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BLC: REM vs. U2

Edgy DC Feb 16 2006 11:12 AM

Contemporary bands --- both with abstract lyrics, enigmatic progressive frontmen, distinctive guitar sounds, and a post-punk dichotomous love/hate relationship with their forebears. Early U2 did Thin Lizzy covers. Early REM did Aerosmith. Michael Stipe lost his hair and shaved off what he didn't lose. The Edge put on touque and hasn't taken it off in a decade. Gentlemen, go.

sharpie Feb 16 2006 11:14 AM

Two bands whose names are IN ALL CAPS.

Edgy DC Feb 16 2006 11:35 AM

Two four-pieces whose singer doesn't tend to play.

metirish Feb 16 2006 11:38 AM

Depending on the song match-ups this should be a classic battle.

Edgy DC Feb 16 2006 11:42 AM

We could get a "One"/"The One I Love" rematch

metirish Feb 16 2006 11:51 AM

I tell ya, as hard as it seems to pick ten U2 songs picking ten for REM is no easy task, just going through their songs, impressive.

Johnny Dickshot Feb 16 2006 12:04 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 16 2006 12:25 PM

I'm gonna start with 10 tunes that a REM fan would go for and see where it gets me. I'll add the obligatory songs about Shiny Happy People Losing Their Religion and They Feel Fine if and when the Athens boys get flambeed with this Mostly on Merit Top Ten. 1. Pilgrimage 2. Find the River 3. What's the Frequency Kenneth 4. Maps & Legends 5. The One I Love 6. Letter Never Sent 7. Disturbance at the Heron House 8. Pop Song 89 9. These Days 10. Radio Free Europe Finding your clips on Amazon: Pilgrimage, Radio Free on MURMUR Find the River: AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE What's the Frequency: MONSTER Maps & Legends: FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION Disturbance, & One I Love: DOCUMENT Pop Song 89: GREEN These Days: LIFES RICH PAGEANT Letter Never Sent: RECKONING

soupcan Feb 16 2006 12:19 PM

Geez Louise - I haven't heard some of these songs in forever.

Willets Point Feb 16 2006 12:22 PM

Shiny Happy People is the worst. REM. song. ever. They totally jumped the shark on that one.

soupcan Feb 16 2006 12:27 PM

="Willets Point"]Shiny Happy People is the worst. REM. song. ever. They totally jumped the shark on that one. "Like R.E.M. "Shiny Happy People" "Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey! Pull that bus over to the side of the pretentiousness turnpike, alright!? I want everybody off the bus. I want the shiny people over here, and the happy people over here, ok! I represent angry gun-toting meat-eating fucking people, alright!" Sit down and shut the fuck up Michael! Don Henley's gonna tell me how to vote. I don't fucking think so, ok? I got two words for Don Henley, Joe Fucking Walsh, ok!? Thanks for calling, Don! How long's your pony tail now? Ok!" -Denis Leary from 'No Cure For Cancer'

Johnny Dickshot Feb 16 2006 12:29 PM

[url]http://mikethepod.com/BIUL_REM.jpg[/url]

HahnSolo Feb 16 2006 01:08 PM

Okay, I'm here. I've never been a big REM fan and I notice that four of my favorites of theirs are not on the list: Fall on Me, So. Central Rain, Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite, and Man on the Moon. One small change to my lineup. I've been listening to a lot of "Under a Blood Red Sky." So we're dropping Walk On and adding the live version of The Electric Co. One New Year's Day I Will Follow Where the Streets Have No Name Vertigo The Unforgettable Fire The Electric Co. (live) The Fly Bad Sunday Bloody Sunday If you need to listen at Amazon, here are the albums you can find the songs on: One: Achtung Baby New Year's Day: War I will Follow: Boy Where the STreets Have No Name: Joshua Tree Vertigo: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb Unforgettable Fire: The Unforgettable Fire Electric Co.: Under a Blood Red Sky The Fly: Achtung Baby Bad: The Unforgettable Fire Sunday Bloody Sunday: War

