Customer Reviews

R.E.M.: Inside Out: The Stories Behind Every Song

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a dedicated, longtime fan of the fabled Athens quartet, and a reader/owner of half a dozen other R.E.M. tomes, I thought I knew everything worth knowing. So when I saw it in a bargain bin at my local bookstore, I picked it up more on a whim than anything else. But I was pleasantly surprised at the wealth of information contained therein. Many factoids abound. The author clearly read virtually all of the worldwide press on the band. And his enthuusiasm for the subject shines through on every page. Anyone who has ever read interviews with R.E.M. knows that they are a good read. J.M. Stipe is often the source of many a memorable non-sequitir, such as the description of Fables of the Reconstruction sounding like "two oranges being nailed to a board." Peter Buck on the other hand, is what Rhino Records would call a music "geekus maximus," (albeit an extrememly cool one) who liberally sprinkles descriptions of his songs with references to cult heroes like Nick Drake, the Velvet Underground, Strawberry Alarm Clock and the 13th Floor Elevators. Occassionally we get a glimmer into their legendarily mysterious songwriting process as well. And the songs are divided by album with a nice overview of the sessions for said record, placed nicely in the context of their stunning evolution. To quote the Voice of Harold, a must.

this book can be the bible of REM. it is THE book review of all the songs written by rem up till NAIHF. every song has a story behind it; why it was written, where it was created and for whom it was meant to be. the coverage is extensive and satisfying.buy it ..and u'll know who Maria Calais is.

I think Inside/Out showed people the real stories and views behind songs, that they're not just words that someone sings.

Not the best R.E.M. book I've ever read, but certainly not the worst. This book finishes up at New Adventures in HiFi, before Bill Berry's departure from the band on October 31, 1997. As a huge R.E.M. fan, most of the information wasn't new to me, but I enjoyed it anyways. I had a big gripe with the book, and that was that pictures of the band were not chronologically placed (i.e. a picture from 1991, in "Fables of the Reconstruction". Also it used many sources that weren't 100% reliable like "most fans", or "According to an unnamed source in the R.E.M. camp..", which I felt cheapened it somewhat. It wasn't totally bad, but it wasn't totally good. If you're a casual fan of R.E.M., you'll probably be ok with it, but if you're a rabid R.E.M. fan and this isn't the first book you've read about them, you won't enjoy it as much.

Great, a must for all R.E.M. fans. It is current with all album cuts and B-sides through late-1997. In typical R.E.M. fashion, the band is often vague about the actual meanings of their songs. The stories are very cool. Though in a few places I think that the band may be putting the author on. Great photographs of the band and of subjects that clearify the text. Fair release discography. The only real downer is that the discography is not clear about ALL the single and EP releases. In actuality the US, UK and other foriegn releases do differ and do have different catalog numbers, two part singles are unclear, and I have stuff that is not listed. But it is OK as this book is not intending to be a comprehensive discography of R.E.M. - Mike Williams 1/3/98

This book is a very good reference point to the songs of R.E.M. There are (of course) some mistakes, but they are excusable, for the members of R.E.M. often do not know what the songs are about. Comes with a discography and previously unreleased photographs. A must-have for R.E.M. fans, maybe not all new things for the hardened fan, but, for anyone else, including all "new" R.E.M. fans, you have to get it. John Cummins

This is simply the best book for any R.E.M. fan. It contains alot of pictures and the explanation to every song from Chronic Town to New Adventures In Hi-Fi. You must buy it.

I always find it fascinating to find out the whys a song was written and this book tells the whys. Very informative.