Music CD/DVD Review: R.E.M. - Live

R.E.M.'s Live (Warner Bros.) is no ordinary concert release. The band has made a concerted effort to reach out to its fan base, as it re-launched the R.E.M. Dublin website as part two of its promotion of the live compilation, which is based on two shows taped from Dublin in 2005. This version lets you watch song clips, a live trailer of the DVD portion, see band photos, and click on a link to an archived original version of the site, where you can watch R.E.M.'s five-night "working rehearsals" at Olympia Theatre and read reviews or blog about them yourself.

The Athens, Georgia-based group is still in Dublin as we speak, putting the finishing touches on what will be their 14th studio album when it's released next year.

As for the release itself, if you just put your blinders on and listen to the music, it is pretty great, especially for a band that's been around for over twenty-five years and was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But where there are strengths, there are also weakness.

First, the complaints: I can understand R.E.M.'s effort to make the three-disc compilation (which hit stores in mid-October) both affordable and worth every dollar. The band chose to combine highlights from its February 26, 2005 and February 27, 2005 shows from the Point Depot in Dublin into one release. However, having one of those audio discs containing only five songs is dumbfounding.

Why not split the twenty-two tracks into two eleven-track discs? Or better yet, why not make the most of the second CD by including at least one version of every song played at the two Dublin shows? Songs played but missing from this compilation include "Seven Chinese Brothers," "These Days," and "Electrolite." Most fans wouldn't have a problem with those songs being included here, unless the live versions of those and other missing tracks were so bad that the band didn't want anybody to hear them ever again.

That issue aside, the sound and production of both discs is of the highest caliber. If you didn't know or care to know any better, this sequence of twenty-two songs sounds and feels like a full show, and you might as well enjoy it as such, since R.E.M. was in top and spirited form in Ireland.

Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2Page 3

Article tags

Spread the word
Bookmark and Share
Profile image for charlie-doherty

Article Author: Charlie Doherty

Pro musician and journalist of many stripes: most recently a stringer for Demand Studios, Helium.com and sports/music analyst for BC mag on BlogTalkRadio.com and sports correspondent for Brookline TAB; "Media Nation" media analyst at 2004 DNC in Boston. …

Visit Charlie Doherty's author pageCharlie Doherty's Blog

Read comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own
  • R.E.M. Live 2CD/1DVD R.E.M. Live 2CD/1DVD

    Disc 101. I Took Your Name02. So Fast, So Numb03. Boy In The Well04. Cuyahoga05. Everybody Hurts06. Electron Blue07. Bad Day08. The Ascent Of Man09. The Great Beyond10. Leaving New York11. Orange Crush12. ...

  • R.E.M. - Perfect Square R.E.M. - Perfect Square
  • Road Movie Road Movie
  • And I Feel Fine...: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 And I Feel Fine...: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987
  • Teenager Teenager

Article comments

Add your comment, speak your mind

Personal attacks are NOT allowed.
Please read our comment policy.
Please preview your comment.

blogcritics lists for Nov 27, 2009

fresh articles Most recent articles site-wide

fresh comments Most recent comments site-wide

most comments Most comments in 24hrs

top writers Most prolific Blogcritics for October

top commenters Most prolific Commenters in 24 hrs