100 replies to this topic

[fanofrem]

It's sad  
http://athensmusican...nt-heard?ref=nf

[NewToREM]

:-( I wanted to see them!

Maybe it means they will get back in the studio qucker next time? Ok it's way too early to talk that! :-)

[vplus]

NewToREM, on 21 January 2011 - 03:35 PM, said:

:-( I wanted to see them!

Maybe it means they will get back in the studio qucker next time? Ok it's way too early to talk that! :-)

This is sad news.  I do hope it means we'll have another record sooner..but not counting on it.  

Remember when they put out a full album every single year from 1983 to 1988? That was cool.

[kizmatica]

I never expected them to do a full scale world tour to be honest. But I can still see them doing some Reveal type promotional shows. Who knows?

If anyone important (or the band themselves) are reading this, if no tour, how about a live show online/youtube/remhq the day before the release mixing up the new songs with their back catalogue? I think this could be a great idea.

[TheMiddleDistance]

kizmatica, on 21 January 2011 - 04:10 PM, said:

I never expected them to do a full scale world tour to be honest. But I can still see them doing some Reveal type promotional shows. Who knows?

If anyone important (or the band themselves) are reading this, if no tour, how about a live show online/youtube/remhq the day before the release mixing up the new songs with their back catalogue? I think this could be a great idea.

That sounds like a good idea to me!

[auctioneer69]

From a fan's perspective this is incredibly LAME. Not least because they were so good in 2008 and not least because the songs from "Collapse Into Now" make me more excited about a new REM album than I have been for years.  Yes, I know they don't always tour but R.E.M. are at a point where they have become a side-project or part-time hobby for the band members.  It's hard to stay passionate when they can only be arsed making a record every three years and now can't be arsed touring.  Ironic given that their success in the eighties was a direct result of their work-ethic.  

Very disappointed. Why should we the fans still care so much about REM when they band clearly doesn't?  You'd think that if they loved the new songs so much they couldn't wait to play them to a live audience.  This isn't like 1991 when "OOT" had been released and they had just spent a decade working harder than any of their peers or 2001 when arguably "Reveal" would have been a tough album to reproduce live.

Oh at least we'll still have those ridiculous "lyrics video's" to check out on youtube....

[sycorax82]

I don't blame them for not wanting to tour it. They don't need the money and they've toured plenty before. Also I'm guessing they would now dread going out there and doing shows full of the old staple songs Religion, Moon etc. which feels like resting on their laurels when they're in a current place of real productivity. Maybe if they could play more of an interesting show to the masses, like the Olympia 'non'-shows, then they would tour.

Personally I would rather they did other projects than tour themselves into the ground because it will keep the band together. Peter will tour with Tired Pony, I'm guessing. He will also be working on their 2nd record so that's what a lot of this year will be for him.

[heavensgate2024]

Disappointing, but nothing compared to what it was like from '89-'95. Nearly six years between U.S. shows. Kind of curious as to who doesn't want to do it. Peter always seems road ready, and Mike seems to keep pretty busy playing with other musicians. Maybe Michael isn't feeling it this time. Oh well. We'll all have a great record to listen to in a little over a month. Can't wait to hear it on vinyl.

[Pflanze]

Bad news but it's ok for me! In their 50s they should to what they want and what it feels right to them!! It's their decision to tour (or not), not ours!!!

Looking forward to a great album "Collapse into now"!

[electronmove]

I think not touring is for the best and maybe will let them recharge their batteries. The tracks released so far just sound like retakes from Green/Out of Time, and indications are that if there is anything new/cool/future-sounding (holding out hope) on the album, it's not coming from one of the album's stadium anthems. So, really, why beat it to death with another arduous tour? It's not for nothing this is their last album under contract with WB. The material (again, so far) sounds like they are churning one out for very casual fans who jumped ship circa 1994, and they are too talented for this to have been without calculation, though the "why" is another matter...even those fans can hear when something is not really part of the zeitgeist. It would have been cool for them to take us to the future on what is perhaps their last go-round with a major label, but in terms of sonic verve and evolution (which they were masters at for a long time) either they are saving it for a further downsized, core audience, or the tank simply on E.

[Oowatanite]

They are in their 4th decade as a band, if they don't want to tour I don't blame them. I just want to see them live at some point.

[Remmo]

it's NOT sweet, it's VERY sad, but I HOPE IT'S NOT true

Fingers crossed  

[RamblingRob]

THis is not exactly news, but it does more or less confirum the obvious.  I am hoping for a few shows.  Also, they were originally not going to tour after UP and did anyway.  So, there is hope, though I am not crossing my fingers.

[auctioneer69]

I wonder how many of the people who are ok with REM not touring have actually seen them live? Because I don't think many who have would be so blase.  

Everyone here just seems to be ok with REM being a part-time job at best for its members.  If being REM is now more an obligation for the band as opposed to a passion it's really time for the band to call it quits. I mean - what's the point?  An album every three years and a tour to support every second album just seems too much like taking the piss.   It would be nice to get at least a few festivals out of the band but obviously that's too much for some or all members who'd rather be doing something else.  

My main point again is this: if REM can barely be bothered as a fan why should I be bothered enough to support them?

[lordweary]

auctioneer69, on 22 January 2011 - 07:00 AM, said:

My main point again is this: if REM can barely be bothered as a fan why should I be bothered enough to support them?

Yeah, but it's not like they're politicians who need our support...devoted fans are to a musician what the far left is to the democratic party: stuck with it whether they like it or not, and often pissed off when they feel betrayed.

That said...I think that it's clear, not only from his general lifestyle but also from his comments that were quoted in an article posted on murmurs recently, that Peter would willingly tour.  Mike, I think, is less into it--he said a few years ago that his indulgence in life is paying to go first class and stay in nice hotel rooms when touring, which is entirely understandable at their age, but does show how much of a grind it would be...and Michael...he's got the hardest job in the band at this point--when they tour he is the one who has the spotlight on him 95% of the time, who wears his voice down, who really has to carry the burden of entertaining the place...and when they write songs he is the one who has to find a way to make the things that matter to him now, as a 51 year old, wealthy, semi-retired art-world hipster, in a relationship, sound interesting and...middle-age has never been an easy time for lyricists anyway...point being I think he is probably the point of greatest resistance to touring, with good reasons--and that he's probably least invested in the band and really, deep down, the source of the most complaints from fans at this point.

[ThunderRoad]

I don't have a problem with the band not touring - and I've seen them several times.
It's their decision and I don't think every record has to be supported by a tour.
Maybe they'll go back to the recording studio sooner, instead of doing the cycle "release record - tour - take year off - release record" over and over again.

I rather have them release a new record within two years' time than go on tour - and if they don't, fine for me also.

[G.K.]

Great dissapointment for me, as a fan who's never seen them live, but kinda understandable.

[RamblingRob]

I am one that would prefer tours over albums...  I think their backlog of songs is enough to tour on.  No need to come with new stuff (though it does help)

[rtremfan]

I'm so upset! I thought they would tour for sure originally. Some of these songs like Discoverer and Mine Smell Like Honey are just begging to be played live.

[CrutchFloor]

G.K., on 22 January 2011 - 08:12 AM, said:

Great dissapointment for me, as a fan who's never seen them live, but kinda understandable.

Same here. I've never been able to see them live, and was going to do whatever it took to see this time, even if it meant paying quite a bit for a ticket and travelling quite a ways away.