These Days

These Days by R.E.M.



Editor's Note: It was an innocent point that I made on a Wednesday night between rounds of Trivia. R.E.M. was the greatest American band ever. The table looked at me as if I had just called Mao a great human. Thus the debate began: Who is the greatest American band? We eliminated every singer song writer or solo performer. So Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, etc. were eliminated. Other than that, anything went. This week I present the arguments for who I think should be in the running.

Pros: It's natural, for me, to start with R.E.M. since they are the band I called the greatest American band, and I've stood by this stance in this nearly year long debate. The case for R.E.M. is easy—if they stopped making albums in 1992 (or even in 1994), they'd probably win this debate hands down. They're first six albums were good to great, and if you're a big fan of "Out of Time" then their first eight albums are all good to great. That's an impressive feat and something most American bands can't claim. R.E.M. was incredibly flexible and fresh over this time, they never appear to try too hard (save, again, for Out of Time)... They are truly American, R.E.M. couldn't have come from any other country... well maybe Canada... they aren't the fathers of either indie or alternative rock, but you know what? Both genres wouldn't be what they are without R.E.M. the band's impact is huge. Who else can you say that about? The Velvet Underground—maybe... they're music from the 80s still holds up as fresh and new today...they sound like they're having fun, something pretty much every indie band out there should take notes and attempt to pull off.

Cons: Some people don't mind "Monster" but the album hasn't aged well. After an amazing 10 year run, they really haven't done anything that great since the early-'90s (though some people love "New Adventures in High-Fi")...They have a few too many cheesy songs that are a little too popular ("Shiny Happy People" and "It's the End of the World")... at some point they became a little too, well, generic...they're underrated? I'm not sure what that means, but I think too many GenYers have missed the boat on R.E.M. which says something right there.

Best Album: R.E.M. lacks that definitive album, which might not be a bad thing, but the home run out of the park album isn't on R.E.M.'s CV. They do have at least six albums that music fans and critics would consider classic (depending on who you ask). But if you just met someone who had never heard of R.E.M. what album do you tell them to buy? I mean, what is a must own R.E.M. album? "Automatic for the People"? "Murmur"? "Life's Rich Pageant"? I'll go with "Murmur" it might not be their best, though I'm sure many will say it is, but it's their most important album since, well, no one else sounded like this in 1983.

Best Song: These Days -- really this combines all the great things about R.E.M. It rocks, it's urgent, but not over the top, Stripe's sings the song well—maybe his most over looked ability is that he sounds so confused when he sings, yet are confusing yet awesome, But the best part of the song is the instrumental work—the guitar is great and the drum work is one of the better jobs in a rock song.