
The Name of This Band Is R.E.M.
A Biography
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Narrated by:
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Mike Chamberlain
About this listen
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE • An electrifying cultural biography of the greatest and last American rock band of the millennium, whose music ignited a generation—and reasserted the power of rock and roll
"[Carlin's] unique gift for capturing the sweep and tenor of a cultural moment...is here on brilliant display."—Michael Chabon
In the spring of 1980, an unexpected group of musical eccentrics came together to play their very first performance at a college party in Athens, Georgia. Within a few short years, they had taken over the world–with smash records like Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster and Green. Raw, outrageous, and expressive, R.E.M.’s distinctive musical flair was unmatched, and a string of mega-successes solidified them as generational spokesmen. In the tumultuous transition between the wide-open 80s and the anxiety of the early 90s, R.E.M. challenged the corporate and social order, chasing a vision and cultivating a magnetic, transgressive sound.
In this rich, intimate biography, critically acclaimed author Peter Ames Carlin looks beyond the sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll to open a window into the fascinating lives of four college friends–Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry–who stuck together at any cost, until the end. Deeply descriptive and remarkably poetic, steeped in 80s and 90s nostalgia, The Name of This Band is R.E.M. paints a cultural history of the commercial peak and near-total collapse of a great music era, and the story of the generation that came of age at the apotheosis of rock.
©2024 Peter Ames Carlin (P)2024 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“A book for fans with the voices of fans. The pleasure is much deeper than simply nostalgia. The story of R.E.M. is a reminder of who we were, and perhaps who we still hope to be.”—Chicago Tribune
“Carlin writes vividly and in close detail about the group's formation and early days. . . [Carlin] is a pro at gathering and unspooling the facts. . . [He] clearly loves the songs and is smart about not just the most popular of them. . . [The Name of This Band Is R.E.M.] gets across all the fundamentals, with both affection and discernment.”—Washington Post
“Vivid....Peter Ames Carlin's book isn’t just a cultural biography of the band going back to its formation in the-then sleepy college town of Athens, Georgia. It’s also a poetic meditation on what made so many of the band’s songs stand out, and continue to shine.... A fascinating history of a different era in music.”—Associated Press
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The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn't
- The Story of the Roughest, Toughest, Most Hell-Raising Band to Ever Come Out of the Pacific Northwest, the Screaming Trees
- By: Barrett Martin
- Narrated by: Barrett Martin
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1992, the Screaming Trees were expected to become the next big band to come out of the Seattle music scene during the heyday of grunge. Except it never happened. It wasn't because the band didn't have great songs—indeed, the Trees were revered for their ability to write a great song that was both artistically original and commercially viable, which is no easy task. Other Seattle bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden were fans of the Screaming Trees, playing shows with them and collaborating on albums, long before their own bands broke through into the mainstream.
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Not Quite the Whole Story
- By Gorgatron on 09-18-24
By: Barrett Martin
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Bruce
- By: Peter A. Carlin
- Narrated by: Bobby Cannavale
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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This sweeping biography of Bruce Springsteen features in-depth interviews with family, band members, childhood friends, ex-girlfriends, and a poignant retrospective from the Boss himself. It’s Bruce as his many fans haven’t before seen him - the man behind the myth, describing his life and work in intimate, vivid detail.
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For the most part, this is what I was hoping for
- By Patrick King on 12-11-12
By: Peter A. Carlin
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Heartbreaker
- A Memoir
- By: Mike Campbell, Ari Surdoval - contributor
- Narrated by: Mike Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Mike Campbell was the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from the band’s inception in 1976 to Petty’s tragic death in 2017. His iconic, melodic playing helped form the foundation of the band’s sound, as heard on definitive classics like “American Girl,” “Breakdown,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” “Learning to Fly” and “Into the Great Wide Open.”
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Made me feel like I was in the band
- By tyler303 on 04-09-25
By: Mike Campbell, and others
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Petty: The Biography
- By: Warren Zanes
- Narrated by: Warren Zanes
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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No one other than Warren Zanes, rocker and writer and friend, could author a book about Tom Petty that is as honest and evocative of Petty's music and the remarkable rock and roll history he and his band helped to write. Born in Gainesville, Florida, with more than a little hillbilly in his blood, Tom Petty was a Southern shit kicker, a kid without a whole lot of promise. Rock and roll made it otherwise.
