38 replies to this topic

[Driver Nate]

I checked one of the local Barnes and Noble stores yesterday but they didn't have it, perhaps because it may still be too soon for it to be on newsstands in the U.S.

[Colinzeal]

twistedkite, on 16 March 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

Thanks for the clarification, Sweden. As for the song ratings, um, this is starting to seem more like opinion masked as journalism. I was actually excited about this issue and was hoping it was along the lines of the Q edition a while back (which was pretty cool) but it seems like nothing more than a hastily written "book" to cash in on the band's split. Rating every song is so scraping the bottom of the barrel of the middle distance. HA!

Of course this is an instance where "I want[ed] to be wrong." Double-HA! So tell me if I am...in a nice way preferrably...

Very much so. Every track on Murmur is given 5 out of 5. Where as for the sake of another example Try not to breathe is given 3 stars. So We walk and 9-9 are two stars better than Find the river and 3 stars better than New test leper?

Music is all about opinions, but I would have hoped there would have been a lot more objectivity in the ratings. Whoever is rating them clearly has a large fondness for the 80s material.

Anyway don't be put off; beyond that I am really enjoying reading it.

[Davie]

I bought this yesterday, and although the ratings are a bit bizarre it looks like a good read (I'm up to Reckoning, and reading through the song ratings for it has been a traumatic experience...)

I wouldn't say it's a "cash-in" magazine at all. Uncut regularly put out these Ultimate Music Guide magazines (seems to be more regular than it once was), and I already have ones on The Clash, Springsteen and Pink Floyd.

I've found it interesting so far, and am looking forward to reading some of the archived interviews.

The introduction by Mike feels a bit bittersweet. It's good to read something written so recently by him, but I get the feeling he and the band aren't the biggest fans of the press, and music publications in general...

[Batten]

Terrible ratings on the songs, but I certainly urge every fan to pick up a copy. It seems like a fantastic read with every interview that NME did with the band, and reveiws of every album. A well put together reflection of the Band's career.

[Binky1978]

Just got my copy today and I'd echo what the last few posters have said. I've only flicked through it, but it looks like it's quite well put together with some nice old interviews. However, if you're someone who doesn't like to see their favourite song being dismissed with 2 stars whilst their least favourite gets 4 or 5, avoid reading the truly bizarre song ratings...

[fanofrem]

is there any who knows when/if it will be released in norway?

[Queen of Comedy]

fanofrem, on 21 March 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

is there any who knows when/if it will be released in norway?

I'm wondering the same about Italy

[Sweden]

fanofrem, on 21 March 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

is there any who knows when/if it will be released in norway?

Queen of Comedy, on 21 March 2012 - 11:29 AM, said:

I'm wondering the same about Italy

I would suggest just ordering it from the link posted earlier in the thread. While I haven't received mine yet, the ordering process worked out perfectly fine.

[Driver Nate]

I'm hoping it shows up on newsstands here in the U.S. That $9 shipping fee to order it from the U.K. is more than a bit steep.

[fanofrem]

found it in the store last saturday

[Colinzeal]

Just read Peter's interview from 88 in Melody Maker. It's a good job he didn't do all his interviews drunk! He sounds like a nutter in that one.

[fanfan]

Here in Germany in my home town it is available in a good record store that sells music magazines as well.

[chrome3d]

This magazine is quite widely available in Finland. It was a bit pricey at 11,3 euros, considering that Uncut is 7,3 euros and comes with a CD. I was able to resist it for 2 days. Since I don't own any books and such of the band I figured it would be worth it. Nice to read it while listening to a R.E.M. album. Yes, some song ratings are a bit bizarre. All songs on Murmur are 5 stars but then Rockville is the only 5 from Reckoning? I guess they just had to make some difference between the albums.

It had never occured to me that Life's Rich Pageant was frontloaded. According to Uncut all the tracks from 1 to 7 are brilliant 4-5 star songs but then the drive ends and What If We Give It Away is 3 and so are the rest. How can one of the best albums ever made drop in quality so much during the second half? I listened to it again and the claim doesn't make any sense.

Also funny (or unfunny) was the revelation that Leave is mostly done by Bill and maybe it tells sonically how it feels to have an aneyrusm. Yeah, that probably explains the disturbing nature of the song.

[kizmatica]

I forgot how funny Michael was  

In the mid 90's, some of Michael's interviews presented here are hilarious. He is so deadpan in all of them! Maybe it was a lack of interest in the band, or he had other more interesting priorities, but  towards the end of their career he came across too serious, emotional or defensive in interviews.

I dunno, I just think he seems way more alive and unconcerned in these early interviews.

[Driver Nate]

Finally tracked down a copy at the Barnes & Noble at Triangle Town Center in Raleigh.

[Colinzeal]

Have to say the only thing I have not enjoyed so far is the interview with MIchael and Courtney Love. The mutual love-in is a bit vulgar!!

[stipeeyes]

I found the magazine in New York yesterday morning at the Barnes and Nobles there.  They had a big stack of them on the shelf.  I'm happy I found it.

[killogwil]

Worst ink and paper ever, specially for a 'fan edition'.

[In My Stipean Year]

I've read the tribute issue cover-to-cover and here are a few thoughts:

• Mike Mills' introduction confirms the old saying that performers only ever remember bad reviews.  Really, there's nothing in this issue that is especially critical, even when it involves a real dog like Around the Sun.  If anything, Uncut and its predecessor publications were too uncritical at times.
  
• I thought that the I.R.S.-era interviews were the most interesting ones.  The interviews tied to the first five Warner Brothers-era albums were half as interesting as the I.R.S.-era interviews, and the interviews tied to the final five Warner Bros-era albums were half as interesting as those tied to the first five Warner Brothers-era albums.  Really, by the end, it seemed like the band didn't have anything particularly interesting to say.  I always feel like a band is in trouble when all they can talk about is the merits/demerits of fame.
  
• The joint interview with Michael Stipe and Courtney Love is sad in retrospect given what we all know has happened to Love in the intervening years.  I give credit to Stipe for staying loyal to her -- she certainly doesn't make it easy for her admirers.
  
• As a Patti Smith fan, I was intrigued by some of Mike Mills' comments about her and her late husband when discussing "E-Bow the Letter".  I didn't know they wanted her to sing on Monster or that Fred Smith had vetoed the idea.  Patti Smith's "Detroit period" is much-shrouded in mystery so Mills' comments are very, very interesting.