R.E.M.

AN UNDERRATED BAND. MIKE MILLS, PETER BUCK, MICHEAL STIPE, AND THE DRUMMER I FORGOT HIS NAME. THEY STARTED IN THE COLLAGE ROCK DYAS OF MURMUR. THEN CAME THE PUNK SOUND OF RECKONING. THEN CAME WITH FOLK MUSIC IN FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION. THEN CAME THE ALBUMS DEAD LETTER OFFICE AND LIFE'S RICH PAGENT. THEN THE BIG BREAK DOCUMENT. THEN THE GREEN ALBUM. THE EXPEREMENTAL OUT OF TIME. THEN THE DREPRESSING BUT BEAUTIFUL AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE. THEN THE GRUNGE ROCK OF MONSTER. THEN LIVE DRUMS ON NEW ADVENTURES IN HI FI. THEN ELECTRONICA IN UP AND FINALLY MELLOW POP IN REVEAL. R.E.M. CONTINUE THE GOAL TO MAKE MUSIC IN 2004

CHRONIC TOWN (1982)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

The humble beginnings of an inexperienced Athens, Georgia garage band making their recording debut, R.E.M.'s first word came in the 5 song Chronic Town EP. Even this early in their career, the album is a successful 20 minute showcase of R.E.M.'s early talents - Michael Stipe's vocals and lyrics are as mysterious and indecipherable as anything he ever sung, the rest of the band's playing sounds very energetic, with Peter Buck's distinctive, ringing guitar chords in full force and Mike Mills and Bill Berry showing their incredible tight chemistry together. The opener "Wolves, Lower" is a perfect song to kickstart the band's career, as every aspect of the sound is impressive - the melody is irresistible, the vocals and lyrics are charming, and the inspiration and energy is apparent. "Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)" is another winner, the band really creating a "carnivalesque" atmosphere, and the song also features a fantastic bassline and an even more infectious chorus. "Gardening At Night" and "1,000,000" are also catchy 'indie rock' pieces and "Stumble" succeeds on the odd, repetitive nature of its' lyrics and fine rhythm section performance. Overall, a tremendous start for the band, and an excellent indicator of the phenomenal timeless rock to come.

OVERALL RATING: 8

COMMENTS

chronic town is o.k. it contains 3 great songs ("wolves,lower" "gardining at night" and "carnival of sorts") but the other 2 suck. so i would have to give it a 7

MURMUR (1983)

(Nick Karn's review)

One of the most uncoventional, unique, atmospheric and phenomenal songwriting efforts to come out in the early eighties, during a time when most music was exactly the opposite, predictable and synthesized, R.E.M.'s first full length album Murmur really sounds like no other album recorded before or since (the band themselves never came close to this record's style again). Very dark, moody, confusing, and indicative of the strange album cover, with countless guitar overdubs from Peter Buck layered all over the place, the lyrics of Michael Stipe are damn near impossible to decipher but very open on account of his mumbling vocal style, giving the record a timeless sense of mystery. And don't forget about that Mills-Berry rhythm section.

Murmur begins with an instant classic of an opener "Radio Free Europe", a song that sounds vaguely like a political number but can be interpreted very loosely. It's also got an addictive melody, and you can dance to it, while "Pilgrimage" is even more obvious of a sing-along, with a phenomenal 'take a turn' chorus, the piano meeting the bassline, the atmospheric drum sound and of course the charmingly confusing lyricism. "Laughing" is a more rhythmic number with a distinctive bassline (and that great Bill Berry drum sound again!) and the mythologically inspired poetry. The more pop-oriented, pleasant acoustic tune "Talk About The Passion" follows, and it plays out like a great hunger anthem, and in the context of this unreal studio atmosphere, it's made even more special.

