B-52's vs. R.E.M.

General music discussion.

Whose first three were better?

The B-52's (The B-52's / Wild Planet / Whammy!)
10
38%
R.E.M. (Murmur / Reckoning / Fables of the Reconstruction)
16
62%
 
Total votes: 26

Wolter
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Wolter »

WestwayKid wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 10:24am
Wolter wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 9:11am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
22 Apr 2021, 8:32pm
Wolter wrote:
22 Apr 2021, 8:23pm
I love the highs on the B-52’s, but i find the first three REM albums to be flawless, especially Fables. If I feel like listening to the B-52’s, I usually either listen to the debut or Nude On the Moon, but if I want REM, I tend to dive into the entire IRS catalog.
I think you're the only other person I know who regards Fables as highly as I do.
I know one other person not on here who does too.
I love Fables and rate it higher than Murmur and Reckoning (which are both excellent albums). It's maybe the best collection of songs they ever did from start to finish. It's got this odd, almost creepy vibe at times. I'm not from the South, but I've always felt the rural South through this album (which interestingly was recorded in London). Their entire IRS output is top notch, but Fables is the best.
I am from the south, and yeah. I’ve said before it’s the most southern album I’ve ever heard. Not country. Just southern. I can’t explain it, but the vibe is there.
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Mimi »

matedog wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 12:30am
I honestly don't think I know either very well. Probably worth a dive. I do know the European Radio song and Rock Lobster, both which rock.
I only know what I heard on the radio. :oops:

Although, I do have a funny (to me, probably) story about Rock Lobster. When I was a nanny, I went with the family to a huge gathering in Ohio. Think of the whitest of white people from old money drinking and shit. So they put Rock Lobster on and started dancing. Think of Al Gore dancing. Embarrassing af.

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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by JennyB »

Two words: Kate Pierson.
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Mimi wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 11:06am
matedog wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 12:30am
I honestly don't think I know either very well. Probably worth a dive. I do know the European Radio song and Rock Lobster, both which rock.
I only know what I heard on the radio. :oops:

Although, I do have a funny (to me, probably) story about Rock Lobster. When I was a nanny, I went with the family to a huge gathering in Ohio. Think of the whitest of white people from old money drinking and shit. So they put Rock Lobster on and started dancing. Think of Al Gore dancing. Embarrassing af.
And you without a camcorder.

(Semi-related, apparently JFK and Jackie liked dancing The Twist while in office. Foreign dignitaries and rich assholes at gatherings in the White House would do The Twist over drinks. Then, I dunno, he probably fucked everyone.)
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by WestwayKid »

Wolter wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 10:43am
WestwayKid wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 10:24am
Wolter wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 9:11am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
22 Apr 2021, 8:32pm
Wolter wrote:
22 Apr 2021, 8:23pm
I love the highs on the B-52’s, but i find the first three REM albums to be flawless, especially Fables. If I feel like listening to the B-52’s, I usually either listen to the debut or Nude On the Moon, but if I want REM, I tend to dive into the entire IRS catalog.
I think you're the only other person I know who regards Fables as highly as I do.
I know one other person not on here who does too.
I love Fables and rate it higher than Murmur and Reckoning (which are both excellent albums). It's maybe the best collection of songs they ever did from start to finish. It's got this odd, almost creepy vibe at times. I'm not from the South, but I've always felt the rural South through this album (which interestingly was recorded in London). Their entire IRS output is top notch, but Fables is the best.
I am from the south, and yeah. I’ve said before it’s the most southern album I’ve ever heard. Not country. Just southern. I can’t explain it, but the vibe is there.
I've heard them say they felt really homesick while recording in London during the winter and I wonder if that accounts for some of that vibe. It's interesting that Berry, Buck and Mills were not born in the south, but all moved there around the time they started high school. Stipe was born in Georgia, but only because his dad was stationed in the Army and then spent the rest of his childhood bouncing around the world/country, only returning to George to attend college.
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Sparky »

Mimi wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 11:06am
matedog wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 12:30am
I honestly don't think I know either very well. Probably worth a dive. I do know the European Radio song and Rock Lobster, both which rock.
I only know what I heard on the radio. :oops:

Although, I do have a funny (to me, probably) story about Rock Lobster. When I was a nanny, I went with the family to a huge gathering in Ohio. Think of the whitest of white people from old money drinking and shit. So they put Rock Lobster on and started dancing. Think of Al Gore dancing. Embarrassing af.
I'm guessing the dance sort of a cross between the Elaine Seinfeld dance and the infamous white mans overbite?
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Mimi »

Sparky wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 12:40pm
Mimi wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 11:06am
matedog wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 12:30am
I honestly don't think I know either very well. Probably worth a dive. I do know the European Radio song and Rock Lobster, both which rock.
I only know what I heard on the radio. :oops:

Although, I do have a funny (to me, probably) story about Rock Lobster. When I was a nanny, I went with the family to a huge gathering in Ohio. Think of the whitest of white people from old money drinking and shit. So they put Rock Lobster on and started dancing. Think of Al Gore dancing. Embarrassing af.
I'm guessing the dance sort of a cross between the Elaine Seinfeld dance and the infamous white mans overbite?
Yeah, and they thought they were so hep and cool listening to one B52s song. :rolleyes:

