I am glad to see you write about this album Ian. Up is desperately under-rated, it was an incredibly brave record for a band that had just lost its drummer. I am going to politely point out that you have the band's name wrong: it's not REM, it's R.E.M. The full stops are really important. The nice thing about "blogs" is you can edit as you go, nothing is final (and you can even delete my message). Cheers and good call on an album for a re-view.
I don;t know if I would place this as high as some other albums in the catalog (maybe mid-pack?), but it's far and away my favorite of any of the post-Bill Berry records. 'Airportman' in particular resonates with me, as I happen to work at one, and few songs have ever convyed the vaguely disorienting, washed-out flourescent feeling of a terminal at 0330 quite like this track does.
Love UP, I really think of it as one of their best, certainly in top echelon. I will check out the 25th anniversary edition! ✅
I’ve only heard the live tracks once so far. They are worth exploring; I love a slightly chaotic, spontaneous performance.
I am glad to see you write about this album Ian. Up is desperately under-rated, it was an incredibly brave record for a band that had just lost its drummer. I am going to politely point out that you have the band's name wrong: it's not REM, it's R.E.M. The full stops are really important. The nice thing about "blogs" is you can edit as you go, nothing is final (and you can even delete my message). Cheers and good call on an album for a re-view.
I don;t know if I would place this as high as some other albums in the catalog (maybe mid-pack?), but it's far and away my favorite of any of the post-Bill Berry records. 'Airportman' in particular resonates with me, as I happen to work at one, and few songs have ever convyed the vaguely disorienting, washed-out flourescent feeling of a terminal at 0330 quite like this track does.
Pretty great that you got to see Patti Smith perform with R.E.M.
It was definitely an unexpected bonus.