"Moral Kiosk" is the song that features both the most impenetrable lyrics and the best hook throughout the entire album, and that combination works wonders. The side closing "Perfect Circle" is a beautiful piano ballad mixed with that fantastic sense of mystery within its' lyrics, while the second half opens with a melodically impressive "Catapult" that's pushed forward by great bass playing. The child-like "Sitting Still" has a very uplifting feel and just as affecting instrumentation as a classic sing-along, and it's followed by the merely average "9-9", which is by far and way the most bizarre song on the record, with its' unpredictable instrumental structure and mumbled spoken word bits - it's not quite there as a great song, but it does win points for its' very unique feel.

Moving back into melodically moving sing-along territory is "Shaking Through", with the guitar and piano leads blending perfectly with the vocal melody (classic chorus too). The following "We Walk" is so melodically and lyrically ridiculous with its' hook ('up the stairs, through the land'), it's downright entertaining and timelessly enjoyable as the purest sing-along masterpiece here. "West Of The Fields" closes the album by again combining the words which make no sense and the studio atmosphere that pulls you in for a track that leaves an impression as the ending to one of the absolute landmark albums of the decade, and the follow-up would be just as much, if not more, of a smash.

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

It's really hard to explain the greatness of this album to people. I was playing it in the car once while driving out to get lunch with a couple of friends, and just as an offhand comment I said "For the record, you're listening to one of the greatest albums of all time." One of them responded "Uh... no." I guess I should point out that this particular friend has a short attention span and always forces me to skip forward to the hit single of whatever given album I'm playing (this album has none, so I was safe), which really pisses me off because I'm seriously a "whole album" sort of person. Still, it stands R.E.M.'s debut album certainly doesn't sound like a masterpiece. On the surface, it's really just a bunch of jangly folk songs, with chimey guitars courtesy of one Peter Buck and Michael Stipe's mumbled vocals only partially audible. Ho hum, I guess it sounds like every other freakin' album they made during the early '80s.

In spite of this, there are a couple of factors that drive the album home into being an absolute and unquestionable classic. Most obvious is that the songwriting is absolutely wonderful - each song sounds completely natural and organic, flowing from verse to bridge to chorus in ways that sound like they were meant that way since the beginning of time. I guess that anybody could come up with guitar lines like the ones on "Catapult" and "Sitting Still," but I can think of very few bands that could lead these guitar lines into fully-fledged songs that are what the listener would expect, yet not obvious-sounding at all. Almost as importantly, the album has an atmosphere unlike almost any I've heard - the album was made in 1983, but it doesn't sound like it at all. The sound of the album is airy and gorgeous, but in a down-home way that isn't overproduced at all or overly reminiscent of the production on a million other postpunk albums. The production gives songs like the piano ballad "Perfect Circle" and the smoothly-flowing "Laughing" an edge that they wouldn't have had in any other context, even if the melodies themselves are wonderful.

Some of the album's less endearing qualities can be seen as flaws, but I don't really have any problem with any of them at all. Some see "We Walk" as a way-too-simplistic nursery rhyme, but it sounds really catchy and charming to me. Some complain that Stipe resorts to sloppy high school French for the lyrics to "Talk About The Passion," but they can barely be heard under the song's gorgeous, chiming melody. Some peg "9-9" as awkward and amelodic, but it sounds rollicking and original to these ears. If there's any flaw to the album at all, it's that on the first three songs the rhythm section is mixed too loudly, creating an effect that would sound like disco were it not so utterly absurd to call it that. (Michael Stipe, Disco Pimp #47 1983!) Luckily, the alternative hit "Radio Free Europe" and "Pilgrimage" are weird and solid enough tunes to make up for this shortcoming, and they only help contribute to what is easily one of the only absolutely perfect albums I own and one of my favorites ever. I'm probably raving too much, but I really love this album - just go buy it, as long as you don't buy it at Tower Records, since for the money you'll pay for it there you can probably get two CD's anywhere else.

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

HIGH POINTS: Moral Kiosk, Radio Free Europe, Talk About The Passion, Sitting Still, Laughing, We Walk. LOW POINTS: Shaking Through.

