From SlicingUpEyeballs.com: R.E.M. ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’ 25th anniversary reissue to include 19 unreleased demos College-rock kingpins R.E.M. continue their reissue series this July with a 25th anniversary edition of Lifes Rich Pageant that will feature a newly remastered version of the 1986 album and a bonus CD that includes 19 unreleased demos — one of which is a song that’s never before been released. The expanded reissue is due out July 12 as a 2 CD set on Capitol/I.R.S. and on 180-gram audiophile vinyl via Mobile Fidelity, the band announced today. Boasting new liner notes by music journalist and author Parke Puterbaugh, The CD package will be “presented in a lift-top box with a poster and four postcards.” The bonus disc, dubbed The Athens Demos, features 19 tracks recorded in March 1986 at producer John Keane’s studio in Athens, Ga. Among the tracks are early recordings of all 12 Lifes Rich Pageant tracks, plus several songs later recorded for subsequent releases: “Bad Day,” “Rotary Ten,” “Two Steps Onward,” “Mystery To Me,” “All The Right Friends” and “March Song (King Of Birds),” an early instrumental of “King Of Birds” from Document. The real treasure, for longtime fans, is the inclusion of the demo for “Wait,” a track never before officially released by R.E.M., although it’s been heavily bootlegged. Tracklist: R.E.M., Lifes Rich Pageant (25th Anniversary Edition) Disc 1: Original Album 1. “Begin The Begin” 2. “These Days” 3. “Fall on Me” 4. “Cuyahoga” 5. “Hyena” 6. “Underneath The Bunker” 7. “The Flowers of Guatemala” 8. “I Believe” 9. “What If We Give It Away?” 10. “Just a Touch” 11. “Swan Swan H” 12. “Superman” Disc 2: The Athens Demos (All Previously Unreleased) (Recorded March 1986 at John Keane’s Studio, Athens GA) 1. “Fall On Me” 2. “Hyena” 3. “March Song (King Of Birds)” 4. “These Days” 5. “Bad Day” 6. “Salsa (Underneath The Bunker)” 7. “Swan Swan H” 8. “Flowers Of Guatemala” 9. “Begin The Begin” 10. “Cuyahoga” 11. “I Believe” 12. “Out Of Tune” 13. “Rotary Ten” 14. “Two Steps Onward” 15. “Just A Touch” 16. “Mystery To Me” 17. “Wait” 18. “All The Right Friends” 19. “Get On Their Way (What If We Give It Away)”

Food for thought: Is It Wrong To Celebrate Bin Laden's Death? by LINTON WEEKS Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP A crowd gathers outside the White House early Monday to celebrate President Obama's announcement that U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden. Impromptu celebrations erupted near the White House in Washington and ground zero in New York when news of Osama bin Laden's death was reported and tweeted. Laura Cunningham, a 22-year-old Manhattan reveler — gripping a Budweiser in her hand and sitting atop the shoulders of a friend — was part of the crowd at ground zero in the wee hours Monday. As people around her chanted "U-S-A," Cunningham was struck by the emotional response. She told New York Observer: "It's weird to celebrate someone's death. It's not exactly what we're here to celebrate, but it's wonderful that people are happy." To read the rest of the article click here.

From RollingStone.com: By STACEY ANDERSON MAY 2, 2011 5:35 PM ET May 5, 1990 - Led Zeppelin play a reunion set at Jason Bonham's wedding The death of thundering drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham on September 25, 1980, was an insurmountable loss for Led Zeppelin: the band disbanded three months later, issuing the official announcement, "We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager have led us to decide we could not continue as we were.” Singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist John Paul Jones continued to perform and record, occasionally with each other: Page and Plant formed the R&B group the Honeydrippers in 1981 (which also featured Page’s fellow Yardbirds alum Jeff Beck) and joined with Jones to release an album of Led Zep outtakes, Coda, in 1982. The surviving trio regrouped for a short set at Live Aid in 1985, with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson sitting in on drums, but Page and Plant were reportedly infuriated by the performance. Led Zeppelin’s next gig, five years later, was a much more joyous affair. Page, Plant, and Jones reformed for a lengthy jam at the wedding of Bonzo’s son, Jason Bonham, in Kidderminster, England. The groom sat in on drums, and the immediate chemistry of that lineup proved the catalyst for the band’s biggest reunion to date: the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert on December 10, 2007, at O2 Arena in London….with Jason Bonham sitting in for his father again.

