweeping production) and the title track (although the theatrical-ness of the backing music gets to be a little much, and although I do like the soft musical outro to end the album, it's still too technology-driven). As proof I'm not 'just' into the louder, heavier stuff, songs like The Outsiders and Wanderlust do nothing for me. I would like a lot more of these songs without the production and the laboured feel - for example, I have a bootleg of an FM show from 2003 where an electrifying version of The Final Straw is performed, and it's one of my favourite performances ever. However, on this album, it carries the heavy burden of artificially rendered crap all through it, even more so towards the end.
No, this album is just a failed experiment in 'lush' production that tries desperately to sound modern. I loved Up, absolutely loved it, when I thought it was going to represent one mellow, 'lush' period after Bill left. But now I find I can't enjoy it nearly as much knowing they went even further on Reveal and now have hit rock-bottom using the exact same strategy on this album. Up will probably be the last R.E.M. album I ever get into. It saddens me to say so.
Keane's album is very good
Yeah, I don't own Up or Reveal. I like "Imitation of Life" whichever one that's on. I think there was a song on Monster that was about Kurt Cobain but I could be wrong. "W.T.F. Kenneth", "Bang and Blame", and "Star 69" are probably my favourites on the record.