REM vs. Live
Peter A
been very inspired by REM (and perhaps still is). Live is
now beginning to be wellknown in Europe and their second
album "throwing copper" from last year is selling pretty
well.
What I thought about when listening to that album is that
it has some similarities to "Fables of the reconstruction",
REM's third album.
The first song on the record "the dam at otter creek" sounds
a whole lot like the first song on "Fables...", "Felling
gravity pull". The second song "selling the drama" is more
of a commercial song, matching "Fables.." second song "Maps
and legends", etc. This leads me to think that if REM had made
"Fables..." today (minus a certain english producer) it
would probably had sounded a lot like "throwing copper",
with a harder, more 90's sound to it.
Just a thought....
------------
*And I always thought that it would make me smarter
but it only made me harder"
NWH, OTT
/Peter A
Sonic Fury
>Just a thought....
>/Peter A
Well, I'm a big fan of REM and have never been a fan of Live. I remember the
first time I saw Live play at the Chameleon in Lancaster, I was thinking, "Hmmm,
some local band trying to sound like REM." Then the press caught on and before
I knew it they were making a video down at this park, Rocky Ridge, which pissed
me off at the time because we wanted to go smoke a bowl there but we couldn't
with the cameras there. Then I saw the video on MTV and wasn't surprised at how
bad it sucked! A bunch of freaks running around Rocky Ridge singing songs that
sound unremarkably familiar to REM. It did kind of make me laugh though to see
one of York's token (er tokin) stoner hangouts on MTV. But anyway, the fact
that Live does sound like REM was established here since the conception of the
band. Whenever Live comes on the radio here you can bet some smart ass is
saying, "Wow! A brand new REM song!" I still can't figure out why Live made it
so big, other than the fact that they sound like REM - this alone paving the way
for a huge fan base. There have been much better bands to come out of the area
without the recoginition Live received.
Paddy Da
Dark Man
>From: tish...@aol.com (TISHABETH)
>Subject: Re: REM vs. Live
>Date: 19 Jul 1995 01:14:28 -0400
>i love rem, but live makes me sick to my stomache. just the first chords
>of their over-played, over-hyped BAD music makes me want to scream. yes,
>they made it big. yes, even i went to see them live, but i don't think
>that they are all that and don't deserve to be compared to rem. infact,
>live doesn't deserve to be put in the same sentence as REM. call me judge
>mental, but if a group sets out to be a cover-band forever, then they
>should stick to their garages where they started!
You are judgemental, Live are a good band they worked hard to get where they
are. So what if they sound like REM, everybody has influences. Where do you
think the 'REM sound' came from do you think they invented it all on their own
or did it come from listening to other bands and taking bits they liked (hint
its the latter option) . Live have turned out a pretty good 2nd album - in
fact I would go as far as to say that its the album REM should have made,
instead they gave us monster, oh well.
wayne
TISHABETH
Sean McKinnon
of Live's Throwing Copper album. Is there any link between these
bands (other than the way they sound)?
I happen to like Throwing Copper a lot, and I still think REM is
the greatest band in the world. I don't see a conflict with this
either.
Is there a Live newsgroup out here? I am trying to find out who
Barbara Lewis is. At the end of the printed lyrics for
Lightning Crashes there is a epitath - Barbara Lewis 1973-1993.
Having watched the video, I suspect she might be a friend who
died during childbirth?
Sorry if this is old news, or has been discussed before, but I
haven't seen it anywhere.
Cheers - Sean McKinnon
--
Sean McKinnon
Trav s
we'll talk. Don't get me wrong I like LIVE, but there is something
about "paying your dues". REM has played every dump around the
south.
Travis
--
Dirk Paul Flach
I think you are being pathetic. You may not like Live, but there is no
real reason to put it this way. Oh yeah, REM is GOD...
Thanks for the first reaction of this post, who outlined that not all REM
albums are evenly good.
And yes, I do like both.
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Ralph X II
>mental, but if a group sets out to be a cover-band forever, then they
>should stick to their garages where they started!
What the heck are you talking about? Live is anything but a cover band.
And they bear some stark differences from REM; for example, the pounding
guitar sound on Throwing Copper isn't comparable to anything REM's done.
So Live is similar to REM in some ways? So what? Nirvana was too. And Toad
the Wet Sprocket, and Blues Traveler, and many many many other bands. Not
every band can be its own totally unique new thing; they're gonna sound
like someone. And if they sound like REM sometimes, I'm not gonna
complain, 'cuz I kinda like that sound. :-)
Andy
__________________________________________
/ \
\ "Watch the road and memorize /
/ this life that passed before my eyes; \
\ None of this is going my way..." /
/ -- Berry-Buck-Mills-Stipe \
\__________________________________________/
Ralph X II
>Barbara Lewis is. At the end of the printed lyrics for
>Lightning Crashes there is a epitath - Barbara Lewis 1973-1993.
