The Big Mates discuss the history of rock music, torn posters, pressing mistakes, and the early days of R.E.M..Adam, Steve, and Lucas start at the beginning, talking about the individual members of R.E.M., how they grew up, and then follow them through the early days of music making in Athens, Georgie. They touch on the musical landscape of the time, the legacy of rock music, and chart the band's musical progression all the way up to their first single release, Radio Free Europe, and the release of their debut EP, Chronic Town.The Big Mates go track-by-track on the EP, offering up analysis, opinions, and context from three differing perspectives on music, from being deeply into analysis and music, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between.How did R.E.M. form? Is Steve punk? What was Sir Mix-a-Lot knighted for? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?Our next episode is out on Monday November 20th and will feature insightful audio commentary for an early R.E.M. show!Join the conversation on:Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatismusicpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpodE-mail: whatismusicpod@gmail.comGet 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