High Speed Train

Around The Sun is often ranked at the bottom of R.E.M. album lists, and I don't think it's their best work either, but it's still R.E.M., and even at their so-called worst, they're mostly OK, with some excellent and absolutely wonderful songs hidden amongst the not-so-good ones, like this particular song.

Tourfilm

Today marks the 25th anniversary of R.E.M. releasing their first ever live video, Tourfilm, which - I think - captured them at their peak.

The best year ever

If we wanted to, we could use the 1987 calendar this year, as each day fell on the exact same day of the week. (Obviously, if there's one match and the years in question are both "normal" years or both leap years, all the other days have to match as well). Anyway, 24th August was also Monday back then, which is when new releases come out in the UK, and those included the Depeche Mode single "Never Let Me Down Again" 28 years ago - one of the best songs ever. I wouldn't say that such a treat appearing today is completely impossible, but I do feel that particular year was quite special, and it's not (just) nostalgia, as I was actually too young to appreciate it at the time.

My generation

Well, my chosen one, to be precise, I'm slightly younger than them. There might be several great solo artists, but the acts that had the biggest impact on me are bands, and I couldn’t help but notice that quite a few of my favourite bands are made up of guys who are roughly the same age, which could be more than just a coincidence.

REMTV

Yesterday, R.E.M. announced a massive new release for November this year: a 6 DVD-collection, compiled from the MTV (once known as Music Television) archives. The format seems somewhat outdated, but we have to keep in mind that the footage included was filmed for television broadcast, probably not shot on film, so the majority might not be HD anyway. When no longer active bands pull stuff from their vaults like this, it’s usually seen as an easy way to cash in (I deliberately avoided the term “to make a few bucks”), but I don’t think that applies here – no casual fan will buy a 6 disc collection, it’s clearly for the hardcore fans, collectors and completists. I’ll share some of my thoughts about the content below.