Men's Group

as for R.E.M., Peter Buck's guitar was, at least the legend has it, a deliberate artistic response to the crazy soloing stuff of the Duane Allmans of the world... which I happen to also like, it's just a different style.

And the truth is that Buck was still learning when those guys started out; although to my mind he put together a tight style and distinctive sound pretty quick. But it's pretty clear from the first few albums that the musicianship was being driven in large part by the team of Mike Mills on the bass and Bill Berry on the drums. I still think that those early IRS years albums- murmur, reckoning, FOTR, lifes rich pageant- hold up real well. Timeless.

Also under-appreciated, IMHO, is the murky psychedelia of early R.E.M.... albums like Murmur, with the right combination of chemicals, you could really get your head inside them for 50 minutes or whatever, kind of the way you can with Dark Side of the Moon. A lot going on underneath the surface.

But, of course, nothing is more subjective than musical taste. I never got into metal growing up; it wasn't on my radar screen- although in my old age I have developed an appreciation for Ozzy much as I have developed an appreciation for Willie.

I did like Jethro Tull and King Crimson, speaking of prog rock.. and speaking of albums that have held up well. I think I spent a good couple months of my junior year in HS doing nothing but smoking pot and listening to "Discipline". So any time I make an "Elephant Talk" joke in meta ("badger.. brou ha ha.. bicker...bicker...BICKER!&quot that's why.

I was never terribly into the Smiths, either, although I had an exceedingly hot girlfriend in college who was, so that should have put a dent in my psyche. Except she was vegetarian ('vegan' not having yet entered the lexicon) and I was an enthusiastic carnivore, so the whole "meat is murder" thing became a point of friction---- and not the good kind.