When Did R.E.M. Fall Off My Radar?

On September 30, 1995 I was at Hersheypark Stadium singing along to alternative rock pioneers R.E.M. and their opening act Radiohead. Now, almost 16 years later it's hard to believe that the creators of Out Of Time, Automatic For The People, and Monster had fallen off my musical radar. It must have been a gradual fade, but thanks to the May issue of Interview Magazine and their piece on Michael Stipe, R.E.M. are once again on my mind.

R.E.M. never stopped making music and after 30 years it's no small accomplishment to still be on a major label and still be making music. On March 8, 2011 they released their 15th full-length album, Collapse Into Now, which debuted at #5 on Billboard 200.

The fascinating thing about the Stipe interview for me was his take on what an album means in 2011 and how the band is making a film for every song from Collapse Into Now. Stipe 51, understands the power of YouTube and the 21st-century audience.

For the films, R.E.M. has enlisted 11 directors, including the man of the hour James Franco to tell R.E.M.'s stories through film. Many may say that's nothing more than a music video, but we'll have to see because for me R.E.M. video's like "Everybody Hurts" felt more like an art film than a music video.

TBC......

Carrie Underwood Makes Acting Debut

Country superstar Carrie Underwood became the latest singer turned actor in this weekend's Soul Surfer. Underwood plays youth leader Sarah Hill in the inspirational true story about Bethany Hamilton, a 13-year-old surfer who looses her arm in a shark attack.

The role was a safe choice for Underwood's big screen debut. Her character is sweet and wholesome, much how society perceives Underwood and Carrie didn't have to test her acting chops head to head with veteran co-stars Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid.

The good news for Underwood is that the acting all the way around in Soul Surfer was mediocre, so her rushed lines and uncomfortable mannerisms didn't seem to stick out too much. I'm sure Underwood helped draw some people to theaters this weekend (Soul Surfer finished fourth at the box office), but like most singers who try to transition to acting Underwood should stick to the music because for every Tim McGraw (The Blind Side) there are twenty Taylor Swift's (Valentine's Day).

Grey's Anatomy: The Musical Event, Falls Short

I'm a huge Grey's Anatomy fan and when I heard they were doing a musical event I was psyched. I imagined an episode where dramatic events filled our screen and perfectly placed songs provided the dialog. Obvious thought right, this was the show that used music (The Fray, Bryn Christopher, Metric, Adele) better than any other production on TV. Boy was I wrong.

When I finished watching last night the only two words that came to mind were corny and disappointed. I was laughing as Dr. Hunt, Dr. Torres and crew sang their way "dramatically" through the show. I appreciate shows taking chances, but Grey's isn't Glee. In the latest Entertainment Weekly creator-executive producer Shonda Rhimes described herself as a "musical-theater geek," which is fine, but she should have kept that part of her life out of my favorite show. It's so disappointing because the storyline of the episode (Callie's accident) was so great and it got ruined by the song and dance. We couldn't even enjoy Addison Montgomery's return to Seattle Grace because the singing was so distracting. I hope they never do another episode like that again and I know when I buy Season Seven on DVD I will defiantly skip over that episode. Too bad because season seven was quickly becoming one of my favorite season's of all time.