R.E.M. "Live at the Olympia"---Hear Prior to Release
Posted: Oct 24, 2009According to NPR, Live at the Olympia is not a live collection of R.E.M.'s greatest hits, far from it. In fact, it doesn't really feel like a live album. " It feels more like R.E.M.'s gift to its most diehard fans. "
Prior to the October 27, 2009, release of Live at the Olympia, R.E.M fans can listen to all 39 tracks of the new album on National Public Radio at this site First LIsten: LIve at the Olympia.
The album was recorded for five nights (between June 30 and July 5, 2007) when the band was performing at the Olympia Theater in Dublin. The idea was to test out material that would eventually appear on the album Accelerate, released in early 2008.
Here is the text from the NPR news article regarding the sound track:
"What you get here are the songs R.E.M. and its diehard fans love. "Wolves, Lower," for example, or "Carnival of Sorts" — tracks that were recorded shortly after art student Michael Stipe dropped out of the University of Georgia.
"This is the sound of four twentysomethings figuring out who they were and their places in the world. It's the sound of a band making music for The 40 Watt Club in downtown Athens, Ga. It's the sound of subtle political music at the dawn of the Reagan era.
"For each record represented, the songs the band chose to perform live are among the least obvious picks. From 1987's Document, R.E.M. plays "Disturbance at the Heron House" and "Welcome to the Occupation," not "Finest Worksong" or "The One I Love." From 1992's Automatic for the People, they perform "Drive." From 1994's Monster, the track is "Circus Envy" — one of the most energetic and bold pieces the group has ever recorded.
"This is the history of R.E.M. told through 39 songs, spanning 1981-2007. But no longer are Stipe's lyrics unintelligible, and the band sounds better than ever. Its members are better musicians who seem to genuinely love what they've been able to create over the course of nearly three decades."
ENJOY!!!
-----Penne J. Laubenthal
Comments
clements says...
Fantastic music that my friends and I at Auburn came of age together with these boys from Georgia. Still listen to them frequently and earnestly although I find myself listening to Dylan more now than I ever have. Thanks for the information and keep great work coming.
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