R.E.M. - Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars) | Reaction

#rem #carnivalofsorts #chronictown #michaelstipe #alternativerock #songreaction #musicreaction
TODAY'S VIDEO: The Audiophiles Reaction/Review - “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)" - by R.E.M.
Fair use: www.youtube.co...
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS

[@bendrew6356]

Together with radio free europe...my favourite rem....will easily be my number 1 song on this years spotify top songs

[@Manannan0402]

Love this. I discovered REM aged 15 when they appeared on The Tube promoting Fables of the Reconstruction. They did Driver 8 and Can't Get There From Here if I remember rightly. Quickly became obsessed, picked up their back catalogue and to this day the IRS years are my fave period of theirs. They had an inscrutability, mystery and timelessness to them back then which they mostly lost went they went Premier League.

[@theaudiophiles7889]

Hey Juan, you're absolutely right about the mystery. In those pre-Internet days very little was known about these mumbling, waistcoat-wearing dudes from Athens. I was actually excited to read those rare interviews with them in the music press. Imagine that! Now we know everything about everyone. And mostly I couldn't give a shit. Cheers, Jon.

[@Manannan0402]

@@theaudiophiles7889 Ha, indeed we do! Of course Stipe's gnomic lyrics at this point only added to that sense of strangeness. I used to spend hours trying to parse them.

[@nickmuzekari6124]

one of their best songs ... saw them live back in the day at the Spectrum in Philly- they had to cut the arena in half cause they weren't that popular yet at that time

[@dathorndike4908]

Your comparison to the Police is spot on because both bands were signed to IRS Records and were very familar with one another, so I am sure the influences were mutual.

[@bobpage665]

Love the “crying into a handbag” analogy

[@user-jg9dr6zt8i]

Like Andy's analysis, particularly the sound of The Police. Early REM crack on at a fair lick, every inch of the fret board covered in 3 mins, in the same way as early Police - these are songs to be performed live in small venues as part of a scene, initially. There is definitely art school in the lyrics, I believe Stipe when he says he doesn't know what the words meant in some of the songs, it always felt like he is enjoying the words in their form and arrangement, as much as what they mean. For me, his use of language was a breath of fresh air, compared to the usual MTV output. See the Fall On Me video.

[@isabellecolonia4261]

Amazing video, please do more R.E.M. songs!! I really like all of their discography New Adventures in H-Fi being my favorite actually, but I admit their early years were definitely more consistent and unique.

[@theaudiophiles7889]

Thanks Isabelle. More REM is coming soon. Cheers, Jon.

[@lordlockdown64]

Never heard any of their early stuff before, this was very good! I totally agree with you Andy, I definately felt that 'Police' vibe.

[@theaudiophiles7889]

Hey LLJ, I'd highly recommend listening to the whole of 'Chronic Town'. I think you'd really like it. And it's short! Cheers, Jon.

[@lordlockdown64]

@@theaudiophiles7889 Thanks Jon, I will look it up for sure!

[@andrewbranch700]

Thank you for not making me feel crazy. I went back and listened and it still gives me Police vibes. Also, I still really enjoy this track.

[@bobpage665]

Love all of R.E.M., especially the early stuff.

[@scatterkeir]

I LOVE this one! Always reminded me of Fire In Cairo by The Cure a bit. My favourite R.E.M is the first three and a half albums (Chronic Town is the half) although they continued to do some brilliant tracks now and then right until the end.

[@theaudiophiles7889]

Hey Keir, glad you enjoyed this. Cheers, Jon.

[@emmafirestone3396]

Hey, lovely show. I am a ‘second generation’(?) REM fan who started on them when ‘Up’ was released and worked my way backwards, getting more and more stoked. I now love them too much to choose a favourite album; some days it’s ‘Reckoning’, others ‘Murmur’, others ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’, others ‘New Adventures.’ If you’d like to try out another trick, I would strongly suggest ‘Life and How to Live It’ from ‘Fables’.

[@theaudiophiles7889]

Hey Emma, thanks for your comments. I plan to give Andy one song from each album in order, up to and including 'Green'. My favourite REM album also changes, but more often than not it's Fables. Cheers, Jon.

