Grand Ma Ma's - 1 Review

Today R.E.M. announced that they were no longer a band. For most people that probably means very little. I'm sure a lot of people probably thought they broke up years ago. To me it's a major upset. They are and have been my favorite band for the last 25 years or so of my life. With the exception of an album and a half, their catalog is solid. This year's Collapse Into Now is one of the best records I've heard in years. They were the best live band I've ever witnessed and at one show Michael Stipe even threw me the microphone to sing the end of "It's the End of the World." I met bassist Mike Mills a couple years ago in Athens while I was touring through. He was one of the nicest people I've ever met. I just meant to say hello and tell him he was the reason I play bass now, but he engaged me in conversation for a while. The band has been with me throughout the highs and lows of my life and I will always hold them dear.

To celebrate this band/mourn their death I decided to review a southern sweet tea. Something that the folks of Athens, GA would sip on their front porches on a hot summer day. Okay they probably brew their own, and probably never think to buy this product, but it was the only sweet tea I had on hand. It does taste fairly authentic. It's made with cane sugar and you can totally tell. It's very sweet, but it actually tastes like tea and not sugar water. Bravo on the product.

Now onto the packaging. Really? Is Larry Johnson relevant at all anymore? The grandmamma character is from
Converse commercials that came out in the early 90's. I will be the first to admit that those commercials were awesome, and this would have made sense 15 years ago, but now would people even remember it by name? A gimmick that is out of date, but a product that is great. Now I'm going to go and listen to the entire R.E.M. catalog in chronological order.