Customer Reviews

R.E.M. : The Rolling Stone Files : The Ultimate Compendium of Interviews, Articles, Facts, and Opinions from the Files of Rolling Stone

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A nice collection of articles, factoids, interviews with bandmembers, interesting quotes and opinions on R.E.M. from music biz insiders. It was a pleasure to read and very informative. Nice pictures. This book is a great start for those just learning about R.E.M., the folks who have fallen in love with their music and want to learn how these 4 guys from Athens could possibly be saying exactly what is in your head. This is also a good companion piece for the longterm R.E.M. fan, those who cannot live without their music, there are lots of interesting tidbits to savor. You WILL enjoy this book!

This book should be on the bookshelf of every R.E.M. fan. It is jam packed with all kinds of information about the band. I only wish that the book included glossy photo's of the band. I think that you should be forewarned that the book covers the band from the time period of 1982's "Chronic Town" to 1994's "Monster". Overall, if you are an R.E.M. fan buy the book you will not be disappointed!

There's something that I really love about collections like this. It's a time capsule! I think it's just great to have the opportunity to read things that are not reflections of years of consideration and debate, but are actually the attitudes of the day. It can be eye-opening.

At the same time, there are ways in which it can be disappointing. One of the things you get from this book is that Rolling Stone had more or less the same 10-12 things to say about REM over 14 years and a dozen albums. (eg. Stipe's lyrics are ambiguous and often hard to understand, the band is known for its political and social conscience, etc etc).

Nevertheless, when just given the opportunity to talk, REM never fails to say interesting things. (It's priceless to read Stipe's reference to two oranges being nailed together, resurfacing, years later). You may put up with some repetition, and some real rock critic posturing, but it will be worth it.