One of the most influential albums on the "alternative" rock scene, Murmur is impressive in that it really doesn't sound like anything else that came out in 1983 - or any time, for that matter. Basically, these four boys from Athens, GA, are mixing folk with minimalistic garage rock. But the way they pull it off is astonishing, achieving a dark, murky atmosphere that matches the album's swampy cover. How do the band do it? Well, besides the fact that they are musical soulmates, it's some kind of organic combination of Peter Buck's rough, jangling guitars, Michael Stipe's often incomprehensible mumbling, and the tight rhythm section of bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. The songs are also well-written from a technical standpoint, with generally nice melodies and fluid structures. However, before we go too overboard with the raves, I actually tend to go a little against the grain on this one; that is, I think that it's a little overrated, and that R.E.M. more fully developed their influential sound on later albums. While most of the songs on here are good, the album is kind of monotonous, and the hooks don't really "stand out" like they do on so many of the band's later songs. And, needless to say, Stipe's vocal delivery can be a bit obnoxious at times.

So, I do have criticisms, and I don't find the album to be objectively -perfect- like so many fans do. But minor quibbling aside, Murmur is still a classic, thanks to its timeless aura and better-than-average consistency. Heck, the monotony here does not even detract from the album's quality, necessarily, as there are some definite standout tracks on board. (Of course, monotony can be heard as positive on an album, but I'm not going to go into that.) In terms of pure catchiness, "Moral Kiosk" is the album's best song, with Buck's ugly guitar blaring up the verses, and a nicely tumbling chorus. It's a great tune on its own merits, but it really sticks out here, because it deviates from the mood of the other songs. Conversely, "Radio Free Europe" establishes the mood of the album, getting things going with some very melodic jangle pop. I guess the disco-style beat isn't a mainstay for the rest of the album, and that's probably a good thing, but this opening cut is all the more infectious for it. This one, along with the elegant, string-laced "Talk About The Passion," were the singles. Somewhat underrated is the bouncy nursery rhyme "We Walk"; "Laughing" is equally pretty, but it seems to get its due credit from fans. "Sitting Still" is about as catchy as anything you could imagine, although, for the life of me, I will never be able to figure out everything that Stipe is singing during that middle-eight: "Up-to-polla-kay-de-blaza, kitsch-eh-sans-but-not-me-in/Silly-traffa-love-bee-kay, wasting time, sitting still."

The rest isn't as strong, but not really bad, and it holds up the atmosphere well enough. I'm not crazy about "Shaking Through," which I just find generic. I guess I also don't get too excited about the fan-favorite "Pilgrimage," the structure to which sounds messy to my ears. "Perfect Circle" is a pretty piano tune, although a little drowsy, and not that memorable. "9-9" is the noisiest, most awkward song on here, but it's fairly interesting as such. "Catapult" is yet another pretty song that fits the vibe of this record, and "West Of The Fields" is a darkly rocking closer. Despite my modest complaints, Murmur is one of R.E.M.'s strongest efforts, and a very tight debut. In my experience, it does take some time to grow on you, but it's a very enticing listen once you "get" it.

OVERALL RATING: 9

COMMENTS

murmur is my 2nd favoirite r.e.m album after hi fi. i just love all of the songs and the atmospher.

RECKONING (1984)

(Nick Karn's review)

Murmur was a stunning and quite unexpected success, and a timeless rock classic, and R.E.M.'s sophomore release leaves that timeless atmosphere behind in favor of a more 'college rock' sound - a combined art rock / punk feel, but with no less of the intrigue generated by the vocals and lyrics or the unique instrumental sound. Despite the change in approach this time around, Reckoning is arguably an even better effort. With a more energized Chronic Town feel in the band performance only with better songwriting, melody and overall sound, the songs here generally have more strength, and that becomes apparent in the punkish, thought-provoking opening track "Harborcoat" (mostly due to the intrigue of the mumbled lyrics) with an amazing, inspiring chorus, phenomenal rhythm section tightness and solid, repetitive guitar chords.

