Groundbreaking Band R.E.M. Breaks Up

R.E.M., the revolutionary band that brought some sense or art to the 1980s music scene that began floundering badly almost as the decade began, broke up yesterday, bringing an end to a 31-year run that saw some of the best music ever produced in the Rock N’ Roll genre. Not that it’s fair to classify R.E.M. purely as Rock, of course. Their music had undertones of country, bluegrass and folk if you’re willing to go back far enough into their catalog of songs. For those who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s, R.E.M. is likely a part of their music life like few other bands.

On a personal note, I actually went to my first-ever concert in the Fall of 1989 and followed up with my second in the Spring of 1990. In both instances, I was seeing R.E.M.’s "Green" World Tour and they were kind enough to stop in Maryland at the beginning and end of the tour. Speaking of the breakup of the band that formed in 1980s in the college town of Athens, Georgia, lead singer Michael Stipe noted, "A wise man once said, ‘the skill in attending a party is knowing when it’s time to leave.’ We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we’re going to walk away from it."

Thought there were grumblings on social media that R.E.M. perhaps should have broken up years ago, those who are honest about what music should be have no such misgivings. Tweeted hip-hop producer El-P, "R.E.M. was still together?" Of course, he produces hip-hop, so wouldn’t know talent (or music) if it hit him over the head. Even for those who aren’t musically-challenged, such as hip-hop artists and producers, it’s sometimes hard to define R.E.M. Their sound obviously changed over the course of 31 years, and some say the band was formally "over" when drummer Bill Berry left in 1997 due to health concerns. Even so, R.E.M. will always be remembered for bassist Mike Mills and Berry forming a soupy low-end rhythm, Mills’ almost haunting couter-point backing vocals, Stipe’s almost instrumental voice and guitarist Peter Buck’s famous jangling Rickenbacher guitar riffs and, of course, the way it all came together.

As buck once summed things up, "We’re informed by the same aesthetic as the Pearl Jam-Nirvana guys were – they’re they second generation of punk kinds, and we were the first. But I remember when the Beatles were together. I was 10 when they broke up, and that was part of my experience, too. We’re probably more interested in songwriting than a lot of younger bands are, and that’s a totally unhip thing to say. It’s not supposed to be about songs anymore, but grooves, riffs and passion. But I like a good bridge and an intro section, and a key change in a good place." Around the globe, music fans are remorseful. And somewhere, El-P is trying to figure out what Buck’s quote actually means.