By: Riley Zipper
R.E.M. disbands after 31 years of alternative rock domination
On Sept. 21, the band that began a genre finally called it quits after 31 long years. R.E.M. was formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. They released their first single, “Radio Free Europe” in 1981, a time when pop and hard rock ruled the airwaves. R.E.M. had a different sound. This sound was complemented by Buck’s arpeggiated guitar and Stipe’s unclear, moaning style of singing. This sound became a new genre. This genre was called alternative rock.
Alternative rock today is a broad genre that blankets bands from My Morning Jacket to Sonic Youth all the way to Train. Bands like this probably would not exist in the same form without R.E.M. They were especially keen to the alternative bands of the 90s such as Nirvana and Radiohead. R.E.M. and Nirvana really sound nothing alike, but bands like Nirvana would not exist without R.E.M. paving the way. Radiohead even cited R.E.M. as one of their biggest inspirations. The mix of guitar with the occasional piano and other instruments are common themes in both bands (just listen to the mandolin in R.E.M.’s biggest hit “Losing my Religion”).
R.E.M.’s most successful album was Out of Time from 1991, garnering seven Grammy Nominations and winning three. Out of Time was a departure from the harder guitar attack of the band in the 80s. It was somber and included a bigger variety of instruments, including mandolin, as mentioned above in the lead single from the album “Losing my Religion.” But my favorite is Automatic for the People released the next year in 1992. This included the singles “Man on the Moon,” “Drive,” “Everybody Hurts” and my personal favorite, the piano-driven “Nightswimming.”
R.E.M. will forever live on in our iPods and in our hearts, but it is always upsetting when a beloved band breaks up. Michael Stipe still has one of the best voices of all time, “Everybody Hurts” is one of the biggest bummer songs of all time worthy of even Kurt Cobain and I will hum “Nightswimming” until the day I die. R.E.M. was one of the best bands of all times and will never be forgotten.
Founder of Apple and former CEO Steve Jobs dies
Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 will be a day I will always remember. It was the day that the most technologically creative mind possibly of all time, Steve Jobs, passed on. Jobs co-founded Apple Computer with partners Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976 with very little money. He changed the way we use the computer.
Until 1984, when the Macintosh was released, Apple released unique, but very expensive computers. But in 1984, everything changed with the release of the Mac. During the 1984 Super Bowl, Apple aired a one million dollar commercial directed by Ridley Scott advertising the Mac. It depicted an Orwellian-like future, obviously inspired by George Orwell’s classic 1984, where a woman (the Macintosh) decides to break from the norm of Microsoft. It was aired only once, but it made the public’s apprehension for the new product only increase. The Macintosh was a modest success, but still being expensive, it did not sell as well as Jobs expected, and he left the company in 1985 to found NeXT Computers.
In 1997, Jobs returned to Apple in their most tumultuous times. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy and in dire need of something fresh. Well, they got it. In 1999, the iMac was released, thus beginning a long trend of putting a lower-case “i” at the beginning of product names. But it didn’t just begin that trend, it was, and still is, an iconic machine. Everybody knows what the original iMac looks like. It was big with a plastic, candy-colored case that came in a wide variety of fun colors. It was also one of the first computers to be an all-in-one, meaning the case and monitor was incased in one machine.
The real hit came in 2001: The iPod. The iPod was announced at one of Jobs’ signature keynotes, with him wearing his signature mock turtleneck and jeans, the pinnacle of geek-wear. The original iPod packed a whopping *sarcasm* five gigabytes of memory, and was only available for the Mac. I still remember when it was announced and begging my parents for it, even though an eight year old had no use at all for a music player that could hold one thousand songs. But it was cool! But expensive. The first model cost $400 at its time of release. Compare this to the current iPod classic that holds 40 thousand songs and only costs $250. In subsequent years, new models were released including the Mini, Photo, Video, Nano, Shuffle, Classic and Touch.
In 2007, Jobs revolutionized the way we communicate with the release of the iPhone. The entire world was shocked as they watched Mr. Jobs saunter across the stage with that beautiful piece of touch-screen mastery. Nobody had ever seen anything like it. It was an iPod, a phone and an Internet browser all in one. It was, and still is (as the fifth model was announced Oct. 4) an incredible piece of machinery, better yet, art. I received the 3G, the second model, for Christmas in 2008 and was hooked. I waited in line for five hours in June of last year to purchase the iPhone 4, and it was totally worth it. I will never purchase a phone other than the iPhone.
In 2010, the iPad was released, which is hailed by many as Jobs’ biggest achievement, I disagree, but it still is a masterpiece. Many called it a bigger iPhone or iPod Touch, but when I first laid my hands on one, I was convinced that it was much more than that. It again changed the way we perceive what a computer is. A computer does not have to be something you sit in front of in a chair with a mouse and keyboard, it can be a flat slate with no mouse or keyboard, one that you touch with the greatest tools, your fingers.
I am an Apple fanboy, I will be the first to admit it. I am not ashamed in the least. I am writing this on a Mac, and will never buy a PC for as long as I live. I will also admit that I was deeply saddened when I heard about the death of one of my idols, Steve Jobs. It saddens me even more as I write this. But at the same time, it makes me happy, because as I write this, I’m reflecting over the grand achievements of the greatest innovative genius of our generation. iWill always miss you Steve, but you will forever live on in my hands, on my desk, in my ears and most of all, in my heart, and in all of our hearts, as you shaped a generation.
*End voraciously sentimental trip*