Excellent cover of R.E.M.'s "Falls To Climb" which originally appeared on their Up album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX2L8jRv6iM&feature=player_embedded

I started to lose interest in them around the time of Fair Warning but that's probably only because Women & Children First was so fucking good. Quite honestly I've never understood the love for 1984 as that's where they really started to lose it and I'm not just talking about the incorporation of keyboards.

When did "Americana" (if that's what you choose to call it) become new and when, exactly did Jake Holmes invent it? Even the artists that were playing No Depression, alt.country, y'allternative, Insurgent Country, etc. prior to Plant readily acknowledged their influences. This style of music goes back much further than Uncle Tupelo, Townes Van Zandt or even Gram Parsons. Those two artists certainly helped bring the genre (or subgenre) to a wider audience but neither has ever tried to claim they invented it. What put it on the map in an even bigger way was the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Ever since the overwhelming success of that soundtrack and film, T Bone Burnett has been one of the most in demand producers out there right alongside Rick Rubin. Thanks to performing with Alison Krauss at a Leadbelly tribute concert a few years ago, Plant too discovered this type of music. He's not ripping off anyone, much less Jake Holmes.

Metallica is a "band of today"? Who knew...

I've learned through experience that no matter how polite you are about it, letting someone know they've created a duplicate thread for an identical topic is a very volatile subject, at least that's been my experience on this board. On other boards the Mods will usually delete the duplicate thread or merge it with the existing one. Here, it can be grounds for WW III.

As I posted earlier in the thread, I own several box sets. I would never buy them if it was all stuff I already owned, at least on CD. In most (but by no means all) cases box sets are full of previously unreleased material. Rhino Records (who released the Nuggets box sets) do a very excellent job of compiling the boxes they release. That's not just from the compiling aspect itself but also the amount of work they put into the packaging of them.

I still buy new and used vinyl regularly, especially if the new vinyl comes with a download card. I have a turntable but I really need to upgrade since it's in such poor shape. I want to be able to convert some of my old records to mp3's but I also want to be able to listen to them through my existing home stereo system. I've seen a Technics model which I think would do the trick but I've yet to fork over the bucks for it.

The worth of used vinyl records hasn't suddenly gone up. If it's a rare printing, misprint, 1st pressing or a sought after title that's in mint condition it's going to be worth more but this isn't anything different than what I experienced when having accessing the value of my parents' record collection in the late 90s. And yes, vinyl has made a comeback over the past few years but it's still miniscule compared to digital downloads and compact disc sales. The increased popularity of vinyl hasn't suddenly caused old vinyl records to be worth more. Check any record collecting site and you're soon learn that the price of vinyl (U.K. pressings or otherwise) haven't suddenly increased in value. Check this site for more information.

I have this on an old Dr. Hook collection called The Best Rest of Dr. Hook (which is evidently so hard to find I couldn't even locate an image of the album cover online). I hadn't thought of it in years until I heard Shooter Jennings play some old obscure Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show on his Electric Rodeo program on XM earlier tonight. BTW, this is NSFW.

Whenever these two get into it I feel like I've walked into the middle of an Abbott and Costello routine.

Link to the correct thread.

New Fountains of Wayne: Fountains Of Wayne's new album, Sky Full Of Holes, will be released in the US on August 2 by Yep Roc Records, and by Warner Music in Japan (other international release dates coming soon). Recorded in New York City, Sky Full Of Holes features 13 new songs written and produced by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger. The album was mixed by John Holbrook, who also worked on Welcome Interstate Managers and Traffic And Weather. The band - Collingwood, Schlesinger, guitarist Jody Porter, and drummer Brian Young - will tour extensively in support of the new album beginning this summer. Check www.fountainsofwayne.com for tour dates and updates.

RollingStone.com will be streaming performances from Jazz Fest this year. More info here.

I suggest an entire section of the forum be devoted to the discussion of why someone born in 1968 was 27 in 1995.

It's been mentioned before but I don't think Golden Earring's "Radar Love" really qualifies as a One Hit Wonder since they've had other hit songs, especially "Twilight Zone" (which actually hit the #1 spot on the charts in the U.S. while "Radar Love" only reached #13).

The entire song:

New Garland Jefferys from his album The King of In Between which is due on June 7th: