R.E.M. “…calling it a day as a band”

By James Sheldon on September 22nd, 2011

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(Here’s a little something to work you through the post.)

It’s the end of an era.

The band R.E.M. led by front man Michael Stipe, has decided they’re going their separate ways after making music together for three decades. If you’re of the XBox Generation, you may or may not know R.E.M. If you’re Generation X, the announcement that came via the band’s website yesterday is a little bittersweet. Not so much because you’re expecting their next release with the anticipation that you greeted Monster in ‘94, but because you know that there simply won’t be more original stuff flowing from one of the band’s that helped define the alternative sound.

Sure, the band will undoubtedly get together years from now and play a concert or two–maybe–you just never know.

Formed in 1980, you’d never guess these guys were all University of Georgia students who just happened together to jam on occasion. They were gigging before they ever had an official name, and were still kicking around options such as “Cans of Piss.” Stipe randomly chose R.E.M. from a dictionary, and for over 30 years they pumped out beloved industry singles, and era-defining albums such as 1992’s Automatic…for which former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones offered several string arrangements. In my humble opinion, it is the band’s most “realized” album release–but then, I had that sucker on cassette.

Like all good things, R.E.M. has come to an end. Many thanks to Michael Stipe, Bill Berry, Peter Buck and Mike Mills.

The R.E.M. Releases:

Murmur (1983)
Reckoning (1984)
Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)
Document (1987)
Green (1988)
Out of Time (1991)
Automatic for the People (1992)
Monster (1994)
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
Up (1998)
Reveal (2001)
Around the Sun (2004)
Accelerate (2008)
Collapse into Now (2011)