R.e.m. - Live At The Olympia (2CD/1DVD)
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CD Details
Artist: R.e.m.Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2009-10-27
Music Label: Warner Bros.
Product features:
- R. E. M. LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA (2CD+DVD)
Music CD 1
- Living Well Is The Best Revenge
- Second Guessing
- Letter Never Sent
- Staring Down The Barrel Of The
- Disturbance At The Heron House
- Mr. Richards
- Houston
- New Test Leper
- Cuyahoga
- Electrolite
- Man-Sized Wreath
- So. Central Rain
- On The Fly
- Maps And Legends
- Sitting Still
- Driver 8
- Horse To Water
- I'm Gonna DJ
- Circus Envy
- These Days
- Drive
- Feeling Gravity's Pull
- Until The Day Is Done
- Accelerate
- Auctioneer
- Little America
- 1,000,000
- Disguised
- The Worst Joke Ever
- Welcome To The Occupation
- Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcar)
- Harborcoat
- Wolves, Lower
- I've Been High
- Kohoutek
- West Of The Fields
- Pretty Persuasion
- Romance
- Gardening At Night
- This Is Not A Show, A Film By Vincent Moon and Jeremiah (DVD)
Music reviews of Live At The Olympia (2CD/1DVD)
Music Review: The Crown Jewel
Rating: 5 Stars
If you are a long time REM lover you remember how Chronic Town and Murmur sounded so different from anything at the time. Then a string of consistently great output. Then... well some bumps along the way, but Accelerate (for me) restored much of their past glory. I enjoy their live release of 2 or so years ago (REM Live). But this is the crown jewel.
Do you love this band? Like them? Did you look at the track list? Then I assume you have bought this. If not I can only offer a few comments to urge you to do so.
Rehearsals or whatever, this comes across as a concert. Another review noted the compression of the recording, but it is to my ears not that bad (at least compared to the majority of other live releases of late). For the most part, the instruments are quite clear and the overall sound very good. Here and there it does seem too loud. But I 100% forgive this for the quality of this performance and the songs.
The band is inspired. Michael is in fine form and is fairly chatty. He has a couple of hilarious moments ("Thank you search engine..." made me laugh out loud). The lyrics are clear. Buck is fantastic as always. Mills is his usual demon on bass but what this recording reminded me is how great his backing vocals are. He kind of circles around Stipe which really fills out the songs. The drumming is fine, and the second guitarist (who I cannot always find in the mix) does fill things out when present.
The band seems very relaxed and is clearly having fun (listen to the on stage banter) despite all Stipe's claims that they are terrified. There is an urgency in the performance. If these were rehearsals, they seem intent to bring their "A game" and just nail the songs. These are a good balance of the muscle of their later period with the intricate jangle of their earlier stuff, with a few ballads interspersed. You see the set list. It leans heavily towards the early 80's. Most of Accelerate is here. And then a song from every release (I think?) except Out of Time, Green and Up. As I lean towards the earlier material I am thrilled with this set. Most of Chronic Town is here (yay), and a lot of my personal faves. I would think that any of us could bemoan a missing favorite or two, but given what is here that would be pointless. And finishing with Gardening at Night? How unexpected and cool is that? (Given all the early material, I half expected them to jump into 20th Century Boys, Crazy or even Jacques Cousteau!!!)
REM seems to have a had a lot of "periods". There were the early releases with their jangly sound and great lyrics. Then the arena friendly, heavier releases such as Green, Monster and Document. Lots of hits and misses after that; I felt Automatic for the People was their last cover to cover masterpiece. But given their (almost) 30 year history, a lot of us became fans of a certain period. What I like about this performance is that they are so amped up and enjoying themselves, no matter which phase of REM you prefer, you will really like this.
So... the boys really are on fire here, they are playing with passion and purpose, the sound is very good (A-), you get a heavy dose of early songs which got pushed from their set lists a long time ago, and a video as well (not my cup of tea). 5 stars is a no-brainer on this one for me.
ps - the dvd is just OK - I might watch it again - i.e. twice; but I am not a huge video fan when it comes to music. The dvd has 12 songs - 1 not on cd (Olive Branch) and some other footage. It is b&w, very jumpy and herky-jerky style, might appeal more the "video generation" but does not do much for me - aging baby boomer that I am. I thought it would mirror the cd's 39 songs which it does not. The 2 cd set might be a better choice. Here is the dvd track list: DJ; On the Fly; Accelerate; Until Day is Done; Houston; Mr Richards; Man Size Wreath; Drive; Horse to H2O; Olive Branches; Box Cars; Living Well is the Best Revenge.
pps - I wonder if the prominently displayed "39 songs" is an assurance we are not getting an EP for the 2nd disc a la their previous live release??
Description of Live At The Olympia (2CD/1DVD)
Live At The Olympia the two-CD/1 DVD/4-LP set includes 4 LPS, 3 gatefold sleeves, 2 CDS, 1 DVD, a 16 page booklet, liner notes by Peter Buck, 6 postcards and a 24x36 poster. Produced by Jacknife Lee, the album features 39 songs that capture the best moments from the band's 'working rehearsals' at Dublin's fabled Olympia club during which singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, and bassist Mike Mills tested out new songs for R.E.M.'s 2008 studio album Accelerate.Alternative Rock CDs
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