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Post by oh oooh on Jan 7, 2019 8:22:55 GMT
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-745686-1194283470.jpeg.jpg) You could argue that this is their best album. No? It's not an album, you say? It's at least a little overlooked, I think. Everything there is great. Do you remember it coming out (February 1985)? Were you EXCITED? I was! and I certainly wasn't disappointed (I hadn't heard most of it before). |
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Post by Charlie O. on Jan 7, 2019 8:33:04 GMT
I was excited beyond belief - although having previously heard several of the songs on bootlegs, I thought the mixes here tended to be a little too clean and shiny. Some years later I read an interview with Mo where she said much the same thing (she sounds like she's in a cave on "I'm Sticking With You").
I went with "I Can't Stand It", "Foggy Notion" and... "Stephanie Says" just beating out several others.
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Post by oh oooh on Jan 7, 2019 9:26:07 GMT
...I thought the mixes here tended to be a little too clean and shiny. Yeah, I remember thinking they might even have rerecorded the drums on some tracks (altho' now I'm sure that's not the case). Have you heard this, O? to my ears it's better than the version on VU - that beautiful Velvet Underground thunder! |
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Post by Charlie O. on Jan 7, 2019 9:32:01 GMT
Funny you should pick that particular song - it's the only one where I might actually prefer the '80s mix!
Great either way, though.
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loveless
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Post by loveless on Jan 7, 2019 10:01:10 GMT
"Ocean" was (and is) the real standout on here for me.
I might have actually flipped a little harder for Another View.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2019 10:12:05 GMT
I agree it's the best album, even though I think of it as a compilation. Does anyone know the history? Were these tracks specifically recorded for the third album?
Anyway Ocean, I Can't Stand It and Foggy Notion are the stand outs for me.
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Post by Charlie O. on Jan 7, 2019 10:19:49 GMT
Were these tracks specifically recorded for the third album? They were intended for a never-completed fourth album, except for "Stephanie Says" and "Temptation Inside Your Heart" which I think were intended for a never-released 45. When they jumped/were pushed off MGM and signed with Atlantic, these were left on the shelf. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2019 11:38:42 GMT
Thanks. I wonder why Reed didn't use some of those songs for Loaded?
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Post by Charlie O. on Jan 7, 2019 15:03:01 GMT
He was still writing prolifically, and these songs probably just seemed "old" to him/them by that point. Fresh start and all that.
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toomanyhatz
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Post by toomanyhatz on Jan 7, 2019 18:22:29 GMT
Yes, pretty much everything on it's great, though "Lisa Says" is a bit overegged, and "Andy's Chest" is more fleshed out (heh) on Transformer.
I voted for:
"Ocean" - though it's not my favorite version of it, it's an essential part of the "canon" and that was the first official studio release.
"Temptation Inside Your Heart" - which could have just as easily been "I Can't Stand It," "Foggy Notion" or even "One of These Days" - I love the feel of this kind of stuff and think it's the theme of the period. Don't know how to describe it but let's just define it as "really great rhythm guitar playing."
"I'm Sticking With You" - Because Mo. (Shame she's a weird Trumper now, it makes it harder to have the amount of affection I had for her in 1985.)
It may fit behind all their "official" releases for me (at least the studio ones), but there is definitely a whole great studio album there that can stand with them. To say it was a breath of fresh air at the time when REM was our standard of greatness can not be done without considerable understatement.
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Post by oh oooh on Jan 7, 2019 18:27:02 GMT
To say it was a breath of fresh air at the time when REM was our standard of greatness can not be done without considerable understatement. Beautifully put. |
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Post by rayge on Jan 7, 2019 19:04:58 GMT
I voted for: "Ocean" - though it's not my favorite version of it, it's an essential part of the "canon" and that was the first official studio release. "Temptation Inside Your Heart" - which could have just as easily been "I Can't Stand It," "Foggy Notion" or even "One of These Days" - I love the feel of this kind of stuff and think it's the theme of the period. Don't know how to describe it but let's just define it as "really great rhythm guitar playing." "I'm Sticking With You" - Because Mo. (Shame she's a weird Trumper now, it makes it harder to have the amount of affection I had for her in 1985.) It may fit behind all their "official" releases for me (at least the studio ones), but there is definitely a whole great studio album there that can stand with them. To say it was a breath of fresh air at the time when REM was our standard of greatness can not be done without considerable understatement. Weirdly enough, I voted for the same three, for exactly the same reasons and with more or less the same qualifications. Spooky |
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Post by thesupermoop on Jan 9, 2019 9:54:09 GMT
It really is their best album isn't it? Comp or otherwise.
It's a sort of masterclass in songwriting.
I could do without Doug Yule's vocals, but hey you can't have it all.
Every song is fantastic - I'm tempted to vote Foggy Notion for the warbling Sally Mae...eeee chorus, but I guess it'll have to be I'm Sticking With You. Charm in a bottle!
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VU (1985)
Jan 9, 2019 17:54:55 GMT
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Post by oh oooh on Jan 9, 2019 17:54:55 GMT
I'm tempted to vote Foggy Notion for the warbling Sally Mae...eeee chorus... aha! |
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Post by Charlie O. on Jan 9, 2019 19:52:21 GMT
Does anyone know (I'm looking at you, rayge) why doo-wop mogul Hy Weiss has a songwriting credit on "Foggy Notion"? (Not on the original releases, but on subsequent ones.) I assume it's because Lou "borrowed" something from one of his copyrights, but I'd love to know which one!
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