105 replies to this topic

[REMCHICAGOBOY]

Duh_Prez, on 07 November 2011 - 02:41 PM, said:

This is why I love R.E.M.  And, as I lay on my couch typing, I realise that I now have closure.  When "In Time" was released, I remember be so disappointed by Animal that I wondered whether the creative juices had run dry.  With "Part Lies...", we've just been given - in my humble opinion - three new tracks with incredibly different styles of music, and at least one track that for me has joined the likes of "Leave" "Ebow" and "Sing for the Submarine" in the "woah... what the hell did I just hear/feel" category.

I think 'Hallelujah' is everything perfect about dark and gloomy R.E.M.. It's 'Ebow the Letter', 'Blue', 'Low Desert' (the most overlooked R.E.M. song ever, IMHO), 'Sing for the Submarine', 'On the Fly' and even their cover of Vic Chesnut's 'Sponge' all wrapped into one. And I love it. I love dark and gloomy R.E.M.

Thank you R.E.M. for leaving us with something really special.

[7 chineSe robs.]

I want to cry as I type this.

"Hallelujah" is a glimpse of what R.E.M. was at its peak: a "New Adventures in Hi-Fi"-styled throwback as layered as it is dark as it is powerful as it is haunting. You'd think Bill Berry not only performed but co-wrote it with Peter. Truly. Rieflin channels Berry here. Gorgeous. Complex. Perfect. Definite shades of Radiohead. And it reminds you that R.E.M. did not die in the late 1990s; it merely changed, and the creative foundation underlying that peak incarnation was still very much present when the band opted to no longer be. Breathtaking. Heartbreaking.

As for "A Month of Saturdays," I can see the comparisons to "Chance," but those who didn't care for the latter (like me) might draw some hope from the fact I, for one, think the former is a zillion times better. This one at least has a hook. Still, I'd rather have seen "Find the River" make the cut at its expense.

I've made my feelings known regarding "We All Go Back to Where We Belong": It's the vocal equivalent of the "Collapse Into Now" cover ... a sweet, simple wave goodbye. If "A Month of Saturdays" is Stipe's and "Hallelujah" is Peter's, "WAGBTWWB" is without a doubt Mike's. His influence is all over this song.

I don't believe "Hallelujah" would perform well as a single. I doubt Warners will go there. But, to these ears, it's R.E.M.'s best song since 1996. It is what "Blue" should have been.

[REMFan]

Hallelujah gives me chills, its SO Awesome!! Thats all I can really say. :-)

[falls to climb]

When I first listened “Sing for The Submarine”, I tough that the next R.E.M. album was sound like that. A rock album, but more experimental, kind of “progressive sound”

Today, when i listened “Hallelujah”, I tough that’s the second track of that imaginary album.

I really like it

[Slow Education]

I think "Hallelujah" might end up being my favorite post-Berry song, and I'm not a total hater either.  I really wish they'd put out a whole album with that kind of fresh production.

[RSeabra]

Well, going with "goofy"? No, let's be honest about "A Month", it just sucks terribly, Michael's vocals mainly.

"We All Go Back" reminds me a lot of Burt Bacharach and Reveal. Nice record-song, harmless, not great, but ok.

"Hallelujah" is being treated here as if it were the next "Everybody Hurts" or so, but again, let's be honest and say it's way far from that. The spoken word thing is not only badly done, it's self referential to the point of being annoying. A decent chorus (goes longer than it should) and it's over, no great solo, no great bassline, no great R.E.M. at all.

I really wish I could say good things about the new songs and a band I used to love so much up to (and including) Reveal, but the new stuff just reflects what I've been thinking since "Accelerate". It was indeed time to call it a day.

[iskra]

The one verse and the ending of Hallelujah suffer from a few Around-The-Sun-isms. I'm not so crazy about that sound, but at least it's far better than A Month of Saturdays. I do  like the snarly chorus a lot though, even if there's far too much of it.

[elkokolores]

Hallelujah is what Blue should have been.

Maybe Blue is what Hallelujah should have been.

Maybe a 16th album coorperating the sound of those three new songs really, really should have been!

[EscapeMomentum]

oh r.e.m., very well done indeed.

thank you thank you thank you!

[gradeux]

Today, I feel disappointed and sad...

Disappointed because :
> I don't really like the 3 new songs except "We All Go Back to Where We Belong"...
> "A Month of Saturdays," doesn't deserve to be part of the greatest hits... as i read before on this thread this could be a B-Side...

Sad : because these were the last songs released

... what a different feeling if their farewell song released would have been "it happened today"
This is a great song / This is a universal song, able to reconciliate die-hard fans and  mainstream audience. That was for me their new "losing my religion" ....
but this song is not even on the CD ... what a pity and a bad choice !

Anyway, all of this is of course very personal... and i know what song i will keep in mind when remembering the time where the guys decided to call it a day ...

Well, it happened today ..

[king.of.comedy]

2headedcow, on 07 November 2011 - 01:12 AM, said:

Go on!  You know you want to.

ebowtheloser, on 07 November 2011 - 11:32 AM, said:

C'mon... All the COOL kids are doing it!

I only listened to We All Go Back... and that's enough...
I must resist...

Hallelujah was compared to Blue... no good...

[CONNMAN]

king.of.comedy, on 08 November 2011 - 01:43 AM, said:

Hallelujah was compared to Blue... no good...

Hallelujah >>>>>>>>>> Blue

[welliwonder]

Yes these 3 songs are fine , but to me the more appropriate ending to it all is with Blue , as its the closer on the last album proper . These feel a little superfluous, messy and nailed on , and personally I would have left it at Collapse , with these songs added to a Box Set or something further on down the line.

[barnsleyjohn]

king.of.comedy, on 08 November 2011 - 01:43 AM, said:

Hallelujah was compared to Blue... no good...

Hallelujah kicks Blue's ass. IMHO of course.

[cjr67]

Kind of think they've summed a whole album in these last three songs: the stupid/silly pop song; the catchy single; and the moody deep cut. A fitting postscript.

[ebowtheloser]

king.of.comedy, on 08 November 2011 - 01:43 AM, said:

I only listened to We All Go Back... and that's enough...
I must resist...

Hallelujah was compared to Blue... no good...

I wouldn't sweat that. I don't think there is all that much similarity there.

[Blackbirds Backwards]

I'm not quite sure I agree with all this fawning over Hallelujah.  The chorus and music are great, but that verse at the beginning is so tepid and monotonous. REM have never lost the knack for a killer chorus, but one of my only real criticisms of the band in recent years is that there are too many of these un-melodic, meandering semi-spoken delivery's in the verses, and this is a prime example.  Vocally, and rather than "blue", I think it's almost too close for comfort to Oh My Heart.  The music is first class though, and IMHO the best strings since AFTP.

I like a Month Of Saturdays, but I also agree with the poster who said it reminds them of interpol musically.  Saying that, I also agree with the poster that said it shouldn't really be on the bands Greatest hits.

Still don't like WAGBTWWB particularly. Personally, I think Bad Day & Animal made better compilation incentives than these.  

The songs are far more interesting musically than they are vocally.  I don't mean to diss Michael at all (He's an absolute legend!) but It doesn't feel like too much heart or thought have been put into these songs lyrically or melodically.  Maybe it's the process of trying to write outside of an album process coupled with probably wanting to get them out of the way quickly.  They're ok, but wouldn't be good enough for CiN IMO (which I still maintain is a brilliant, brilliant album).

[cjr67]

Hopefully, this was finished and will show up somewhere or another.