People love to complain that R.E.M. should have broken up when Bill Berry quit in 1997, to preserve their legacy in a pristine state. Except this misses the fundamental point of R.E.M., which is that rock and roll is something you do, something that’s part of your real sloppy life, rather than a fleeting phase. They decided not to be a “go out in a blaze of glory” band like the Smiths or Husker Du, and they also decided not to be a “blaze gloriously and then kinda fade out so everybody assumes you broke up even though maybe you officially didn’t” kind of band, like Echo and the Bunnymen or the Jesus and Mary Chain. They decided to be a “run it into the ground” band, plowing ahead whether they had the wind at their backs or not. And they ran it into the ground. That’s an essential part of their greatness

”

—

R.E.M. R.I.P.: Thank You for Running It Into the Ground | Rob Sheffield | Rolling Stone

Rob Sheffield is a man who gets it.

(via perpetua)

(via perpetua)

As I worked my way backwards through the R.E.M. Catalog in high school, this is the song that indicated to me that there was maybe Something More to this band.

perpetua:

R.E.M.
“Feeling Gravity’s Pull”

My review of the reissue of R.E.M.’s third album Fables of the Reconstruction is up on Pitchfork today. I was glad to do it, as I realized in retrospect that I didn’t do as well by those songs in the Pop Songs project as I would have liked.

Beat A Drum - R.E.M.

I’ve heard “Daysleeper” referred to as “the last truly great R.E.M. song.” It feels disingenuous to suggest that that title actually belongs to “Beat a Drum.” It doesn’t go anywhere or do much of anything, just lilting along at a snail’s pace… yet it so amazingly communicates a feeling, a state of mind, a time and place.