"7 Chinese Bros.", meanwhile, represents the elevation of Michael Stipe's lyrics from interesting indecipherable wordplay to challenging poetics, reworking the traditional "5 Chinese Brothers" tale into something more confusing and mysterious, but what really makes the song work is the utterly beautiful guitar and chorus melodies. The underground classic "So. Central Rain" which follows is probably the best sing-along in the entire R.E.M. catalog in my book - it's highly emotional, desperate and hopeless in its' 'I'm sorry...' chorus. "Pretty Persuasion", meanwhile, is one of the band's best straight-ahead numbers, proving that even when the band just rocks out it's highly memorable. The gorgeous "Time After Time" closes out the first half and is a moving ballad-ish song with nice lyrical twists and turns (with an especially defining line of "ask the girl of the hour by the water tower's watch"), a powerful guitar tone, melodic feel and drum sound.

The second half opener "Second Guessing" may be the band's greatest straightforward rocker with such unreal direct energy and entertainment in its' phenomenally melodic hook - it's hard to imagine something this musically simplistic achieving so much, but that's exactly what this song does. The following "Letter Never Sent" is a bouncy, pleasant sing-along number that's just OK, but it's also the shortest song on the record, so it hardly makes a dent in the album at all. Besides, if there are any dents to be found, the album's centerpiece "Camera", makes them all disappear, bringing together touching lyrics (more manipulating wordplay and poetic mastery), with a haunting ballad atmosphere and an affecting chorus.

"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" is yet another one of those damn catchy, legendary sing-alongs (this one written by Mike Mills) with infectious piano and pessimistic lyrics dealing with a warning to never coming back to a wasted, hopeless town. "Little America" closes the album in fine fashion combining socially conscious lyrics with tongue-in-cheek humor ('Jefferson, I think we're lost') at a great fast-paced punk speed. In all, Reckoning has a great deal of brilliant emotional content, amazing energy and melodicism with a great sense of directness, resulting in what could possibly be my favorite R.E.M. release (and believe me, that's saying a lot) and easily one of my favorite albums of all time.

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

R.E.M.'s followup to Murmur may not be as fantastic or epochal of an album as its predecessor, but it's certainly a much more likeable one. The band is already much more tight than before, and the tempoes generally lean more towards the "fast, catchy, jangly" side of the musical spectrum than anything the band had done before. The only thing that Murmur really had that this album can't boast was its unique atmosphere - then again, if this album also had that atmosphere, it wouldn't have been unique, so it's kind of a vicious cycle. Screw you, bald guy!!! Oh wait, he wasn't bald yet. In fact, I think he had long hair at this point.

Even though the songs aren't as solid and organic as before, the thing that saves all (or most) of them is that they're all really catchy. "Harborcoat" is an even better opener than "Radio Free Europe," with Stipe piling on loads of multitracked mumbling vocals over a pristine jangle-beat, and "Pretty Persuasion" opens with one of the band's best guitar licks and is notable for being the only song ever written with the hook "God damn, you're confusing." Mike Mills lets Stipe exercise his Southern drawl on the infectious country singalong "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville," Peter Buck gets a much-desired chance to imitate U2's The Edge on the closer "Little America," and "7 Chinese Brothers" has one of the neatest repetitive guitar runs ever to drive an entire song. It's so good that you'll forget that the song has a vocal melody, which isn't really a good thing to do since the vocal melody is so great, but who are you to recognize such pithy things as melody in the face of the guitar stylings of Peter "Frequent Flyer" Buck?

