Search - R.E.M. :: Live At The Olympia (2CD/1DVD)

R.E.M. gives the fans a perfect CD

Larry Larry | 10/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the best R.E.M. packages in their very long & very great career. This IS rock & roll.



R.E.M. has assembled a great collection of some of their most under utilized songs and polished them up with spectacular production and some new twists. Long-time fans from the IRS years will love the jewels from Reckoning, Chronic Town and Fables. Songs like "Harborcoat", "Feeling Gravity's Pull" and "Maps and Legends" still sound fresh and relevant. Middle period R.E.M. doesn't get the same emphasis, but "Circus Envy" and "Electrolite" fit in perfectly. I have a whole new appreciation for them. The newest material from Accelerate is killer. Nearly all of Accelerate is here. Some of these songs sound different than their final versions, and that makes it even more interesting. "Until the Day is Done" is nearly perfect. "Living Well is the Best Revenge" will peel the paint of the walls. Turn this up loud!



Production credits are top notch. Mike Mills amazes. His bass playing is so unique and creative. I'm in awe. Stipe & Buck are in top form too. And I can't say enough about the packaging. It is very classy. Each song gets a write-up from Peter Buck. Extensive liner notes & great photography too. The entire package design is very classy. I've often wondered why R.E.M. didn't spruce up their CDs with better packaging, but this time they really did it right. Don't get this one on digital. Buy the physical product. And get the DVD version too.



Thanks R.E.M.!! One of the best live albums I've ever listened to."

The Crown Jewel

T. Korol | Rochester, NY | 10/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a long time REM lover you remember how Chronic Town and Murmur sounded so different from anything at the time. Then a string of consistently great output. Then... well some bumps along the way, but Accelerate (for me) restored much of their past glory. I enjoy their live release of 2 or so years ago (REM Live). But this is the crown jewel.



Do you love this band? Like them? Did you look at the track list? Then I assume you have bought this. If not I can only offer a few comments to urge you to do so.



Rehearsals or whatever, this comes across as a concert. Another review noted the compression of the recording, but it is to my ears not that bad (at least compared to the majority of other live releases of late). For the most part, the instruments are quite clear and the overall sound very good. Here and there it does seem too loud. But I 100% forgive this for the quality of this performance and the songs.



The band is inspired. Michael is in fine form and is fairly chatty. He has a couple of hilarious moments ("Thank you search engine..." made me laugh out loud). The lyrics are clear. Buck is fantastic as always. Mills is his usual demon on bass but what this recording reminded me is how great his backing vocals are. He kind of circles around Stipe which really fills out the songs. The drumming is fine, and the second guitarist (who I cannot always find in the mix) does fill things out when present.



The band seems very relaxed and is clearly having fun (listen to the on stage banter) despite all Stipe's claims that they are terrified. There is an urgency in the performance. If these were rehearsals, they seem intent to bring their "A game" and just nail the songs. These are a good balance of the muscle of their later period with the intricate jangle of their earlier stuff, with a few ballads interspersed. You see the set list. It leans heavily towards the early 80's. Most of Accelerate is here. And then a song from every release (I think?) except Out of Time, Green and Up. As I lean towards the earlier material I am thrilled with this set. Most of Chronic Town is here (yay), and a lot of my personal faves. I would think that any of us could bemoan a missing favorite or two, but given what is here that would be pointless. And finishing with Gardening at Night? How unexpected and cool is that? (Given all the early material, I half expected them to jump into 20th Century Boys, Crazy or even Jacques Cousteau!!!)



REM seems to have a had a lot of "periods". There were the early releases with their jangly sound and great lyrics. Then the arena friendly, heavier releases such as Green, Monster and Document. Lots of hits and misses after that; I felt Automatic for the People was their last cover to cover masterpiece. But given their (almost) 30 year history, a lot of us became fans of a certain period. What I like about this performance is that they are so amped up and enjoying themselves, no matter which phase of REM you prefer, you will really like this.



So... the boys really are on fire here, they are playing with passion and purpose, the sound is very good (A-), you get a heavy dose of early songs which got pushed from their set lists a long time ago, and a video as well (not my cup of tea). 5 stars is a no-brainer on this one for me.



ps - the dvd is just OK - I might watch it again - i.e. twice; but I am not a huge video fan when it comes to music. The dvd has 12 songs - 1 not on cd (Olive Branch) and some other footage. It is b&w, very jumpy and herky-jerky style, might appeal more the "video generation" but does not do much for me - aging baby boomer that I am. I thought it would mirror the cd's 39 songs which it does not. The 2 cd set might be a better choice. Here is the dvd track list: DJ; On the Fly; Accelerate; Until Day is Done; Houston; Mr Richards; Man Size Wreath; Drive; Horse to H2O; Olive Branches; Box Cars; Living Well is the Best Revenge.



pps - I wonder if the prominently displayed "39 songs" is an assurance we are not getting an EP for the 2nd disc a la their previous live release??"

Great live album. So-so DVD

P. J. Owen | Atlanta GA USA | 11/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In June and July 2007, REM did a brave and unique thing for an established, hall of fame rock band to do. They conducted five open rehearsals in front of live audiences at Dublin's Olympia Theater. Thankfully for REM fans, they recorded it and have produced for us a great live album to help us forget the lackluster REM Live from two years ago.



Not surprisingly, the album contains the majority of Accelerate. Though these are rehearsals, most of the songs seem to have been in playing shape because they sound exactly the same as they would on the album. The lone exception to that is 'Supernatural Superserious', which appears here as 'Disguised' without the chorus and thus a much weaker version than the final product. What makes this album so damn good though is that the rest of the selections are not the usual greatest hits, like 'Losing My Religion' or 'Man on the Moon'. Instead, they opt to dig deep into their early albums and pull out some of the best and often overlooked cuts. We hear most of Chronic Town. We hear a good chunk of Reckoning and Fables. And, since the new album had put them in the rocking spirit, these versions all sound good and chunky. 'Circus Envy' for example, a song from Monster, is given a new treatment and vitality that it lacked on the album version. The casual atmosphere also encouraged the band to be more playful, as they rap back and forth with the crowd between a number of songs. At one point, Bono even heckles them from the crowd! (Before 'Man-Sized Wreath', while the band is bantering about whether or not the song will appear on the album, he yells, "B-side!") Combine this with a few previously unreleased songs (Staring Down the Barrel, On the Fly) and this album is a must purchase for any serious REM fan, especially those fans of the IRS years.



As good as the album is, the DVD disappoints just as much. Rather than giving us a concert film, or even a documentary of the band's unique idea, we get a disjointed mess. Vincent Moon and Jeremiah calls the film 'sketches', but why not a fully developed work of art. And I'm not sure what they were trying to do stylistically. The shots are always jumping around, seemingly looking for the most obscure shots of the band possible. There are some good chunks of film towards the end, but as soon as it starts to resemble a decent whole, it ends. Perhaps they thought a straight film of the rehearsals would be boring. But the crowd there obviously loved it, so why wouldn't we love watching it?



If you're a serious fan, you should probably get the CD/DVD version anyway and see what you think about the movie. Worst case you spent a couple bucks more and never watch the movie again. Either way though, the album is a must.



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