Here’s a band that seems largely forgotten now.
Back in ’85 when this concert was recorded, REM was becoming one of the biggest bands in America – even if nobody could understand Michael Stipe’s mumbled lyrics.
From Germany, REM, in 1985.
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New Wave to Progressive Rock
I don’t know that REM was ever considered “new wave”, but they came along about as the transition to progressive rock was getting started (I’m working from memory here).
I would call them the vanguard of prog rock.
They helped turn the music from the extroverted blast of punk and new wave to a slower more inward looking sound.
They were the yang to the B-52’s yin (or maybe t’ther way round?). The B-52’s were all exuberant, out there, girl-boy, silly-sexy energy.
REM was thoughtful, intellectual, subject oriented.
The only thing they had in common with the B-52s was a hometown: Athens, GA. Where punk and new wave had fostered in CBGB’s (subject of a forthcoming movie), Mudd Club and other hotspots in NYC, REM came from a college town in the south.
That helped the music move beyond the vision of the two big cities of punk (NYC and London).
Alternative maybe, not Prog
Most music types consider Prog to have started with Sgt. Pepper in ’67, and certainly with Crimson’s 1st album in ’69, Prog was its own thing. REM came along many moons later. I’d say they were the intro to ‘alternative’ -that was a short-lived and underrated genre.
annikee is right
I never would have regarded REM as prog or new wave. As I recalled, they were pretty different from most bands at the time, particularly the grudge sound from Seattle that was becoming popular. REM harked back to the days of the jingle jangle sound of the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. They were really an “underground” college band during the time of this show and would break out within the next two years. I have never been a big rock fan, I have always been a blues/RnB fan, but at this time, the only two rock bands I would listen to was the Smiths and REM. By 1987-88, these two bands would be worldwide huge. The reception from the German audience at this concertwas luke warm at best, but they probably had no idea who these guys were. I always thought REM sounded best in the studio, I have never heard a great live recording of them. This concert though is pretty good and I enjoyed it. I saw REM once, 2 days after Bush won. Stipe was in a piss poor mood and the show suffered because of it. Thanks for posting this, it reminded me why I liked this band.