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Tom Petty gets some bio love
- By tru britty on 12-15-15
By: Warren Zanes
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Sonic Life
- A Memoir
- By: Thurston Moore
- Narrated by: Thurston Moore
- Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Thurston Moore moved to Manhattan’s East Village in 1978 with a yearning for music. He wanted to be immersed in downtown New York’s sights and sounds—the feral energy of its nightclubs, the angular roar of its bands, the magnetic personalities within its orbit. But more than anything, he wanted to make music—to create indelible sounds that would move, provoke, and inspire. His dream came to life in 1981 with the formation of Sonic Youth, a band Moore cofounded with Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo.
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Disembodied Art and Intellect
- By Kris on 11-02-23
By: Thurston Moore
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Live at the Fillmore East and West
- Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock's Greatest Legends
- By: John Glatt
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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John Glatt tells the story of the Fillmores through the lives of Bill Graham, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Carlos Santana, and an all-star supporting cast. Chronicling the East and West Coast cultures of the late 1960s and early 1970s-New York City with its speed, heroin, and the Velvet Underground versus San Francisco with the LSD-drenched Summer of Love - Glatt reveals how Graham made it all possible. But why did Graham shutter both Fillmores within weeks of each other in 1971, during the height of their popularity?
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great story, narrator a bit grating
- By Jason S Howell on 03-07-15
By: John Glatt
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Homeward Bound
- The Life of Paul Simon
- By: Peter Ames Carlin
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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To have been alive during the last 60 years is to have lived with the music of Paul Simon. The boy from Queens scored his first hit record in 1957, just months after Elvis Presley ignited the rock era. As the songwriting half of Simon & Garfunkel, his work helped define the youth movement of the '60s. On his own in the '70s, Simon made radio-dominating hits. He kicked off the '80s by reuniting with Garfunkel to perform for half a million New Yorkers in Central Park. Five years later Simon's album Graceland sold millions. And it doesn't stop there.
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Now I Know
- By KellysHero718 on 11-01-16
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Led Zeppelin
- The Biography
- By: Bob Spitz
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of the definitive New York Times best-selling history of the Beatles comes the authoritative account of the group many call the greatest rock band of all time, arguably the most successful, and certainly one of the most notorious.
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Sex & Drugs & Rock-n-Roll.... in that order.
- By Joe on 01-03-22
By: Bob Spitz
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What a Fool Believes
- A Memoir
- By: Michael McDonald, Paul Reiser
- Narrated by: Michael McDonald, Paul Reiser
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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A sweeping and evocative memoir from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Grammy Award-winning, platinum selling singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, written with his friend, Emmy Award-nominated actor, comedian, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Paul Reiser.
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Those eyes! 😍
- By Linda Lehman on 06-26-24
By: Michael McDonald, and others
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Everybody Had an Ocean
- Music and Mayhem in 1960s Los Angeles
- By: William McKeen - editor
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Everybody Had an Ocean chronicles the migration of the rock 'n' roll business to Southern California and how the artists flourished there. The cast of characters is astonishing - Brian and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, eccentric producer Phil Spector, Cass Elliot, Sam Cooke, Ike and Tina Turner, Joni Mitchell, and scores of others - and their stories form a modern epic of the battles between innocence and cynicism, joy and terror. You'll never hear that beautiful music in quite the same way.
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Extremely entertaining
- By Wayback machine on 10-05-22
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Never Understood
- The Jesus and Mary Chain
- By: William Reid, Jim Reid
- Narrated by: William Reid, Jim Reid
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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William and Jim Reid, brothers and founding members of The Jesus and Mary Chain—a band that bridged the gap between the punk explosion and the emergence of grunge and Britpop—chronicle the chaos, confusion, and stories behind their music.
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A huge amount of complaining throughout the book. I love JAMC but, sheesh, there is a fair amount of "woe is me"
- By R. on 11-19-24
By: William Reid, and others
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Meet Me in the Bathroom
- Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011
- By: Lizzy Goodman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston, Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In the second half of the 20th century New York was the source of new sounds, including the Greenwich Village folk scene, punk and new wave, and hip-hop. But as the end of the millennium neared, cutting-edge bands began emerging from Seattle, Austin, and London, pushing New York further from the epicenter. The behemoth music industry, too, found itself in free fall, under siege from technology. Then 9/11/2001 plunged the country into a state of uncertainty and war.
