thank you sooo very much for posting this wonderful SUZANNE-version by Françoise Hardy. I only knew her (not so very much expressive) “les filles et les garçons” and other chansons. In the beginning it’s pretty strange to hear that song sung by a female voice, but the more I hear it, the more I like it Once more: thank you for posting!
And – yeah, it’s true that in Radiohead’s “Creep” there’s a stunning resemblance to that “peace came upon me” sequence of “sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe”. Thanx for this, too Nontheless I must say that CREEP is a real briliant track – it’s like the soundtrack of my generation (alongside with Nirvana’s “Smells like teen spirit” – which contains, as much as I know, no allusion to another great artist?!?)

Greets, Sonia^^

It is – by the high standards REM have set for themselves – a mediocre album overall, lifted by a couple of great bits.

With respect, it’s simply wrong to claim that it’s up there with their best work. You can’t stand this album next to the likes of Document, Lifes Rich Pageant, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Automatic For The People or Murmur and expect a positive comparison. Hell, it’s not even as good as Accelerate

Too often the band stretch for the unexpected difficult chord change, rather than opting for the natural progression the song expects. This smacks of a loss of confidence in the band and a case of collective writer’s block.

The void left by Bill Berry is not adequately filled by a few natty drum machine loops. A skilful multi-instrumentalist musician himself, not just a percussionist, I’m led to believe that Berry’s influence on the band had been to keep the more ‘artistic’ and ‘experimental’ leanings of the rest of the band in check.

Without Berry’s down-to-earth tempering, the band are adrift. Without the solid foundation their drummer provided, not only with his drumsticks but more so with his no-bullshit attitude to simple rock ‘n’ roll, country and punk-rock, REM are lost and confused.

There are great moments on Up, and Hope is one that had passed me by, so I’m grateful to Matthew for writing this post. However I still believe that REM only recorded one great album between New Adventures In Hi-Fi and Accelerate.

The trouble is they spread that one great album out over three separate LPs, and made us endure an awful lot of tiresome, drab filler while we rooted out the all too rare gems from Up, Reveal and Around The Sun.

It was the same when Neil Youmg came calling a few months back.

(sorry)

Dylan – Parakeet and Sad Professor are brilliant as well. Give the whole thing a listen when you get the chance, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

I’ve just gone back and given Hope another go, and that really is a magnificent vocal performance by Stipe. (Can I use this as an excuse to repeat my claim that Micheal Stipe’s voice is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world of music?)

I think it just shows how little attention I’ve paid the rest of the album that I didn’t spot the Suzanne connection on Hope.