The only song which doesn't really measure up to the standard of quality set by the others is "Camera," an overlong ballad which is nice enough, but doesn't really engage me for its near-six-minute run. Fans seem to adore that one though (why not, it's a ballad), so don't take my word for it like I'm the ultimate authority on R.E.M., as much as it might seem so. And one listen to the soaring "Time After Time" will prove that Pavement, though they wrote really good songs, were just a bunch of self-consciously-indie pricks with no musical taste and excessively-bad body odor....no wait, that was just mean, scratch that. Though not quite up to the level of the debut (yes, I know Chronic Town was the debut, but you know what I mean, Mr. Smarty-Pants), this is still a fantastic album, even though my mom didn't seem to like it when I played it in the car (she called it "whiny") - what's with playing R.E.M. in the car that attracts so much universal derision?

OVERALL RATING: 9

HIGH POINTS: (Don't Go Back To) Rockville, So. Central Rain, 7 Chinese Brothers, Harborcoat, Little America. LOW POINTS: Camera.

The band's sophomore album is similar to the debut in ways, although it displays some important transitions. (When I say "debut," of course, I'm overlooking the Chronic Town EP). On one hand, Reckoning is still very much a part of R.E.M.'s early period, with an enigmatic, rustic "indie" feel about it. And, rest assured, Michael Stipe still contently mumbles like a gibberish-stricken drunkard. On the other hand, though, the album doesn't possess a unified sound like Murmur. The stylistic variety here is a welcome change, as it renders the album more instantly likable than its predecessor. Indeed, when you first start listening to Reckoning, the hooks in half of these songs are considerably stronger than any of the ones on the debut. However, upon further listens, one notices that this is actually a slight dropoff from Murmur, for a few key reasons. First of all, there are still three or four songs on here that don't get me terribly excited. In addition to this, the sound quality is not all that good this time around - the recording sounds a little fuzzy and thin. I'm actually glad that R.E.M. try to banish the monotony of the last album on here, but when they combine poor production with random stylistic experiments and a few average tunes, the end result is . . . eh, kind of messy. But don't go away just yet, because Reckoning is still a worthwhile album, thanks to some truly amazing songs. In fact, this is a very worthwhile album.

The first side tears open with "Harborcoat," a fast rocker that counterbalances a nice vocal melody with one of Peter Buck's patented, catchy guitar lines. The chorus is somewhat marred by the muffled vocals, but it's still so harmonious that it will lull you in every time. This song is a definite standout here. So is "7 Chinese Brothers," an atmospheric, bass-heavy ballad with more delicious guitar jangle and soaring vocals. The early college radio hit "So. Central Rain" is less uplifting, and more menacing, as ballads go - as it turns out, it's one of R.E.M.'s most memorable songs, with that desperate "I'm sorry" chorus, as Nick pointed out. "Pretty Persuasion" sounds a little blunt and knuckle-headed to me, but it's still a fairly catchy rocker. Side one closes with "Time After Time," a beautifully exotic ballad with some Eastern guitar tones and innovative percussion work.

Even though the first half is nearly flawless, I do have some problems when side two gets under way. "Second Guessing" is a decent rocker, but not a highlight (pretty much the same way I feel about "Pretty Persuasion"). This might not be a troubling issue, except for it's followed by "Letter Never Sent," another song that's just, 'em, okay. Actually, I never seem to remember this one after it's over, and I've probably listened to this CD like 100 times. No matter - both of these songs would not create a troubling issue, except for they're followed by "Camera," a dull, plodding ballad. At least "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" is able to save the day, to some extent. It's probably the album's best song, a buoyant country ditty with a nice piano rhythm. Oh, and, that sing-along chorus is just awesome, I tells ya'! The record achieves minor classic status because it closes with a truly overlooked gem, the melancholy rocker "Little America." The wordy chorus here is absolutely gripping: "The biggest wagon is the empty wagon is the noisiest/The [counselor - ?] horse/Jefferson I think we're lost." Overall, Reckoning is another fantastic relic from R.E.M.'s IRS years. In my experience, I've found that it grows a bit less captivating with repeated plays, but there are still enough outstanding songs of varying style on here to place the record in the '80s "college radio" hall of fame.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5

COMMENTS

reckoning is pretty damn good. it deserves a high 9. it is the most cachy album i own! and i have a large music collection.

FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION (1985)

(Nick Karn's review)

Tensions filled the studio during the recording of the band's third album Fables Of The Reconstruction - the songwriting and recording process was tremendously difficult, so despite a huge amount of new material (over 20 songs recorded) the album, which had a much more pronounced Southern folk influence, ended up being a highly uneven and tremendously disappointing release after two brilliant classics. The main problems that plague this album are the band's performance - the energy present in Reckoning is completely gone and the indecipherable mystery of Murmur has turned to indecipherable musical and lyrical uninspired incoherence which mar the album's worst moments, and the serious lack of captivating melodies and instrumental performance.

However, the album actually starts as if it would indeed become yet another classic, with the gripping "Feeling Gravitys Pull", which has amazing drama in its' melody and lyrical imagery and such a brilliant, somber guitar tone with a freakin' great hopeless chorus. Sadly, it doesn't really turn out that way, as "Maps And Legends" is decent dark folk rock, but really nothing more than decent, and the lyrics and melody are more stupid than charming and intriguing. The next two numbers, "Driver 8" and "Life And How To Live It", however, get the album back on the right foot for awhile - the former is another high quality sing along that paints an effective picture of the general aura of a train crossing the landscape musically and lyrically, while the musical and lyrical tension of the latter is affectingly brilliant - what an intro in particular.

Too bad these strong songs had to be marred by the ridiculous lyrics of "Old Man Kensey" - the melody unfortunately draws attention to them very easily - that make it something of an embarassment ('first he's gotta learn to count, he's gonna be a clown on the circus mount'??!). The second half opener "Can't Get There From Here" finds the band doing, of all things, a soul number, with Michael Stipe doing a bad James Brown imitation that makes the song sound horrid at first, but admittedly it does turn into a guilty pleasure, because it's so catchy. The album unfortunately continues its' decline afterwards - "Green Grow The Rushes" and "Kohoutek" lack any kind of great melody or inspired musical qualities, and are mumbled vocally in such an uninteresting fashion.

While "Driver 8" was a great train song, "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" is just pointless and lyrically annoying. "Good Advices" isn't too much better - it's just too laid back, the lyrics are again very weak and have too much attention drawn to them, and musically there's not much excitement going on. The closer "Wendell Gee" also leaves a lot to be desired - I'm sorry, laid back folk songs just are not this band's strongpoint, leave that to Led Zeppelin and stuff like "Going To California" or "That's The Way". In all, Fables is somewhat of a huge momentum stopper for the band - it does have it's fantastic moments, but while listening to it it's hard not to think that R.E.M. was fortunate avoid breaking up during this period.

UPDATE: Okay, I've grown to like this one substantially more in recent years since I've last reviewed it (original rating - 6), so like this page, wait for a rewrite eventually.

OVERALL RATING: 7.5

R.E.M.'s third album is one of their most controversial among fans, in that some consider it to be a dark, brooding reflection on the murky qualities that made R.E.M. so great in the '80s, while others consider it to be dull, boring, underwritten and a stylistic dead end for the band. There are also people who hold the middle ground and consider the album to be average, but let's forget about those indecisive freaks for the time being. This division makes sense upon first listen - while R.E.M.'s first two albums were jangly, upbeat, and generally easy to like, a lot of the songs on here are extremely plodding and sludgy, with much slower tempos and Michael Stipe's voice buried even further in the background than it had been before. It's also easily their most folky album, which could explain some of the criticism the album receives from rock fans - they don't like hearing any of that Southern crap.

