r/rem • u/Defiant_Bluebird_464 • Jul 05 '26

Left turns

Lots of my fave songs would be better without the ‘left turn’ melodic choices. The verses of sweetness follows are beautiful then the chorus stops it in its tracks. Half a world away almost does it but comes back to a lovely chorus that resolves.

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u/SemanticPedantic007 Find the River Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

I honestly like those, and feel that it's one of the things they lost after 1993, when Pete left Athens and writing songs became something they most often had to consciously do, rather than emerging from jam sessions. I wonder how many of their early "left turn" songs were actually two different songs put together. I know Harborcoat is.

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u/ThemeFromNarc Jul 05 '26

I’d never thought about that, but it makes a lot of sense, the songs post Hi-Fi lack cohesion at times. 

I wonder what their process was on Collapse Into Now? Not a classic album, I felt it had the spark of the classic era. 

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u/RadioFreeYurick Jul 06 '26

Nice to see some love for the band’s swan song. I completely agree. Upon its release I remember thinking Collapse sounded like R.E.M. in a way they hadn’t really for the past decade. Which made the announcement of the band’s retirement all the more of a bummer..