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- Summary: The second live recording for the band features songs from its five-night residency at Dublin, Ireland's Olympia Theatre in 2007.
- Record Label: Warner Bros.
- Genre(s): Rock, Alternative, Live
- More Details and Credits »
Top Track
Living Well Is The Best Revenge | |
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It's only when your poison spreads Into the life you hope to live And suddenly you wake up In a shaking panic, now You set me up like a lamb to... | See the rest of the song lyrics |
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 11
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Mixed: 3 out of 11
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Negative: 0 out of 11
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Though it isn’t a concept album, Live At The Olympia does tell a story about the remarkable staying power of one of the best rock bands of the past 30 years.
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Q MagazineLive At The Olympia more than stands up as a vital, vibrant document in its own right. [Dec 2009, p.118]
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In 39 tracks over two CDs, the punk-fuelled folk-rock group that had ruled the ’80s along with U2 magically reappears.
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The notion of a 2xCD set of rehearsal recordings smacks of unnecessary indulgence, but whether you take this as an alternative canon of R.E.M. music or a document of a band working hard to find its future by revisiting its past, the album is successful in providing a new perspective on a classic group desperately in need of a new narrative thread.
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While the recording and performance are at times a little ragged in voice and tone, the band’s earlier semi-punk instincts ring through and its taste remains impeccable.
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Given the quality of the performances and the depth of the song selection, Olympia is not simply a for-fans-only vanity project or an excuse to revisit an album that's just over a year old, but it stands as an essential addition to R.E.M.'s catalogue.
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MojoClearly the thrill of hearing new songs in their embryonic state could never be replicated, but as rendered in such pristine isolation even the cavalier back catalogue selections (rarely played early classic 1,000,000;one-that-got-away Romance) fell flat. [Dec 2009, p. 95]
Score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 3
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Mixed: 0 out of 3
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Negative: 0 out of 3
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MiguelA.Oct 30, 2009Amazing live album, great set list, good sound and top performance.
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JimmyR.Oct 30, 2009A real treat for fans, and a great intro to the band for new fans.
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Mar 29, 2012
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