R.E.M. calls it quits

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Which begs the question, "Wait, they were still together?" Yes, apparently so. But no more.

I liked them -- sort of, now and then, here and there, but not really all that much -- way back when. I probably haven't paid them any attention since 1994's Monster, when I was in college, and isn't that it, they were a big band for those of us who were in college in the late '80s and early '90s?

Yes, they were very much a part of that time, an authentic, college-oriented, politically-active band that seemed like, and very much was, a welcome relief from the pop horrors of the '80s, a pre-grunge alt-rock band that helped usher in a better time for American music.

And some of their stuff was, and remains, really good, including Murmur, their 1983 debut, as well as 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant, with "Superman." And who can forget 1987's Document, with two very different anthems of the age, "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and "The One I Love"? They got more annoying, or at least their music did, as they got more popular, around the time I started paying closer attention, with songs like "Stand" and "Orange Crush" off 1988's Green, and then "Losing My Religion" and "Shiny Happy People" off 1991's Out of Time," but maybe I'm just being retrospectively negative. They were still a decent band, even then.

I actually liked 1992's Automatic for the People more than its rather more popular predecessors, with its darkness of theme and mood, particularly "Drive," "Everybody Hurts," and "Man on the Moon." And that was that. Monster wasn't bad, with "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" leading the way, but I'd had enough. It was time to move on.

Anyway, R.E.M. evokes a certain nostalgia in people my age, people who came of age when they were at their peak, and I suppose they were, for a time, one of the leading musical voices of my generation.

So let's head back through the mists of time...

Here are "End of the World" and "Man on the Moon" (about Andy Kaufman, of course). (And go here for "Drive," perhaps my favourite R.E.M. song.) Enjoy.