Even though the album's pacing is generally slow, however, a surprisingly large amount of classics lurk amongst the tracklisting, even if some of them are somewhat hard to notice. "Feeling Gravity's Pull" gets to the album off to a great, awkward start, based around an offbeat riff and boasting a dreary and bleak atmosphere before unseen on an R.E.M. record - the song is pretty much to thank (to blame?) for the dreary sound that most people now associate with the band. "Live And How To Live It" and "Green Grow The Rushes" are typically-pretty mid-paced jangle-anthems with great chimey riffs, and probably the most appealing to fans of Reckoning and the like. The uber-classic is "Driver 8," a jangly train anthem with a great, flowing chorus which is one of their first songs to spotlight Mike Mills' backing vocals, which perfectly compliment Stipe's and would continue to do so for several more albums. The out-of-place "Can't Get There From Here" is just downright weird, a horn-spiked uptempo soul number with Michael Stipe adopting an over-accented Geo-gia accent. It sounds kind of stupid and lame on first listen, but it's really catchy and the chorus has an incredibly neat harmonic vocal arrangement - the only real flaw is that the production makes the song sound less full than it could have been.

The remainder of the album is slower and less accessible, but still good, with sludge-anthems like "Kohoutek," "Maps And Legends" and "Old Man Kensey" and country ballads like "Wendell Gee" seeming uninspired at first but eventually revealing their subtle (lucky) charms upon further listenings. The only songs which can actively be called weak are a couple near the end - "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" is another train song like "Driver 8," but unlike that song it doesn't seem to have any point musically and doesn't go anywhere at all, and "Good Advices," while pretty, is easily one of the least memorable songs in the band's entire catalogue. Otherwise, the album is great. Get it if you like '80s-country-folk-alternative-jangle-rock, or whatever the hell genre this is.

OVERALL RATING: 8

LIFES RICH PAGEANT (1986)

(Nick Karn's review)

This was a transition point for the band, as producer Don Gehman first encouraged Michael Stipe to bring out a more intelligible vocal style, while Stipe's lyrics took an increasingly political slant, and the band returned a bit more to the raw energy dynamics of Reckoning which had been missing from the previous release. While the resulting Lifes Rich Pageant is an improvement over Fables Of The Reconstruction, it still falls a little short of the standard the band had set early in their career. The problem this time is the lack of material they had to work with (they had to resort in using songs from their earliest days and a closing cover tune), and a lack of coherence within the tracks. But the material is still strong, and in fact even better than I originally remembered.

The band does utilize their strengths immediately in the opening "Begin The Begin", which is a politicized rush of understandable lyrics from Stipe and one of Peter Buck's best guitar lines ever. "These Days" also doesn't disappoint as a great fast number with lyrics that are equal parts menacing, thought-provoking and hopeful. The brilliant acid rain warning "Fall On Me" follows as the band's first minor hit single - another great Buck guitar line, powerful lyrics, a memorable chorus and Mike Mills-sung bride make it one of R.E.M.'s best all-around songs. "Cuyahoga" is another fascinating, emotional political song dealing with culture clashes, pollution and the like, and has great moving melodies. "Hyena" is another exciting rocker that uses the aid of piano textures in the background as well as the band's melodic capabilities to the fullest (amazing chorus). Closing the first half is a silly, but kind of entertaining, filler track "Underneath The Bunker", with distorted vocals and a Greek guitar riff.

The second half opens up with more stunning, desperate lyrical imagery from the political standpoint - beautiful vocals and lyrics, a great buildup to a powerful bridge and an amazingly affecting guitar solo from Buck, who's definitely not known for that type of thing. "I Believe" is the third of the energetic rock songs on this album, and even has a banjo intro to go along with a solid anthemic chorus, while "What If We Give It Away" is fairly nice, with a very strong prechorus and the early song "Just A Touch" is yet another strong, energetic rock song that hints at the sound of Document.

The album then closes "Swan Swan H" with an acoustic ballad which improves on the mostly so-so folk stuff on Fables and a cover of "Superman" (I forget who originally did it) sung by Mike Mills as an irresistible sing-along that still stands as great fun. Overall, Lifes Rich Pageant is an solid transition to a new era of R.E.M., beginning to move away from the intrigue of the earlier albums to a more direct sound - a little uneven, with the band's influences maybe worn on them a little more than usual, but well worthwhile.

