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R.E.M Live
by
R.E.M Live Image
Metascore
65

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 20 Ratings

  • Summary: The first live album for R.E.M. is a recording of the band's Dublin concert in 2005.

Top Track

Losing My Religion
Oh life, it's bigger It's bigger than you And you are not me The lengths that I will go to The distance in your eyes Oh no, I've said too much I set... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Mojo
    80
    The CD reveals R.E.M. still have plenty of fuel to throw upon their smouldering career. [Jan 2008, p. 100]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Delusions of Adequacy
    70
    Taken as a whole package though, R.E.M. Live is a flawed but respectable enough addition to the canon of three men who can still conjure up a bit of magic, albeit in spite of themselves.
  3. Billboard
    70
    Attention does seem to wander during some of the post-millennial songs, and the insistent clapping on the wrong beat during 'Drive' is irritating, but the crowd's love is audible and the band more than earns the affection.
  4. Spin
    60
    It's reliably beautiful, if staid. [Dec 2007, p.124]
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  5. AllMusic
    60
    Fans of the frenzied early R.E.M. rock & roll will find this too anthemic--but this big, big sound on R.E.M. Live speaks to the band's core strengths in a way no post-Bill Berry studio album does.
  6. Trouser Press
    60
    A solid enough set from the Around the Sun tour but not particularly revelatory, it’s exactly what one would expect from a late-period R.E.M. live album, with no surprises in performance or setlist.
  7. Blender
    50
    It’s strange and sometimes fascinating to hear R.E.M.’s oldest songs played so differently, though vintage tracks are rare in a set concentrating on 2004’s mostly inert "Around the Sun."

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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. ricco94
    Aug 31, 2012
    9
    R.E.M. have always been a great live band, and the Around the Sun songs cannot change this. They also sounds better in this live performance,R.E.M. have always been a great live band, and the Around the Sun songs cannot change this. They also sounds better in this live performance, and the old hits are still great, especially Man on the Moon and Orange Crush. Michael's voice is not very clean anymore, but it sounds great during I Took Your Name.
    R.E.M. live is an excelent release. If there were less Around The Sun tracks it would 10/10.    … Expand
  2. BertEcho
    Oct 31, 2007
    8
    R.E.M. has suffered an identity crisis of sorts with the subpar Reveal and Around The Sun. However, this live album shows that R.E.M. is as R.E.M. has suffered an identity crisis of sorts with the subpar Reveal and Around The Sun. However, this live album shows that R.E.M. is as powerful live as ever. Even songs from the last two albums come alive, free from studio tentativeness and overproduction.… Expand
  4. Jesse
    Nov 5, 2007
    8
    it's a pretty good time. i could do without some of the newer stuff but the dvd sound is great, and the old songs still sound as good as it's a pretty good time. i could do without some of the newer stuff but the dvd sound is great, and the old songs still sound as good as they did when i was growing up.… Expand
  5. RLB
    Nov 3, 2007
    4
    Why a live CD now, and why another DVD? "Road Movie" and "Perfect Square" satisfied my requirement for live REM many times over! And Why a live CD now, and why another DVD? "Road Movie" and "Perfect Square" satisfied my requirement for live REM many times over! And there's nothing monumental here, the best selections being the ones originally out before '87.… Expand
  6. ToddW.
    Oct 31, 2007
    2
    This one hurts. R.E.M. is my favorite band of the last 25-plus years, and to hear an unadulterated piece of crap live album like this when This one hurts. R.E.M. is my favorite band of the last 25-plus years, and to hear an unadulterated piece of crap live album like this when they've got so much more to offer is a shame. Both on me and on them. They've never really released a proper live album, and to come out with an offering that extols their latter day work is either telling their fans that they really don't care or it's a holiday rush job from their management. Either way, it stinks. They could have really done something radical with a live album - after all, they've got almost 30 years of shows in the can - but they choose the easy way out. I kept hoping all of the rock-n-roll prognosticators who foretold the death knell of this once great American band were wrong. With this, I feel they've got their finger on R.E.M.'s pulse. And it's weak.… Expand

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