Out of Time

[DaltonMaltz 1119]

Adam Scott Aukerman return to talk about R.E.M.’s seventh studio album Out of Time. They’ll talk about the negative reception to CDs as well as what they were doing when the 1991 album released before going through Out of Time song by song. Plus, they’ll discuss the personality of the album, its scrapbook qualities, and how it reflects a band in transition.

[angryrose 494]

I’m going to be honest. I thought I actually liked R.E.M until I started listening to this Podcast. It turns out I only liked their singles that got radio play (the songs the true R.E.M fans hate). Which, blows my mind, because I thought I hated U2 until I listened to U Talkin U2 2 Me... turns out the songs that didn’t get radio time I actually like!

 

I appreciate these podcasts, expanding my musical knowledge. Thank you Scott and Scott!

[drivewaystyle 9]

I came of age with this one. But I've never been able to listen to the whole thing. Twenty seconds of "Radio Song" and I have to forcefully eject the CD. If you make it through to "Losing My Religion," "Low" really shuts the whole thing down. So I was very pleased to re-hear "Near Wild Heaven," which I forgot all about. It was delightful. I almost never made it to side 2, so hearing "Texarkana" and "Country Feedback" was like getting a great present of two new REM songs.

 

That said--with the caveat that I gave up after Hi-Fi--this is unquestionably their worst LP. It alternates between red-faced embarrassment and high-gloss aural wallpaper. Adam's repeated claims of "stone cold classic" for schmaltzy filler are only explicable by knowing he was seventeen. If this was shortened to an EP, and 12 or 14 layers of gloss were scraped off, it would be remembered as a real classic. Instead, it's the Rockabye Baby REM record.

[DanielSwinney 130]

God, I love Pop Will Eat Itself.

 

Any way, I actually like Radio Song but the thing KRS-ONE says at the top has bugged me since the album was new. "I can't find nothing on the radio... Ah, turn to that station." What station? The one that's already on? You don't have to turn to that! Otherwise, how does the person operating the radio know what station? Also who the hell is he telling to change stations when a second ago he was the one failing to find anything?!?!

 

I’m going to be honest. I thought I actually liked R.E.M until I started listening to this Podcast. It turns out I only liked their singles that got radio play (the songs the true R.E.M fans hate). Which, blows my mind, because I thought I hated U2 until I listened to U Talkin U2 2 Me... turns out the songs that didn’t get radio time I actually like!

 

I appreciate these podcasts, expanding my musical knowledge. Thank you Scott and Scott!

 

I'm an "album fan" of REM (up until like, E-Bow the Letter) and I think Stand, Shiny Happy People, What's the Frequency Kenneth and Pop Song 89 are great. I think they're as good at sweet-sounding pop music as they are at metaphysical dirges.

[kyleidoscope 68]

Wowee this band is awful. I love how Scott compares this record to the White Album, like, "The White Album was weird too!" Yeah, I guess, but the White Album is considered a timeless masterpiece and this is a pile of flaming garbage.

 

Anyway, great ep as always! Hope you feel better, Scott -- sounds like you have the sniffles!

[Omaxem 232]

Wowee this band is awful.

 

Counterpoint; No, they're not.

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

I also started with Out Of Time, so I fully recognize some nostalgia here in loving the record. I do recognize some of it is pretty dated, and have similar qualms with "Radio Song" and "Endgame" as Scott did. But generally I'm much closer to Adam on this one, though the point about it lacking a cohesive connective throughline is true. I LOVE "Low" and "Belong," and I find it a little weird that Scott -- who has put out such great weird absurd comedy being confused when bands make different, weird, new choices. I definitely think "Belong" is a top-10 REM song for me. The whole second half of Out Of Time though, I love it. "Country Feedback" is brilliant and evocative. "Me In Honey" is a joy. "Near Wild Heaven" and "Texarkana" are sort of amazing deep cuts.

 

My current rankings:

 

1. Fables of the Reconstruction

2. Murmur

3. Reckoning

4. Out Of Time

5. Document

6. Lifes Rich Pageant

7. Green

 

I do like what Adam said here about OOT being a transition... it is definitely kicking off the second wave of great REM records that they made through the 90s. Stoked to hear what Scott thinks of those too...

[yeahtoast! 106]

♫ The world is collapsing / around our ears / I turned up the radio / but I can't hear it ♫

 

"I like this part."

 

♫ ...when I GOT TO THE HOUSE... ♫

 

"EWH OH!"

[pepperjack 303]

When Scott (not Scott) was trying to hum the Dylan song, he was doing 'Smoke on the Water.' I'm not crazy, right?

[Crummy Scrimmage 188]

RE: Endgame

I was a trumpet player in junior high at the time this album came out, and I remember thinking it was neat that there was an instrumental featuring flügelhorn (and one that was easy to play). There wasn't much to latch onto during this time period in terms of contemporary pop music if you were a trumpet player. I'm trying to think what the hell else I was taking my cue from at the time, musically. Fishbone? Old Blood Sweat and Tears albums?? You really had to seek out inspiration -- outside of just straight-up jazz, which is a tough entry point for kids.

 

Anyway, I appreciated the track for this reason.

[pepperjack 303]

My buddy played Baritone Sax and I remember the day came in and had discovered Morphine. Completely blown away there was a band with a bari and just bari, bass, and drums.

 

I will say David Lowery from Camper Van sorta got a bit of revenge when his Cracker song named Low was a big hit. You take our electric mandolin, we will take Low. (I know Lowery isn't the mandolin player and that guy didn't make it to Cracker, but still)

[Peter Destructo 70]

"Album of B-sides", I'd never really thought of it that way, but out really does describe the record pretty well. That being said, Scott really does have a bit too restrictive a definition of what a "song" is.

 

Also, I love "Half A World Away". It goes a long way toward redeeming this album's missteps. And I never did see what the big deal with "Country Feedback" was.

[clauditorium 2]

One of their weakest albums, despite the presence of all-time greats Country Feedback and Losing My Religion. Feels like they weren't sure what they wanted to do. Mike Mills is brilliant as a backing vocalist, but when he takes the lead, it's Blandsville.

 

My ranking of the songs:

 

1. Country Feedback

2. Losing My Religion

3. Half a World Away

4. Me in Honey

5. Radio Song

6. Shiny Happy People

7. Low

8. Near Wild Heaven

9. Belong

10. Texarkana

11. Endgame