Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Groundhog Thursday

The Thursday Quiz Season Seven Wrap-Up

No contest this season, as DrSchnell romped to his third season title with five Stars, a whopping three of them Gold ones. He also had a Silver and a Blue.

Boo takes her first season honors in second spot with four Stars, two Silvers and two Greens.

Out of the five-way tie for third, Cartophiliac has bragging rights with two Golds and a Silver, followed very closely by Karmasartre with two Golds and a Green.

Also with three Stars are la gringissima, who took two Silvers and a Green; Serendipity, with one apiece of Silver, Blue, and Green; and the Queen of Green, Mrs.5000, who kept three Green Stars right here at Castle5000.

Fans of the Quiz will be delighted to hear that TQ topics have been planned out all the way to TQM. That's three more seasons, people!


Shameless Cross-Posting

Michael Reads the Bible is back from sabbatical. Y'all on that?


This Is, Again, Not a Quiz

In the comments to TQLXX, mhwitt said...
I propose that that next Thursday quiz should feature a list of REM albums that we must order from earliest to latest. I propose you call me exactly sixty minutes before you post it so I can be the first to answer.

Oh, and no Wikiing, etc.

Deal?
Sure, mhwitt. Deal. I called you earlier this evening -- knock yourself out.


Accelerate
Around the Sun
Automatic for the People
Dead Letter Office
Document
Fables of the Reconstruction
Green
Lifes Rich Pageant
Monster
Murmur
New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Out of Time
Reckoning
Reveal
Up
The Seventh Season of the Monday Quiz and the Eighth Season of the Thursday Quiz start next week!

8 comments:

mhwitt said...

Yes, this is one full service blog! Where do I leave a tip?

Here it goes:

Murmur
Reckoning
Fables of the Reconstruction
Life's Rich Pageant
Dead Letter Office
Document
Green
Automatic for the People
Out of Time
Monster
New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Up
Reveal
Around the Sun
Accelerate

The inclusion of Dead Letter Office raises the possibility that I will not ace this. You and I just about wore out our pre-recorded cassette copy of that album in our fetid college apartment, but it's not an album in the usual sense and is harder to place within the R.E.M. oeuvre.

For the non-slavish fan, Dead Letter Office was a lovely collection of B-sides and previously non-released songs. Lots of covers and goofy tracks. Some lovely liner notes by guitarist Peter Buck too. Much of the charm of the record comes from the fun and good times that those boys were clearly having.

"I've got a hat the size of O-Oklahoma!"

DrSchnell said...

(Chronic Town) - more an EP than an album
Murmur
Reckoning
Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables
Life's Rich Pageant
Dead Letter Office
Document
Green
Out of Time
Automatic For the People
Monster
New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Up
Reveal
Around the Sun
Accelerate

Anonymous said...

Was it really Lifes Rich Pageant without an apostrophe? By the group with three periods in their name? Sweet.

In 2006, a new album by the Beatles was released, containing re-invented song mixes to provide the music to a Cirque du Soleil show. On the front cover of the CD jacket, the name is LOVE. On the spine, the name is "LOVE". I like to think the Cover-graphic-art department finished their job, then shipped it to the Spine-graphic-art department, who, not wanting to plagiarize, put the name in quotes.

Dug said...

Just my unsolicited opinion but I basically feel that around the time of "Document" REM stopped being themselves and started sounding like a fairly ordinary rock band (U2 also did this). I haven't really been buying their albums since the early '90's. Should I? Are their later albums worth getting?

DrSchnell said...

In answer to Dug:

For my money, "Automatic for the People" is their best album by far. And I say this as a long-time rabid fan of all the old stuff. It's not much at all like their earlier albums, but it's got a brooding, death-tinged melancholy that's hard to beat. I bought everything up through "Reveal", but must say that I almost never listen to anything post "Automatic...". Many people really like "New Adventures in Hi-Fi." It's also pretty unique, and clearly the result of a band that's just beat up and worn out by relentless touring and medical awfulness (see Berry, Bill: aneurysm, etc.), so while I think it's very good at that, "that" isn't something that I often want to listen to. They clearly were trying to do something other than a) be REM and b) be a conventional rawk band starting with "Up", but again, I'm not particularly interested for the most part in what they came up with. I hear "Accelerate" is spozed to be more like the good ol' days, and it's gotten good reviews, but I haven't heard it.

Michael5000 said...

The last R.E.M. album I bought was "Monster," which had that one song on it that was kind of cool. I liked "Green," but whatever.

I still think it's tough to beat "Fables of the Reconstruction," unless you counter it with "Dead Letter Office," which despite technically being a rubbish tip is one of my favorite records of the era. It includes a sleeper that might be my very favorite rock song, "Ages of You" -- although this is a taste that may be unique to me. But whatever. "Dead Letter Office." A must!

DrSchnell said...

M5K - If memory serves, did we not go to that CD store in Lawrence on midnight of release day for Monster? I think that's the only time I've ever done that. I wish it had been for a more memorable album.

Michael5000 said...

Your memory serves. I think we were at that store late twice in like a week or something, also going in to catch They Might Be Giants in an accoustic performance, the highlight of which was a cover of "I Want to Be Sedated." Fine times.