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Customer Reviews of What's the Frequency Kenneth?

Strong Frequency
"What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" was the first single from R.E.M.'s Monster album and it gave a preview of what the album would be like. Moving away from the acoustic tones of their two previous albums, the song has ringing guitar bursts and power chords galore. The title is taken from a line supposedly said to newsman Dan Rather. The cd has three bonus live tracks from Automatic For The People and they are well worth the price of the cd if you already have Monster.

Pragmatic effort from R.E.M., but still very nice
The first of the Monster singles, this is perhaps most notably for its pragmatism, but that shouldn't be faulted. This was, likely, going to be the best selling single of the album, and the one with the most appeal to casual or even non-fans. True, the live versions of their hit songs "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon" have an element of pandering to this audience, but it also should be remembered that this single was the first release after the huge success of "Automatic for the People", which featured all of the tracks found here. They are a natural inclusion, while also a pragmatic one.

The title track is strong. With a twinge of slacker anthem (not to mention the quoting of Richard Linkletter, director of the film "Slackers") it excells lyrically, while often gets noticed for the strong rock performance.

"Monty Got a Raw Deal" was a very nice inclusion to bridge the hit songs. One of the many beautiful tracks from "Automatic", it has strong lyrics and very strong performance for the live track. It is mixed very well, and is one of the better live tracks R.E.M. has released.

"Everybody Hurts" is not as strong a recording. With Stipe effecting a bit of a falsetto, and very sparce instrumentation, it has an interesting feel. Also, the organ from Mike Mills is a joy to listen to. Unfortunetly, the crowd is a bit loud, ruining the more mystical and emotional feel of this version. I much prefer the version from the MTV Video Music Awards that finds its way into the Automatic Box.

"Man on the Moon" is notable for the very laid-back perfromance by all involved. Although this song has tended to produce a more rocked-out feel in recent performance by the band, here you a very a very subdued rendition with a very intentional old-school country feel. It is really worth a listen, and brings something new to the album track, which is the best thing a live recording can do.