MSU Red Cedar Message Board

I never did see them in the 80's. I had the misfortune of seeing them (for free) about 10 years ago or so at Pine Knob. The most boring and worst show I've ever been to. And I've been to a lot of bad shows.

Buck's riffs are some of the best in rock.

I saw REM at MSG, it was a mind blowing show. They ignited that entire arena once they started belting out the hits. Probably the best show I've seen at MSG.

The show you describe in Portland sounds dismal. I read about how the Clash when they were all political on stage used to show images of the Yorkshire Ripper and then a bunch of pics of Union Strikes and then student protests. I hate sh*t like that.

Stipe is gay and came out publicly about a decade ago. Not exactly a surprise to anybody, but good for him in getting to a healthier place. He's also talked publicly about his issues with bulimia. Gay and weight loss started the rumor. He's answered them. I've no reason to doubt what he's said is true. He also seems to work a certain Tom Hanks in Philadelphia look, which probably doesn't help.....

Well if he makes it to January his ass in on my Dead Pool squad.

I like REM's music, although I wouldn't classify myself as a hardcore fan. While the music from the 80s was good, I'm also a fan of some of their 90s albums. New Adventures in Hi-Fi has some absolutely beautiful songs on it. Monster has a lot of killer guitar riffs. I'm sure I will now be ridiculed for my horrid taste in music, but whatever.

+1 - Yes, they are - and he did most of them on a Rickenbacker 360/6, and except for Tom Petty and The Edge (sometimes) not a commonly-seen axe these days compared to Strats, Teles and Les Pauls.

I saw them in '87, and it was a very good show - heavy on songs from "Document" and "Life's Rich Pageant," with some fun covers like Lou Gramm's "Midnight Blue," and a medley that included "Sussudio" and Michael Jackson's "Bad". I liked them through the "Green" album, but with "Out of Time" they seemed to become overly-serious and pretentious, and they started making slow and boring music. I've never had a 180-degree change of opinion about any other band, but I went from a big fan to completely disinterested in one album.

I always liked this pavement song about R.E.M.

You're out of your element Donny.

For the youngsters who can't distinguish between Air Supply and REM, once upon a time, "college rock" was a distinct sub-genre of rock. Bands built a fanbase through college radio stations, toured college towns, carved out a career selliing enough records to college-aged kids. Those were bands like REM, 10,000 Maniacs, the Replacements, the Pixies, Violent Femmes, U2, etc. Nirvana sort of blew that genre up into a more mainstream alternative rock and the big record labels starting looking to pick up bands off smaller labels. REM was originally an IRS band and signed to Warner Brothers for the Green album. Big change for them and the genre. Nirvana really changed that dynamic.

Air Supply was a soft rock band and you would've found their music on adult contemporary charts and adult contemporary radio stations. From that era, think of Leo Sayer, Christopher Cross, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Pure Prarie League, etc. Those artists didn't exactly flock to college towns for support.

I'm not suggesting you should like or dislike either REM or Air Supply, although Lost in Love is actually a well crafted song. It's just that you should at least understand the dynamic of music in the 80s if you're going to lump bands together......

Thanks for giving me the chance to downvote you twice for the same stupid comment.