Visions of R.E.M.

I keep waiting for R.E.M. to come back with something really great and return to their former seat atop the modern rock pantheon, but it may never happen and the band may just go on forever being pretty good. There are worse things I guess.

Anyway, they just set off on a world tour which launched in Utrecht, Holland on June 21 – the North American segment begins August 29 in Vancouver. Keeping with the trend of throwing all kinds of random stuff up on the Internet and seeing if anyone gives a damn, you can check out free video footage of the band rehearsing four songs for the tour on their website. The four songs are “She Just Wants To Be,” “Walk Unafraid,” “Get Up,” and “Maps And Legends,” an oldie dating to the Fables of the Reconstruction album. Pretty cool.