>Having watched the video, I suspect she might be a friend who
>died during childbirth?
There is, in fact, a +Live+ newsgroup, although I guess some places have
been having trouble getting it. It's called alt.music.live.the.band, and
it's been around for a few months now. Barbara Lewis was a high school
friend of the band's who died, although not during childbirth; that's just
the theme of the song and video. She was killed by a drunk driver.
Royale wit Cheese
I liked their first album a lot. It was different, and it was
emotional. Like REM with a harder edge.
I think they took the REM comparisons a bit too seriously and consciously
tried for that sound on "Throwing Copper." I think they failed. Some of
the tracks (i.e. "Selling the Drama" and "All Over You") are quality
songs, but even "All Over You" (as well as "Lightning Crashes" and "I
Alone" - I really can't think of the names of any non-singles right now)
is a bit repetitive and insipid. I feel like the Live musical formula is
"slow, sparse ballad --> lots of overemotional screaming --> reapeat for
four minutes, using same lyrics over and over." Their sounds are not all
that unlike, but it seems that Live capitalizes on the emotional
connotations - baggage, if you will - of words (like throwing in "now we
won't be raped" for what seems to me no reason in StD), while Stipe and
REM take phrases which don't necessarily even have a recognizable meaning
as written, but that evoke new feelings every time you hear them. I find
that INFINITELY more interesting.
But Live can rock. I like "Mental Jewelry." I just wish their lead
singer would stop this tortured sensitive artist crap (a la Stipe or
Morrissey) and invent his own thing.
PS - is that hair divinely inspired by Green-era Stipey or what?
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i s p e l l e d y o u r n a m e i n o a t i e - o s
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DAVE RUBIN 203.777.5617 (6-18 to 8-11) ru...@minerva.cis.yale.edu
Ralph X II
How many dums in the south did Aerosmith or the Stones play?
Pamela M Aucoin
: In article <3ui4bk$4...@newsbf02.news.aol.com> tish...@aol.com (TISHABETH) writes:
: >From: tish...@aol.com (TISHABETH)
: >Subject: Re: REM vs. Live
: >Date: 19 Jul 1995 01:14:28 -0400
: >i love rem, but live makes me sick to my stomache. just the first chords
: >of their over-played, over-hyped BAD music makes me want to scream. yes,
: >they made it big. yes, even i went to see them live, but i don't think
: >that they are all that and don't deserve to be compared to rem. infact,
: >live doesn't deserve to be put in the same sentence as REM. call me judge
: >mental, but if a group sets out to be a cover-band forever, then they
: >should stick to their garages where they started!
: You are judgemental, Live are a good band they worked hard to get where they
: are. So what if they sound like REM, everybody has influences. Where do you
: think the 'REM sound' came from do you think they invented it all on their own
: or did it come from listening to other bands and taking bits they liked (hint
: its the latter option) . Live have turned out a pretty good 2nd album - in
: fact I would go as far as to say that its the album REM should have made,
: instead they gave us monster, oh well.
: wayne
is not everyone judgemental? i think the jist of her statement was
that she didn't live LIVE--regardless of how derivative or non-deriv-
ative they are. and by stating that LIVE is a "good band", are you
not being judgemental as well?
pam
Trav s
by Columbia. If you're comparing LIVE to Aerosmith and the Stones
you are either way off base or fifteen years before your time.
Travis
--
Avery
thing that strikes me when comparing the two bands:
During an REM concert, one can feel an agreeable level of safety whilst
viewing from the front row. During a Live concert, one should never take
your eyes from the guitarist while standing in the front row, otherwise
you may get hit by a flying guitar, just like I was in the final moments
of their appearance in Sydney, Australia April 15.
Apart from the bruises I suffered, I see nothing wrong with Live.
Ralph X II
>viewing from the front row. During a Live concert, one should never take
>your eyes from the guitarist while standing in the front row, otherwise
>you may get hit by a flying guitar, just like I was in the final moments
>of their appearance in Sydney, Australia April 15.
As well as the Live members should be aware of flying bottles from the
audience, as lead singer Ed Kowalczyk was hit by during their show in
Ithaca, NY.
thedaw...@gmail.com
> Come back in five years. If people still know who LIVE is then
> we'll talk. Don't get me wrong I like LIVE, but there is something
> about "paying your dues". REM has played every dump around the
> south.
>
>
>
> --
23 years later... I know who LIVE is, but I prefer REM.