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Deeply disappointing.
- By ChicagoRob on 01-18-20
By: Lizzy Goodman
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Memoir of a Roadie
- Axl Said I Made a Great Cup of Tea... Scott Weiland Liked the Carpenters... & Ozzy Drinks Rosé.
- By: Joel Miller
- Narrated by: Joel Miller
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Joel Miller is an ex-roadie for Guns N’ Roses, Poison, Stone Temple Pilots, and the Cranberries. The book is an often-hilarious personal account of a young man in his early 20s trying to be a “good” roadie while also trying to understand life’s big picture. Through the advice of rock stars and career roadies Joel tries to find the pathway to roadie righteousness.
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Meh
- By Jason on 08-20-24
By: Joel Miller
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Nirvana
- The Amplifications
- By: Michael Azerrad
- Narrated by: Michael Azerrad
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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It has been three decades since Nirvana upended the pop cultural landscape with Nevermind, the landmark album that became the soundtrack of Generation X, capturing its confusion, frustration, and passion. In 1993, Michael Azerrad published what stands as the definitive biography of this revolutionary band and its star-crossed leader Kurt Cobain. Written with the band’s complete cooperation—the only book to feature interviews with Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl—it became a massive bestseller and, in the words of Cobain, "the best rock book I’ve ever read.”
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Interesting but no Storyteller
- By Mark on 10-21-24
By: Michael Azerrad
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Rock Concert
- An Oral History as Told by the Artists, Backstage Insiders, and Fans Who Were There
- By: Marc Myers
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine, Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Decades after the rise of rock music in the 1950s, the rock concert retains its allure and its power as a unifying experience - and as an influential multibillion-dollar industry. In Rock Concert, acclaimed interviewer Marc Myers sets out to uncover the history of this compelling phenomenon, weaving together groundbreaking accounts from the people who were there. Rock Concert provides a fascinating, immediate look at the evolution of rock 'n' roll through the lens of live performances.
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Very fun
- By Kathy Neal on 10-13-24
By: Marc Myers
What listeners say about The Name of This Band Is R.E.M.
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- LSUtim
- 01-20-25
Historical account we knew but nice to revisit
Narrator is terrible. His inflections are worse. I thought my voice was terrible, but I do not do voice over. I’m sure he is a nice guy and if he is, I’m sorry, but maybe do something else. REM=may life’s soundtrack
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- #grundo
- 01-31-25
Nothing is Cool
I remember my late father being into REM when I was a 12 or 13 year old. ‘Automatic For the People’ was on heavy rotation in our house. Such a fantastic listen. Even for the casual fan, this made me a believer. Long live REM!
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- Melanie Garland
- 12-30-24
A Must!!
Beautifully written & read. It felt like meeting an old friend & realizing just how much you’ve missed them. I paused with the discussion of each new album release and listened to them in their entirety just to immerse myself in the history of the band. There were late albums I had not listened to before & others i’ve lingered over for weeks. Highly recommend!!!
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- Daniel B.
- 03-06-25
Great Guys
I've loved this band since my youth. As a Southerner, I'm proud that this band came out of Georgia. But after listening to this biography of the band, I love and respect REM even more. After I listened to Bono's audio memoir, I found U2 a little more pretentious and insufferable. But this narrative gave me a deeper respect for this quirky alternative band that didn't change to meet culture but instead changed culture and met it halfway.
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- Tamara Ravalin
- 01-28-25
Fantastic. Take REM Spotify Breaks while you listen.
I am not a music enthusiast. I never purchased an album or went to one of their concerts. I missed out, but not any more. You will love this listen.
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- Larry W. Patrick
- 01-28-25
Solid Rock Biography
I am a fan of REM and I found this book informative and I learned a lot about the band I did not know.
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- wpl
- 11-19-24
Thoroughly interesting
The voice of the narrator is really hard to take. It could’ve been much more enjoyable.
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- Justin Woulard
- 01-11-25
Great Book About a Great Band!
Well written and well read. If you’re even a little curious about R.E.M. you should definitely check it out.
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- Joseph Moye
- 12-13-24
Good listen
The language was descriptive and eloquent. Also the story stayed with the music and artists and didn’t dwell on the escapades and excesses
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- Peter Blanchfield
- 02-02-25
Engaging and intimate portrait
Excellent deep dive into the band and each of the members and their artistry. Loved every minute of it.
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