Comments on: Alt-Rock Smackdown: R.E.M. vs. U2, Part 3

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:01:03 +0000

Im REM all the way… I love U2, I hate Bono with a passion. His arrogance and self worshiping have ruined U2 for me. Michael Stipe was never like that. Michael Stipe is so humble, he takes his lyrics on stage with him because he forgets it. REM does what U2 could never do… come out, play the songs, not move around to much and leave… and still leave the audience extremely satisfied. Im a huge can of Automatic for the People muself.. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite is the best song of all time in my oppinion. All U2 songs sound the same to me. I could swear Edge only has one intro…

Thats another thing, being humble will get you far. I mean, how are you going to change your name to The Edge? I couldnt never see Michael changing his name to The Stipe… He was fine with his name, never tried to mess around with it. For me its not just the music, its the attitude. REM loves what they do. They are humble about it. They are TRUE musicians. I think they are probably the only band in the world that I would agree with this statement: They do NOT do it for the money or the fame.

Its noble of Bono and U2 to try get across messages trying to help people, but when the douche filter is being clogged by you, there isnt a real way for this to happen.

REM ALL THE WAY!

By: admin

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:42:48 +0000

@Andy:
If you only knew how anal I get with the tagging - every song with a star rating, making sure each song has the correct year, and that doggone genre rating. I mean, what’s R.E.M.? Alt-rock? College rock? Folk rock? Adult alternative? Jangle pop?

I love that book, BTW. That is me.

By: Jody

Jody — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:31:21 +0000

I, too get chill bumps every time Where the Streets Have No Name begins. Both of those groups are so significant to me because attached with their songs are memories of mine from the times in my life where I was going through so much…Joshua Tree pretty much covered my entire high school years. But then Out of Time came along my freshmen year at Auburn and helped me through one of the toughest times and Best times of my life!! For that I will forever be indebted to REM; however, my true love is U2. I mean, come on…BONO!

By: Boo-Boo

Boo-Boo — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:38:49 +0000

I actually found Achtung Baby very enjoyable and Ultraviolet–one of the albums tracks–is one of my all-time favs.

I think you can love both R.E.M. and U2 for two reasons:

They have longevity. Their music is still popular and enjoyable years later. They’ve survived.

Both groups are best when working together and not solo. All too often bands break up and the lead singer or other members go solo (Darn you, Natalie Merchant!) R.E.M. floundered, stumbled, lost their way after Bill Berry left the group. And I honestly can’t ever imagine Bono, Edge, Adam, or Larry ever really succeeding musically without their other band members. Granted, R.E.M. apparently has found their direction again with the new CD which I haven’t heard yet, but look how long it took them! And since I haven’t heard the CD yet, I’m not sure I’ll be convinced that they are indeed back.

By: andy

andy — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:57:38 +0000

Dude, if you haven’t memorized High Fidelity yet, watch/read tonight. You late at night with the MP3s — just like the Rob character rearranging the LPs autobiographically.

Remember: it’s not what you’re like, but what you like…

Rock on.

By: Rol

Rol — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:31:59 +0000

For me, it’s very true. While I’ve stuck with REM through the lean years, panning the occasional gem from the pebbles… I never loved Bono. I can think of about three U2 songs I wouldn’t immediately turn off if they came on the radio… and if it was the video, I’d have to turn those off too.

Still, it’s always interesting to hear another perspective.