Monster (Pt. 1)

The Big Mates discuss fame, identity, balloons, and Monster by R.E.M.Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of R.E.M. by starting their analysis of the band's ninth studio album, released in 1994. They talk about the writing and recording process, the context surrounding the songs, and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspectives on music, from being deeply into analysis and music, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between.They discuss the expectations that must have weighed on the band, the tricky recording sessions for the album, and the external events that must have influenced them. They also talk about how the artwork was created, how the band arrived at the title, the process behind the tone of the album, and they get started on their track-by-track analysis!How does a band follow up its biggest hit? Is this their horniest album? What is the name of Season 7? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?Our next episode is out on Monday August 12th and will continue our analysis of Monster.Join the conversation on:Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatismusicpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpodE-mail: [email protected] access to more shows, exclusive bonus content, ad-free episodes of this show, and more music discussion by subscribing to our Patreon!Head to patreon.com/whatismusicpod and receive up to two new episodes of our various shows every week (including shows about Manic Street Preachers and monthly themed playlists!), ad-free archives of What Is Music?, and access to our Patron-only Discord server for even more music (and non-music) discussion!Support our show when starting your own podcast!By signing up to Buzzsprout with this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=780379Check out our merch!https://whatismusicpod.redbubble.comDonate to our podcast!https://ko-fi.com/whatismusichttp://whatismusic.buzzsprout.com/Support the show