Customer Reviews

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays the Music of R.E.M.

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This album is a terrible interpretation of R.E.M.'s fine catalog. If you are looking for some instrumental R.E.M. check out "The String Quartet Tribute To R.E.M.", released in 1999 also, but a much better tribute.

Not at all the level of quality I would have expected from the Royal Philharmonic!

REM Is an incredibly talented band with a rich body of work from which to draw from. Not only did the producers of this album miss the proverbial boat by picking (with a few exceptions) the least classically interperative songs, they also failed to interperet them 'classically'. Why did they use electronic instrumentation? It was ineffective to say the least. Why didnt they get more creative with the arrangements? Where are the horns, the timpani, the truly heart stopping noises you can make with an orchestra? It isnt like the Royal P doesnt have a wealth of talent to create something more powerful and rich. The opportunities should have been endless. I kept hoping there would be a place somewhere on this CD that would take me to the musical shiver, a la Gershwin or Beethoven or Puccini or REM in its real form, but it never happened. Even Nightswimming seemed less orchestrative than it is on the original REM CD.

Stipe, et al, are very talented writers that can weave a complex melody. Whoever rearranged this music failed to see it's potential on an orchestral level, and clearly had no understanding or love of the music itself. I have to agree with the others...this is a travesty on the elevator level.

Like in "Departure": 'Here it comes, bad' All R.E.M. songs are solid unities of pure listening enjoyment and I am a very big R.E.M.-fan. But this is a R.E.M. CD not made by R.E.M. And that's what is wrong. Even as only-instrumental music, it isn't as good as the originals. But I guess that in the end, it's nice to hear the nice tunes of these classic songs. But it's lacking Stipe and Mills beautiful voices, Buck's superb guitar technique's and Berry's drums. Only for die-hard R.E.M.-fans who want everything that's R.E.M.-related. Maybe it can be used in the elevator of the R.E.M.-clubhouse.

Listening to this CD just makes me long for the real thing-the real R.E.M. songs. There something about R.E.M. songs that don't seem to translate very well into classical. Maybe it's the lack of Michael Stipe's vocals and lyrics. Sure, with this CD the tunes are there, but where is the substance? It kinda sounds like elevator music to me. So I guess if you like elevator music, than you may enjoy this CD, otherwise buy the real R.E.M. instead.

And my cat hides under my bed with her little paws covering her ears

"It is true that REM's music matured and developed new layers in the '90s, but it never truly became sophisticated -- at its heart, it was still folk and pop-based pop-rock, following three and four-chord patterns. What was remarkable is how REM continued to find ways to make it sound fresh, especially on their brooding masterpiece 'Automatic for the People.' This was due to the band's unique chemistry and arranging skills, along with their sharp songwriting. No matter how good these songs were -- and some of them were extraordinary -- they were never the kind that would benefit from puffed-up semi-orchestral easy listening arrangements, which is exactly what they're subjected to on 'The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays the Music of REM.' With the exception of the opening track 'The One I Love' and 'Stand,' the album consists of '90s REM material, with the majority of the songs derived from 'Out of Time' or 'Automatic.' These albums were somewhat more appropriate for easy listening arrangements than, say, 'Reckoning,' but the end results are awkward -- the sax melody of 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight,' the bombastic 'The One I Love,' the overwrought 'Everybody Hurts.' It's not good easy listening, nor is amusing kitsch -- it's just poorly done, near-muzak. The only good thing about the record is the cover -- a clever play on 'New Adventures in Hi-Fi,' an album that isn't represented at all on 'Plays the Music of REM.' ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide"

I was inspired to buy this by the Andy Kaufman film "Man On The Moon" portrayed by Jim Carey. After hearing these splendid arrangements performed by the Royal Philharmonic I don't feel compelled to buy the originals. Sorry R.E.M. fans, this is all I need to hear of them! For those of you who know who Leopold Stokowski was; he turned the compositions of Bach and other classical composers upside down with his own transcriptions. He brought new listeners to their music and was highly criticized. This is no different than what the RPO has done to R.E.M.

It would seem that most of the people who reviewed this before me disliked this CD, but I loved it. As an appreciator of classical music whose favorite pop band is R.E.M, hearing one of the greatest orchestras in the world play R.E.M. music is a dream come true! Hearing the music of R.E.M. in symphony brings a whole new depth to it, and the RPO's rendition of some of R.E.M.'s greatest songs is simply beautiful. Anyone who can appreciate classical music and enjoys R.E.M. will like this album. I've played it for over a dozen friends of mine who are R.E.M. fans, and they all went out and bought a copy! I simply can't understand why the previous reviews have all been so negative. This album is simply gorgeous-it is now one of my favorite CDs.

All I could think as I listened to this the first time was "god, am I at the dentist's office?" The orchestra doesn't play badly, in fact, they're probably pretty good. But the concept of taking away R.E.M.'s lyrics and making their songs purely instrumental wasn't solid gold.

Some of the songs come off all right. The songs that were originally more orchestral, like "Nightswimming" and "Everybody Hurts" don't sound very far off. But some of the songs, especially "Drive" and "Man on the Moon" are ridiculously sipmle without words. The music is not the same without vocals, and the simplicity that is normally so intrinsic to R.E.M.'s instrumentals becomes tedious. Which is sad.

But if you're looking for a laugh, try "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" complete with very very cheesy sax solo.

The Royal Philharmonic are reportedly really huge R.E.M. fans, so it's kind of mean to mock their effort. But some efforts are best never made.

When I heard the bassoon playing the part of Michael Stipe on Losing My Religion, all I could think of was some kind of bad 1950's cartoon we watched in elementary school where Jiminy Cricket talked about music and all the instruments looked like people.

The Royal Philharmonic should give up the elevator music gig.