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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Sparky »

Mimi wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 12:44pm
Sparky wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 12:40pm
Mimi wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 11:06am
matedog wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 12:30am
I honestly don't think I know either very well. Probably worth a dive. I do know the European Radio song and Rock Lobster, both which rock.
I only know what I heard on the radio. :oops:

Although, I do have a funny (to me, probably) story about Rock Lobster. When I was a nanny, I went with the family to a huge gathering in Ohio. Think of the whitest of white people from old money drinking and shit. So they put Rock Lobster on and started dancing. Think of Al Gore dancing. Embarrassing af.
I'm guessing the dance sort of a cross between the Elaine Seinfeld dance and the infamous white mans overbite?
Yeah, and they thought they were so hep and cool listening to one B52s song. :rolleyes:
Well at least they weren't trying to mosh to it!
God, what a mess, on the ladder of success
Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung

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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Wolter »

JennyB wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 11:29am
Two words: Kate Pierson.
And yet when she appeared on an REM song it somehow diminished them both!
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Flex »

JennyB wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 11:29am
Two words: Kate Pierson.
Have I relayed that I went up the tram at Squaw with her? That's almost the entirety of the story. She was doing some kind of fundraiser. Good times.
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Wolter wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 1:36pm
JennyB wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 11:29am
Two words: Kate Pierson.
And yet when she appeared on an REM song it somehow diminished them both!
I've heard rumours of this hideous song, but seeing as it's never been released—some say it was never even recorded—we should just scotch it all.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Kimmelweck »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 10:30am
Kimmelweck wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 10:22am
Seriously though, I had only ever listened to Cosmic Thing from the B-52’s. I listened to their first 3 albums last night for the first time for the sake of the poll. I think I just find Fred Schneider’s delivery a bit on the annoyingly goofy side in a way that gets overly repetitive. I agree with Flex’s comparison to Devo though, and that aspect I like, musically. I’ll give them another listen at some point.
A book I taught this past year on new wave suggested that Schneider's voice, however honest or affected, is a satire of the uptight, middle-class white man's voice. Combine that with (esp. in the early years), his fashion of recycled leisure wear from the late 50s/early 60s, there was some mockery going on.
Yeah that makes sense.

I always liked Rock Lobster – it’s good party music – but I never looked very far into their catalog. I did enjoy checking out their first 3 albums last night though. Cosmic Thing is the only B-52’s album I own, and I haven’t listened to it in years. In fact, I really like Roam off of CT, but as Fred doesn’t sing on it, if I heard it on the radio 2 days ago I would have guessed it was the Go-Go’s.
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Kimmelweck wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 1:49pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 10:30am
Kimmelweck wrote:
23 Apr 2021, 10:22am
Seriously though, I had only ever listened to Cosmic Thing from the B-52’s. I listened to their first 3 albums last night for the first time for the sake of the poll. I think I just find Fred Schneider’s delivery a bit on the annoyingly goofy side in a way that gets overly repetitive. I agree with Flex’s comparison to Devo though, and that aspect I like, musically. I’ll give them another listen at some point.
A book I taught this past year on new wave suggested that Schneider's voice, however honest or affected, is a satire of the uptight, middle-class white man's voice. Combine that with (esp. in the early years), his fashion of recycled leisure wear from the late 50s/early 60s, there was some mockery going on.
Yeah that makes sense.

I always liked Rock Lobster – it’s good party music – but I never looked very far into their catalog. I did enjoy checking out their first 3 albums last night though. Cosmic Thing is the only B-52’s album I own, and I haven’t listened to it in years. In fact, I really like Roam off of CT, but as Fred doesn’t sing on it, if I heard it on the radio 2 days ago I would have guessed it was the Go-Go’s.
I don't care at all for the post-Ricky records. Not necessarily saying his death ruined the band in some way, I just don't find the music interesting or appealing.
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Flex »

With the B-52s, for anyone wanting to get a bit more familiar with their catalog, their EP Mesopotamia is much, much better than Whammy and really fits in better with the sound of their first two records (The CD version of that EP came with 81's Party Mix! which was, well, some remixes of their early songs and that release along with the first two LPs pretty much has you covered for the band's early, best years).

It's sort of a shame that Cosmic Thing is the album any casual is likely to be most familiar with since it's a post-breakup/reformation record made after the death of Ricky Wilson. It's not a bad record, but to Doc's point a lot of the social satire had morphed into more conventional nostalgia by then.
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Re: B-52's vs. R.E.M.

Post by Flex »

I had an English teacher in high school who was doing some unit where we were talking about Mesopotamia for reasons that I can't specifically recall, and he had me bring in my copy of said record (well, CD) to play the class the title track. He and I loved it but it cemented my status as an utterly out of sync weirdo with pretty much all my peers as they all obviously, viscerally hated it, lol.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

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