Monday, March 24, 2008

THE UNKNOWN: R.E.M. - MTV Unplugged


I have been distant. I have been withdrawn. I know I had surgery. But something more important...something more life-changing has been distracting me for the past few weeks. It is the NCAA basketball tournament. One of the greatest...if not greatest sporting events of all time. 65 college basketball teams compete in a single-elimination tournament. One missed shot...one extra turnover...one extra free throw can spell the difference between getting to play another game and going home until next season...or some cases...forever.

But now that the "madness" has lulled until Thursday...I have time to get back into my blogging.

A week from today...on April First (and it's not a joke), R.E.M. is set to release their 15th album. That's right 15 albums. Some bands are lucky to get to record 15 songs. R.E.M. has proven that they aren't some flash in the pan indie rock band. They are in fact, one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

This entire week will be dedicated to R.E.M. coming up with every list imaginable about the band. But today...no list. Instead, how about a Happy post-Easter treat.

Here is R.E.M.'s performance from MTV Unplugged. And a hidden classic at that...

1. World Leader Pretend
2. Half a World Away
3. Disturbance At Heron House
4. Swan Swan H
5. Radio Song
6. Low
7. Perfect Circle
8. Fall On Me
9. Belong
10. Love is all Around
11. End of the World
12. Losing My Religion
13. Pop Song 89
14. Summertime

Here's the deal. In order to get more R.E.M. goodies...you must buy the new album, Accelerate, by the band. (less than $10 here) Don't burn it from a friend. Don't get it off bittorent. Don't put your ear to the wall and listen to your neighbor's copy. Go buy your own. If I see that a lot of people are going out and buying the album (and I can tell by all your clicks), I will continue to post great stuff. If not...this will become Bryan Adams week. And trust me, the last thing you want is 11 different versions of Run To You.

6 comments:

aerolls said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
aerolls said...

Right on man. I did a post a few weeks past about R.E.M. and I'm not only buying the album but will purchase the special edition.

Besides, is it just me or is there still this mystical sensation about walking into a record store and buying a CD, holding it in yr hand.

I've started to purchase more CD's this years because I miss that sensation. It's a lost art, kind of.

I'm a fan of mp3's but for bands that I adore and respect like R.E.M. I'll go the extra mile and purchase their albums to support them with my dollar.

peace,

A

illbefrank said...

Hey, just an FYI. This is the first of two Unplugged performances. They played April 10, 1991 and May 21, 2001. There's a few songs that were never broadcast too. Set lists below are from a good REM site I found a few weeks ago when I was looking for info on the unplugged performances. I'll be picking up the CD on Tuesday as well.

http://www.remchronicle.com/gig.php?showid=841

http://www.remchronicle.com/gig.php?showid=1801

Unknown said...

great site

thanks for the rem

GO TARHEELS

Robin Schouten said...

Is this performance not from Mountain Stage, recorded at 28th April 1991? I hear Michael Stipe saying (before the first song begins, World leader pretend): "We're really happy to be here at Mountain Stage".

Unknown said...

I think this is the Mountain Stage show, not MTV Unplugged. The set list for their unplugged show is below.

Recorded at Chelsea Studios, New York City, April 10, 1991

1. Half a World Away
2. Disturbance at the Heron House
3. Radio Song
4. Low
5. Perfect Circle
6. Fall on Me
7. Belong
8. Love Is All Around
9. It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
10. Losing My Religion
11. Pop Song 89
12. Endgame

Thanks for the post though.