[@emmafirestone3396]

@@theaudiophiles7889 Brilliant. Since I'm playing along, I would recommend: 'Pilgrimage' (Murmur); 'Harborcoat' (Reckoning), which contains my favourite-ever R.E.M. lyric ("They shifted the statues for haboring ghosts"); 'Life + How to Live It' (Fables); 'I Believe' (Lifes Rich Pageant: genuinely a spoil of riches on this one); 'Disturbance at the Heron House' (Document: same, but 'Heron House' is just glorious); and of course 'World Leader Pretend' (Green). Have fun and looking forward!!

[@ChetAziz]

Excellent choice. Like the Who, R.E.M. had 2 distinct eras. The early work remained defiantly alternative & remains my fave period, but later songs like Ignoreland proved they were still a great band

[@lucianoteixeira7993]

Great reaction! Great song. I'm one of those who prefer their early stuff (Murmur is in my top ten list of best albums ever). It's more about the sound than Stipe's vocal delivery I guess. They were so melodic and original. Nothing in that era sound similar to what they built with their first albums. I think I understand what Andy said about the Police similarity. I guess that it has more of a post punk influence than other thing. Chronic Town is a real post punk album, the only one in their career. I don't know if you remember, but the IRS founder is Miles Copeland III, Stewart Copeland's brother. May it have influenced their sound? I don't know, but it helps to understand the context around the album. Cheers!

[@theaudiophiles7889]

Hey Luciano, Miles Copeland is an interesting character. Apparently Miles Copeland IV (or maybe V) went to my school for a while, but I didn't know him. Stewart Copeland is one of my favourite drummers. I must shoehorn some Police into the channel! Cheers, Jon.

[@lucianoteixeira7993]

@@theaudiophiles7889 Wonderful! I love Copeland drums too. I'd love to know his dynasty. Haha. Forgot to mention that Miles was also The Police manager. I'm with you about IRS label. Where I saw one, I was in. Always quality stuff.

[@jean-baptiste6479]

Thank you guys great song and yes, sounds Police-ish, but at same time too différent with each ither

[@boq780_2.0]

Of their early albums, apart from Murmur, I'm very fond of Document and 'King of Birds' is a lovely melancholy number from that record you could try out on Andy.

[@theaudiophiles7889]

I've got a hit list for Andy of a track from Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Life's Rich Pageant, Document and Green. Still debating some of them, but 'King of Birds' is in the mix for Document. When I saw them in 1990 it was the stand out song of the evening. Cheers, Jon.

[@boognish94]

I love all R.E.M., I'd love to hear a reaction to Wolves, Lower from the same EP.

[@boq780_2.0]

I'd not heard this before, although I've heard most of what they did up to the 'Green' album. Stipe is still finding his voice, but I enjoyed the galloping attack of the song. Another band which started out a little after REM and initially had a very similar sound, is 'Miracle Legion'. Their song 'Butterflies' is a big favourite of mine. Give it a listen!

[@theaudiophiles7889]

Hey Admin, not familiar with Miracle Legion, but I'll check them out. There were so many bands labelled 'the next REM'. I must have seen about 50 bands live because they said that in the blurb. You can guess how many of them lived up to the billing. It's a round number... Cheers, Jon.

[@boq780_2.0]

@@theaudiophiles7889 it's really only the first EP The Backyard which sounds very close at times. It is excellent, though. Later on, they ploughed their own furrow and made some good records. 'Wonderment' from their 1987 debut album, 'Surprise, Surprise, Surprise' is a good one. These days, lead singer Mark Mulcahy sports an epic beard.

[@boq780_2.0]

As for early American alternative rock bands, the brilliant Mission of Burma formed in 1979, I always think of them as the American Wire. You should react to 'Academy Fight Song' or especially 'That's When I Reach for My Revolver', probably their most highly regarded song. They reformed about 20 years after their split following their first.album 'Vs.' (1982) and released some excellent comeback records before finally retiring a couple of years ago.

[@Kevvinm]

I was the music director of my college radio station my senior year , 82- 83 . It was great previewing all the new music for the station before it hit the airwaves. I remember Listening to this ep . They definitely had a unique sound at the time compared to many of the punk, post punk and new wave bands . A couple other favorites from the IRS label were the Fleshtones and Wall of Voodoo. Check out The Fleshtones Roman Gods album and Wall of Voodoo’s Call of the West. Just don’t review Mexican Radio, ugh.