As R.E.M. sprinted toward a long-developing commercial breakthrough in 1987, they came to more fully understand their powers as a band – both musically and
Category: History
“Listen to me.” There’s a moment at the end of “Welcome to the Occupation,” where Michael Stipe repeats this phrase over and over, sounding more
In the back half of the ’80s, as R.E.M. was crafting their fourth and fifth albums, the band’s music was becoming more direct. The sounds
R.E.M. loved to cover their musical heroes – in concert, on tribute albums, for b-sides. YouTube and rarities compilations are rife with them paying tribute
How R.E.M. Mixed Dreams, TV and Politics on ‘End of the World’
If Document was the turning point for R.E.M., then “The One I Love” served as the hinge. Released as the lead single of their fifth
Billy Joel was about halfway through his eighth studio album, The Nylon Curtain, and sensing the creative strain. He turned that feeling into the album’s
R.E.M.’s second album, 1984’s Reckoning, carried a curious phrase on the LP’s spine: “File Under Water.” It was a designation, an in-joke or even an alternate
Joe Elliott likes to call “Pour Some Sugar on Me” “the most important song” on Def Leppard’s fourth album, Hysteria, and “maybe the most important
Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption” solo popularized the tapping style of guitar playing, and in doing so revolutionized the sound of rock. Not bad for a