Edgy DC Feb 16 2006 01:32 PM

REM vs. =indigo]U2 "Pilgrimage" vs. “One” "Find the River" vs. "New Year's Day" "What's the Frequency, Kenneth"" vs. "I Will Follow" "Maps & Legends" vs. "Where the Streets Have No Name" "The One I Love" vs. "Vertigo" "Letter Never Sent" vs. "The Unforgettable Fire" "Disturbance at the Heron House" vs. "The Electric Co. (live)" "Pop Song '89" vs. "The Fly" "These Days" vs. "Bad" "Radio Free Europe" vs. "Sunday Bloody Sunday"

metirish Feb 16 2006 01:44 PM

"Pilgrimage" vs. “One” - U2 "Find the River" vs. "New Year's Day" - U2 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth"" vs. "I Will Follow" - REM "Maps & Legends" vs. "Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2 "The One I Love" vs. "Vertigo" - U2 "Letter Never Sent" vs. "The Unforgettable Fire" - U2 "Disturbance at the Heron House" vs. "The Electric Co. (live)" - REM "Pop Song '89" vs. "The Fly" - U2 "These Days" vs. "Bad" - U2 "Radio Free Europe" vs. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" - REM not to knock Dickshots list but I feel that with 3 or 4 songs changes they could have tied or beat U2. U2 - 7 REM - 3

HahnSolo Feb 16 2006 01:52 PM

"Pilgrimage" vs. “One” - Gotta go with U2 "Find the River" vs. "New Year's Day" - A song I had to look up vs. one of my favorites. U2 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth"" vs. "I Will Follow" - I don't know why, but I like Kenneth a lot. TIE "Maps & Legends" vs. "Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2 "The One I Love" vs. "Vertigo" - I HATE The One I Love. U2 "Letter Never Sent" vs. "The Unforgettable Fire" - U2 "Disturbance at the Heron House" vs. "The Electric Co. (live)" - Couldn't find a clip of this song at Amazon. U2. "Pop Song '89" vs. "The Fly" - I like both.Let's call it even. TIE "These Days" vs. "Bad" - The only REM mismatch to me on this list. REM. "Radio Free Europe" vs. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" - Tough matchup, but I go with U2. U2. This matchup goes to U2, 8-2. And I agree with Metirish, the obscurity of some of these songs made it more of a blowout for me.

soupcan Feb 16 2006 02:48 PM

"Pilgrimage" vs. “One” - U2 "Find the River" vs. "New Year's Day" - U2 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth"" vs. "I Will Follow" - U2 Hate Kenneth. Feel bad for Dan Rather every time I hear it. "Maps & Legends" vs. "Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2 Streets is one of my favorite U2 tunes "The One I Love" vs. "Vertigo" - REM Vertigo has yet to connect with me. "Letter Never Sent" vs. "The Unforgettable Fire" - U2 "Disturbance at the Heron House" vs. "The Electric Co. (live)" - REM "Pop Song '89" vs. "The Fly" - U2 "These Days" vs. "Bad" - U2 My favorite U2 song. "Radio Free Europe" vs. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" - REM My favorite (original) REM song U2 - 7 / REM - 3

seawolf17 Feb 16 2006 02:51 PM

"Pilgrimage" vs. “One” - U2 "Find the River" vs. "New Year's Day" - U2 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth"" vs. "I Will Follow" - REM (my band used to play this song; always enjoyed it) "Maps & Legends" vs. "Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2 "The One I Love" vs. "Vertigo" - U2 "Letter Never Sent" vs. "The Unforgettable Fire" - U2 "Disturbance at the Heron House" vs. "The Electric Co. (live)" - U2 (credit U2; I'm not a huge fan, but they're very good live) "Pop Song '89" vs. "The Fly" - REM "These Days" vs. "Bad" - U2 "Radio Free Europe" vs. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" - U2 U2 8, REM 2. Thought REM would do better, but you're missing a lot of my favorites.

Johnny Dickshot Feb 16 2006 03:10 PM

Fanboy Top Ten getting whupped.

HahnSolo Feb 16 2006 04:35 PM

That Simpsons caricature of Adam Clayton is scarily accurate.

