R.E.M.ageddon

If asked to name my favorite band, my friends would give you a wide variety of answers. Many would wisely say Pavement or Meat Loaf, while a slightly smaller group would proffer The Police or Cursive. A small group would suggest Elliot Smith, while a few stragglers would suggest more familialy The Smiths. However, the correct response would be R.E.M.

Either the editor or founder (and really, these two could be the same person) of Spin wrote an amazing piece a few years back about the first time he heard R.E.M. Unfortunately, a search of the internet has revealed no evidence of this work. I can tell you though that I first heard them when I was in junior high, 1993, age 12. We had to take a music class, at which my teacher would play songs about which we would note the mood, tempo, and so forth. We turned in our discussions, though he probably rarely if at all read it.

At some point he played an R.E.M. song, possibly Losing My Religion. My mind was blown. I had no idea what I was hearing, but I knew I needed to hear more of it. The rest of the fall I spent a great deal of time telling anyone who would listen to a 12 year old discuss music preaching my love for R.E.M., based on this single hearing and sparse radio play.

Fast forward to Christmas morning. I have no idea what I got, save one tiny package. I picked it up, completely unsure what such a tiny rectangle could be. It's certainly not a sweater, book, or video game. Perhaps a deck of cards? I have plenty of those. Opening said package, I found a cassette and three words that permanently changed the way I view music: "Out of Time."

Oh man, this first song is awesome! Wait, is this guy rapping? Who is this KRS-One guy anyway? Who is this Kate Pierson girl? I'm madly in love with her based solely on her voice*. We'll ignore the fact that she's significantly older than my mom. Every song blows my mind.

Fast forward nearly 15 years. I'm at CD/Game Exchange in Silver Spring, MD, where I'm living at the time. I'm browsing to fill my addiction for buying 90s indie rock albums - Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Cap'n Jazz, Mineral, whatever. Suddenly I'm struck by three familiar letters that I haven't considered in years - R.E.M. I shelled out $5 for Automatic for the People. For the second time in my life, R.E.M. blew my mind.

I still listen to R.E.M. I was actually listening to Out of Time when I drafted this post last night. However, last week something unfortunate and ultimately inevitable happened: R.E.M. announced that they are breaking up. R.E.M. has been a band for 31 years, longer than I have been alive. I've been a fan for well over half my life. It's the end of the band, as we know it and otherwise. I for one feel far less than fine.

*To be completely honest, this is still rather true.

If asked to name my favorite band, my friends would give you a wide variety of answers. Many would wisely say Pavement or Meat Loaf, while a slightly smaller group would proffer The Police or Cursive. A small group would suggest Elliot Smith, while a few stragglers would suggest more familialy The Smiths. However, the correct response would be R.E.M.

Either the editor or founder (and really, these two could be the same person) of Spin wrote an amazing piece a few years back about the first time he heard R.E.M. Unfortunately, a search of the internet has revealed no evidence of this work. I can tell you though that I first heard them when I was in junior high, 1993, age 12. We had to take a music class, at which my teacher would play songs about which we would note the mood, tempo, and so forth. We turned in our discussions, though he probably rarely if at all read it.

At some point he played an R.E.M. song, possibly Losing My Religion. My mind was blown. I had no idea what I was hearing, but I knew I needed to hear more of it. The rest of the fall I spent a great deal of time telling anyone who would listen to a 12 year old discuss music preaching my love for R.E.M., based on this single hearing and sparse radio play.

Fast forward to Christmas morning. I have no idea what I got, save one tiny package. I picked it up, completely unsure what such a tiny rectangle could be. It's certainly not a sweater, book, or video game. Perhaps a deck of cards? I have plenty of those. Opening said package, I found a cassette and three words that permanently changed the way I view music: "Out of Time."

Oh man, this first song is awesome! Wait, is this guy rapping? Who is this KRS-One guy anyway? Who is this Kate Pierson girl? I'm madly in love with her based solely on her voice*. We'll ignore the fact that she's significantly older than my mom. Every song blows my mind.

Fast forward nearly 15 years. I'm at CD/Game Exchange in Silver Spring, MD, where I'm living at the time. I'm browsing to fill my addiction for buying 90s indie rock albums - Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Cap'n Jazz, Mineral, whatever. Suddenly I'm struck by three familiar letters that I haven't considered in years - R.E.M. I shelled out $5 for Automatic for the People. For the second time in my life, R.E.M. blew my mind.

I still listen to R.E.M. I was actually listening to Out of Time when I drafted this post last night. However, last week something unfortunate and ultimately inevitable happened: R.E.M. announced that they are breaking up. R.E.M. has been a band for 31 years, longer than I have been alive. I've been a fan for well over half my life. It's the end of the band, as we know it and otherwise. I for one feel far less than fine.

*To be completely honest, this is still rather true.

R.E.M.ageddon