Skidmore News

Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment

With high-quality soundboard recordings of concerts floating around the internet, it is difficult to justify plunking down cash for "official concert releases," especially for a band as high-profile as R.E.M.

The only band that gave Massachusetts new wavers Michael Stipe, Peter Puck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry real competition in their '80s heyday in terms of commercial success was U2.

Recent years have not been as kind to R.E.M. Nowadays, most modern bands looking to make big bucks would sacrifice their favorite instruments to sell an equivalent number of albums and concert tickets. So, naturally, for the minority of listeners who actually care about abstract notions of artistic credibility and self-restraint, "Live at the Olympia" seems an awful lot like a cynical grab at the wallets of their devoted fans.

The fact that a substantial portion of the "set list" is drawn from a moderately well received studio album released over a year ago does not do a whole lot to dispel such a notion, nor does the fact that they just released a live album in 2005.

But wait! This one is different. "Live at the Olympia" is not just any live album. No, it is an "important document" of the band's creative process.

Between June 30 and July 5, 2007, R.E.M. put on five shows to hone material for its April '08 LP, "Accelerate." Devoted fans lucky enough to get their hands on the golden tickets must have been ecstatic. Whether those five shows merit an official release is another question. The answer to this question is a big, "Yes." The quality of the performances is mostly great. Fans will be happy to hear many of the band's best tunes that were not released as singles, a disproportionate number of which are drawn from the album, "Reckoning," (1984) the band's classic sophomore release that is generally regarded as one of its best.

"So. Central Rain," "Harbor Coat," "Second Guessing," and, best of all, "Pretty Persuasion" are performed with such energy and enthusiasm that they could have been written yesterday. "Driver 8" and "Feeling Gravity's Pull," two underrated and underplayed songs from an equally underrated album, are also highlights.

The band's 1986 album, "Life's Rich Pageant" is represented by the good but not great "Cuyahuga" (around the time Michael Stipe started writing lyrics with P.C. content). A stunning rendition of "Drive" is the only song from "Automatic From the People" (1992).

It goes without saying that even the less well-known songs in R.E.M.'s long history are great. Fortunately, the new material fits into the band's repertoire seamlessly, especially "Living Well is the Best Revenge" and "Houston."

Whether or not "Live at the Olympia" is worth the price of admission depends on just how much you care about R.E.M. It is certainly a topnotch performance and captures the band getting in touch with its roots in order to craft new material worthy of its reputation. Hardcore fans will no doubt also want to get their hands on the assortment of previously unreleased tunes.

However, casual listeners might be better served by picking up "Accelerate" for a more polished rendition of the best songs R.E.M. has written since the mid-'90s. Then again, they would be missing out on the old classics that earned the band its acclaim in the first place. The fact that listeners have to make the choice is a testament to how strong an album "Live at the Olympia" is.

Eric Shapiro is a sophomore who loves rock music in all its forms. You may see him around campus in a band T-shirt listening to his iPod and looking friendly.

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