Johnny Dickshot Feb 16 2006 11:15 PM

These are, for the most part, my personal favorite REM songs and so apologies up front for the bias. The Fanboy Ten are headed for the woodshed anyway. "Pilgrimage" vs. “One” Pilgrimage is a great little song, showcasing the REM rhythm section: Odd fills by drummer Bill Berry and Mike Mills soaring background vocals. Take your time, take your fortune. Early upset for REM. "Find the River" vs. "New Year's Day" Stipe can be an insufferable boob, but man, does he sing on this one. I have nothing bad to say about its opponent, so a bias win for REM. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth"" vs. "I Will Follow" I'll give this one to U2. This was a sacrifice to the popular gods. "Maps & Legends" vs. "Where the Streets Have No Name" Interesting themactic matchup pits odes to dislocation against one another. M&L is a classic old-school Peter Buck jangler. REM "The One I Love" vs. "Vertigo" I'm kinda on a Vertigo kick now, and TOIL was another gift to the voting public. So I'm going against the early majority and scoring this one for U2. "Letter Never Sent" vs. "The Unforgettable Fire" That cartoon above where the kid is smelling the album cover: That was me and Reckoning. LNS is what I considered a make-out song in college and I did OK back then. Just ask that chick, whatsername. 4-2. "Disturbance at the Heron House" vs. "The Electric Co. (live)" This won't sway anyone's vote, but while this song is up here let's examine the last verse of DATHH: When feeding time has come and gone They'll lose the heart and head for home Try to tell us something we don't know Stipe appears to be using the voice of a college administrator or town father concerning a campus protest: Those kids will calm down eventually. Does that mean us college kids hanging on REM's next word should learn that protest is futile? Or that we should only protest if we truly believe? Or that we need something more advanced ... or more civilized? I never knew and still don't. I prolly coulda picked a better song from Document now that I reconsider it, though a lot of them sort of reached the same level of goodness for me. That said I did all this talking and give REM the vote. Why? I don't know. "Pop Song '89" vs. "The Fly" Hated hated hated REM's move to Warner Brothers but liked this departure more than U2's experiments here. "These Days" vs. "Bad" Ferocious! Call it a tie. "Radio Free Europe" vs. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" U2, sure what the hell. 6.5-3.5 RE friggin M

Willets Point Feb 17 2006 12:25 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 17 2006 02:04 PM

Once upon a time I was a huge REM fan and rather indiferent to U2, however REM hasn't done much for me the past 15 years and U2 has kind of grown on me. This should be interesting. "Pilgrimage" vs. “One” REM "Find the River" vs. "New Year's Day" U2 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth"" vs. "I Will Follow" U2 "Maps & Legends" vs. "Where the Streets Have No Name" U2 "The One I Love" vs. "Vertigo" REM "Letter Never Sent" vs. "The Unforgettable Fire" REM "Disturbance at the Heron House" vs. "The Electric Co. (live)" REM "Pop Song '89" vs. "The Fly" REM OE: Make this a tie "These Days" vs. "Bad" U2 "Radio Free Europe" vs. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" TIE EDITED-REM 5:5 U2 You want to throw a bone to the popsters, include "Fall on Me" next time.

Edgy DC Feb 17 2006 01:43 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 17 2006 02:42 PM

"Pilgrimage" vs. “One” Tie "Find the River" vs. "New Year's Day" Both songs that seem to have a purification/resurrection theme U2, though the REM song has a John Denver-y thing I like. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth"" vs. "I Will Follow" U2, rout. "Maps & Legends" vs. "Where the Streets Have No Name" U2. "Maps" has hints of the later baroque sound I didn't like so much, though I liked it enough at the time. It's like fourth best on "Fables," an album I like but REM didn't. "Streets" is just a great album/concert opener that takes you somewhere else. "The One I Love" vs. "Vertigo" U2. "Vertigo" has more verses "Letter Never Sent" vs. "The Unforgettable Fire" U2. What are you doing? Reckoning is great, but this is one of the weaker tracks, sounding more demo-ish than the rest. "Disturbance at the Heron House" vs. "The Electric Co. (live)" Tie. I don't know "Heron House" and can't find a clip. Best to toss this one out. Amended U2. "Pop Song '89" vs. "The Fly" Slight win for U2. "These Days" vs. "Bad" U2.again. "Bad" gives me monstrous strength. "Radio Free Europe" vs. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" =orange]REM.saves some face. When I stop caring about U2, they redouble their efforts, call me up, take me out for a nice meal, introduce me around. I stopped caring about REM a while ago and they stopped caring back. So it's U2, 8-2 Amended, 8 1/2 to 1 1/2.

soupcan Feb 17 2006 01:57 PM

Edgy DC wrote: When I stop caring about U2, they redouble their efforts, call me up, take me out for a nice meal, introduce me around. I stopped caring about REM a while ago and they stopped caring back. Well put.

Johnny Dickshot Feb 17 2006 02:32 PM

As a public service to those who couldn't hear 'em (but should): Distrurbance at the Heron House [url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AQACO8/sr=8-2/qid=1140204444/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-4681591-5560110?%5Fencoding=UTF8[/url] Find the River [url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002MG1/sr=8-1/qid=1140204642/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4681591-5560110?%5Fencoding=UTF8[/url]

Edgy DC Feb 17 2006 02:41 PM

Thanks for sparking my memory on "Heron House." A good Something New song for them --- a transitional-period song that has traces both of where they've been and where they're going. "Electric Co." is just a wicked post-punk frenzy though. I'm throwing that one in U2's corner and calling it 8 1/2 to 1 1/2.

Edgy DC Feb 22 2006 11:04 AM

This went for a 47-32 clubbing.

Johnny Dickshot Feb 22 2006 11:20 AM

"We'll be back." -- Michael Stipe