Tuesday, July 21, 2009

REM Update


NERDHAPPY has children that I'm fond of, so I don't want them one day coming online and seeing me make their dad cry, but I did some tentative Murmer/Reckoning research and have come up with:

MURMER

Super Slice: Radio Free Europe, Pilgrimage, Moral Kiosk, Perfect Circle, Catapult, Sitting Still, Shaking Through
Slice: Laughing, Talk About the Passion, We Walk, 9-9
Not a Slice: West of the Fields

RECKONING
Super Slice: Pretty Persuasion, Dont Go Back to Rockville
Slice: Harborcoat, So. Central Rain, Time After Time, Camera
Not a Slice: Seven Chinese Brothers, Letter Never Sent, Little America,Second Guessing

BONUS: What's wrong with Reckoning?

Let's take a look: the Super Slices are Super Slices, no doubt. But even the slices are questionable, very weak:

Harborcoat: an okay song, but seems weaker by being the leadoff track. Not a great opener.
So Central Rain: a good song ruined by it's status as an REM "classic." Which it's not. Average.
Second Guessing, Time After Time, Camera all fall prey to that "not as good as the first album" thing - sounds like songs from the first album, just not as good. Same with Letter Never Sent & Little America (another overrated REM joint.) As for Seven Chinese Brothers it's a great riff, but overshadowed by it's sister song Voice of Harold, so.

TOTAL SONGS THAT WOULD'VE MADE MURMER IF IT WAS UP TO ME: Pretty Persuasion, Rockville.

Sorry, NH!! :)

6 comments:

Nerdhappy said...

Reposting comment here in case some of your millions of readers should happen to miss my geniousityness:

Murmur for me is #4, behind Reckoning, Fables, and (wait for it) Chronic Town, which is a freakin EP!

Nerdhappy said...

Oh, and the simple fact that you dont have Harborcoat as a Super Slice just says that your left ear is filled with Palin's gravy!

Xmastime said...

hahahaha!! :) I can live with you liking reckoning over murmer, if only for nostalgic reasons, but #4??!?!??!?!?!? youre crazy!!!

Anonymous said...

While I agree with Murmur over Reckoning, Little America is as good as anything on either record.

jon said...

Murmur is better than Reckoning, it's true, but you gotta spell it right!

Also, 'Letter Never Sent' is terrific, and 'Little America' is better than you're crediting it too. I'd put those two along with 'Harborcoat' on Super Murmur at the expense of 'We Walk' 'West of the Fields' and, uh, 'Catapult.'

The Gnat said...

Voice of Harold - Gnat Super Super Slice