Battle of the Century(ies) - REM or U2?

[sonicdork]

I'm with REM. This decision was solidified when Bono decided to freestyle rap on SNL a few months back. Douchechill inducing.

[nec13]

I'm with REM. This decision was solidified when Bono decided to freestyle rap on SNL a few months back. Douchechill inducing.

That shouldn't be entirely unexpected. In fact, before he was in U2, Bono used to sell mixtapes out of the trunk of his car.

[Gilly]

REM in a landslide. Even though the past 10 years or so haven't been good, I can't say that any record they've put out is awful. To still be able to make even mediocre records for this long is pretty amazing, and the stretch they had on IRS is something very few bands bands can rival.

Any band that has been around as long as U2 should be able to produce a dozen or so songs that you can like, so even though there are plenty of songs I like, there isn't one album that I can listen to in it's entirety. War's about as close as it comes and half of that album isn't very good.

[ben]

With the Beatles or Stones arguement there are also people that say neither - the Kinks.  What band would be the Kinks in the REM/U2 argument?  I can't think of the right metaphor of a band myself.

I have a theory that there are two kinds of people.  Well, more than two, but for the purpose of this topic, two.  Just like there are supposedly Beatles people and Elvis people and you're one or the other...

WHUUUUUT? I having a hard time seeing the connection (I guess I see the U2 and REM early 80s college rock thing). Do you mean Beatles and Rolling Stones? Weird theory either way.

And anyway, you're either a Bob Dylan person or Bob Marley person.

[Steeley Chris]

With the Beatles or Stones arguement there are also people that say neither - the Kinks.  What band would be the Kinks in the REM/U2 argument?  I can't think of the right metaphor of a band myself.

I have a theory that there are two kinds of people.  Well, more than two, but for the purpose of this topic, two.  Just like there are supposedly Beatles people and Elvis people and you're one or the other...

WHUUUUUT? I having a hard time seeing the connection (I guess I see the U2 and REM early 80s college rock thing). Do you mean Beatles and Rolling Stones? Weird theory either way.

And anyway, you're either a Bob Dylan person or Bob Marley person.

Game Theory?

[Martin]

According to my folks, who were born in the 40s, the popularity battles were primarily between

Elvis Presley vs Tommy Steele (the "UK Elvis" who was very popular in the UK and Sweden at one point and then quickly faded)

then

The Beatles vs The Rolling Stones

and later

Tim Dog vs NWA

[dave from knoxville]

There's a mathematical take on this. You know I am compelled to try it.

[fonpr]

I have four REM records and two U2 records.

So I guess I like REM twice as much.

[dave from knoxville]

OK, I assess the entire career, live albums included, but rereleases and compilations excluded. The idea is to simplify the question by eliminating pairs of albums (yes, I call them albums) that are approximately equivalent in quality. You eventually wind up with a set of records upon which you can make a decision. Of course, this all my opinion. I unapologetically love both bands.

These pairings are roughly equivalent in my view.

Achtung Baby
Murmur

The Joshua Tree
Reckoning

War
Automatic for the People

All That You Can't Leave Behind
Fables of the Reconstruction

Zooropa
Accelerate

The Unforgettable Fire
Live at the Olympia

How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Green

New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Hasta La Vista Baby

No Line on the Horizon
Reveal

Rattle and Hum
REM Live

Pop
Out of Time


SO, with those equivalent selected discographies out of the way, here's what's left to decide who's better

REM: Life's Rich Pageant, Document, Monster, Up, Around the Sun
U2: Boy, Under a Blood Red Sky, October

Since Monster's not great, and I hope to never hear Up or Around the Sun ever again, I will follow U2.

[masterofsparks]

I think your considering Murmur and Achtung Baby equivalent may make you a few enemies, Dave.

[buffcoat]

Lifes Rich Pageant and Document are great, though Document is overrated.  I really like Monster.  Around the Sun and Accelerate aren't really REM to me - REM is Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe, and maybe Up if you say "well, they were carrying on from what they were still doing at that point."

[Mark in Helsinki]

I saw U2 on the first leg of the Joshua Tree tour in Worcester, Mass. in 1987 and it gave me chills. They really knew how to work a crowd. I listened to Unforgettable Fire cassette in my Nissan Sentra until most of the music was scraped off of it. I thought the Joshua Tree was a pretty great pop album, and when Achtung and then Achtung part 2 (Zooropa) were interesting if increasingly pretentious.

Due to the fact that they were such an important part of my youth, I have always kept them subconsciously on my radar, waiting with each album release for at least a touch of that same magic... but alas, it was not to be.

Bono's rapping and other crimes against humanity (far too many to mention) are regrettable and embarrassing. But there must be a reason they remain the biggest grossing live band today... Is the musical landscape THAT barren these days? Is this all we have left??

Their last album was just plain awful.... somehow, they just keep getting worse and worse.

REM played a gig at an outdoor arena in Helsinki last summer, but it was pouring rain, so was kind of glad I didn't drop a bazillion euros on a ticket for a chilly night in the rain... But as I happened to bicycle by the gig that night on the way home from work, they sounded pretty great. That said, I never really got into REM because of my pretentiousness radar (which apparently for some reason did not detect Bono untiil 1990)... even back when they were super good, still indie-credible, Michael Stipe was a bit tiresome, no?

[Chris L]

Achtung Baby gets a 10 out of 10 from me and is one of my most-listened-to albums. I like some other things they've done, but with the help of some very flattering production they captured a mood on that album that it would be nigh impossible for them to tap into again.

[LJ]

With the Beatles or Stones arguement there are also people that say neither - the Kinks.  What band would be the Kinks in the REM/U2 argument?  I can't think of the right metaphor of a band myself.

I have a theory that there are two kinds of people.  Well, more than two, but for the purpose of this topic, two.  Just like there are supposedly Beatles people and Elvis people and you're one or the other...

WHUUUUUT? I having a hard time seeing the connection (I guess I see the U2 and REM early 80s college rock thing). Do you mean Beatles and Rolling Stones? Weird theory either way.

And anyway, you're either a Bob Dylan person or Bob Marley person.

This is inelegant, but maybe the Kinks are the Replacements given that they were big with the college rock crowd.

[dave from knoxville]

I think your considering Murmur and Achtung Baby equivalent may make you a few enemies, Dave.

How can I have enemies? I'm so nice.