As one diarist sums up in the wake of R.E.M.’s decision this week to call it a day, the band was dedicated like few others to “making music on its own terms.” Respected by their peers on a level enjoyed by few other bands, R.E.M. forged a 31 year career out of a handful of exquisite influences: the glistening, Rickenbacker-driven janglepop of the Byrds, a melodic take on seventies’ glam, the d0-it-yourself ethos of punk. R.E.M.’s peculiar alchemy was called many things over the years (college rock comes quickly to mind, the band being “alternative” before there was such a genre), although the band stubbornly defied categorization in releasing such stylistically disparate albums as Out of Time, Automatic for the People, and Monster (all released during the midpoint of the band’s career, a period which coincided with their critical and commercial peak). Part of the “fun and fascination” of being an R.E.M. fan, as Rolling Stone once reported, was never knowing what direction the band would take next. To their great credit. R.E.M. never made the same record twice.
“We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word,” writes bassist Mike Mills on the breakup.” Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this–there’s no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We’ve made this decision together, amicably and with each other’s best interests at heart. The time just feels right.”
According to a carer summary in The Atlantic, “R.E.M. released 15 albums, an EP, and one early rarities collection (Dead Letter Office) between 1982 and 2012 (sic). Six of these went platinum. In terms of critical and eventual popular acclaim, R.E.M.’s run between 1982 (their debut EP Chronic Town) and 1998 (the chilly, buzzing Up) ranks with the peaks of any great American rock band.”
I came to the band a bit late, I must admit, not becoming a huge R.E.M. until the release of their fourth album, Life’s Rich Pageant, in 1986. I wore out three cassette tapes of that album, though, memorizing every Homeric twist and turn of favorite tracks such as “The Flowers of Guatemala,” “I Believe,” and “Begin the Begin.” I drove and sang along to the album countless times, so much so that even now the songs sometime seem to play on permanent repeat in my mind. This was my first R.E.M. album, and in many ways it has remained my favorite. It’s the album I go back to to remind myself of why I became such a big fan to begin with.
birdie in the hand
for life’s rich demand
the insurgency began and we missed it
Guitarist Peter Buck: ”Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone who has followed us and supported us through the years. Even if it’s only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of the club: watching a group of 19 year olds trying to change the world.”
