by Steven Booth

Created on: June 25, 2009   Last Updated: June 26, 2009

There are two amazing things about REM. First is the fact that they, along with U2 are the sole surviving flag-wavers from the early 'eighties post-punk movement. Second has been their ability to maintain their artistic independence. Their music hasn't always been perfect, but they have always blazed their own path to independence, even while holding onto major label deals and having arena tours.

The promise of late 'seventies punk wasn't Johnny Rotten singing "God Save The Queen" or the Clash singing "White Riot", but was instead a musical Declaration of Independence where artists didn't have to follow the established record company formulas to become popular and relevant. REM were among those guys. They took the defiance and raw energy of punk rock and distilled into something all of their own. While "Chronic Town" and "Murmur" sounded quite different than what the punk bands were doing, they not only took the revolution in a different direction, but they pretty much started their own movement in the process. Not long after they hit their creative stride, people started talking about "indie rock" where many of the artists took a similar direction as REM.

The fact that they have survived well into the new century is also pretty amazing. It's been years and years since many of the bands they inspired have gone out of business. The Replacements have been broken up eighteen years, Kurt Cobain is dead, and while Pearl Jam is still around, they haven't had a decent record in years. REM has kept going and going. They've had a creative mis-step or two, lost a band member they never replaced (literally and figuritavely), and their recent albums have had much more mixed reactions creatively and commercially, but they have undoubtedly endured.

"Chronic Town" and "Murmur" were existential mood pieces where each listener derived his own meanings of the songs. Michael Stipes mumbles stream-of-consciousness lyrics over moody Southern guitar rock forced the listener inside their heads and didn't spoon-feed the emotions to the listener like so much popular music did at the time and still does. "Reckoning" wasn't as strong, but seemed to reach out a little more to the outside world. "Fables of the Reconstruction" took the landscapes of "Murmur" and added a more distinct southern and country texture. This is where Peter Buck's influence became more prominent, with frequent fills of banjo and mandolin. Increased popularity brought a few comprmises. "Life's Rich Pageant" and

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