OVERALL RATING: 8

Possibly in an attempt to keep their sound from slowing down to the point where all melody would be abandoned and Michael Stipe would slip into a perpetual coma mid-song, R.E.M. hired John Mellencamp's producer (boo) and charged up the rock guitars (yay) for their next effort. The album that came out of these sessions is the band's first really directly-appealing album, featuring songs based on catchy rock hooks and less oblique lyrics (though this is R.E.M., so they're still not exactly "yeah yeah, I love you babe," mind you). Most people say that Stipe is more intelligible on this album than he was before, but that's not really true - he mumbles his way through the songs almost as much as he did before (check out his performance on "Begin The Begin"); here he's just a bit more audible while doing it. He'll stop mumbling in just one more album, don't worry.

The song material holds up really well and aims directly for the murky jangle-pop aorta (ha! I bet you expected me to say "jugular"! Well, I'm temporarily not predictable!!) - the songs don't display as much depth as before (especially "Hyena" and the headbanging punk cover "Just A Touch"), but they're catchy enough so that it doesn't matter. And, though definitely commercialized, this isn't exactly a major departure from R.E.M.'s previous sound; it just has more guitars and the songs are a bit more quickly-paced and rawkin'.

The gorgeous ballads "The Flowers Of Guatemala" and "Swan Swan H," with murkier production, easily could've fit right in on Fables and they probably would've been the two standout tracks (besides the huge #1 mega-platinum hit "Old Man Kensey" of course). Plus, the "simplicity" isn't really a hindrance to very many of the songs -- "Fall On Me" is one of Stipe's personal favorite compositions, a soaring yet homely mini-anthem with beautiful counter-harmonies by Mike Mills. "Cuyahoga" is my personal favorite R.E.M. song, featuring a fantastic bassline and a ringing atmosphere to die for, and the often-overlooked "What If We Give It Away?" jangles along beautifully, with a perfectly-employed pause before its chorus.

The only real relative filler tunes are the aforementioned "Hyena" and "Just A Touch"(which are still great) along with the short Mexican-flavored joke instrumental "Underneath The Bunker," and even that one's pretty funny. This album is probably R.E.M.'s peak as a guitar rock band, and very nearly worth a 10, but it just doesn't pack the punch of Murmur, fantastic as it is. Still, Murmur didn't have the gloriously nerdy cover "Superman" as a closer, featuring Mike Mills' first lead vocal - that's right, the greatest backup singer of all time (besides probably about fifty I'm not thinking of at the moment or don't know about) can sing lead, too! The album's only actual flaw is that the album title on the CD spine is upside-down, thus resulting in the disorder of CD racks across the country and the mental anguish of their panic-stricken owners, but that can be easily fixed with some tape.

OVERALL RATING: 9

HIGH POINTS: Begin The Begin, Cuyahoga, Fall On Me, Swan Swan H, These Days. LOW POINTS: None.

Okay, now this is the album where R.E.M. really come into their own, mixing their ambiguous, early mystique with a bit more of a radio-friendly, loud guitar approach. The compromise is perfect: the album sounds extremely fresh and enlivening compared to nearly everything else that was around at the time, yet it's completely accessible. Therefore, one could argue that Lifes Rich Pageant was the first recording of mainstream "alternative" rock as we know it today. Or at least one of the first. Oh, mainstream alternative rock is not exactly a good thing in my opinion, but this album at least predicted some major changes in store for rock music a decade later. In other words, even though I'm not a fan of "'90s rock," 1986 was not a good time for pop music either, and radio-oriented rock n' roll needed a little retooling, I'd say. At the time of its release, LRP was indicative of some positive changes in pop music - intelligent hard rock minus the bombast of hair metal.

Ah, but historical importance aside, let's just take a look at the record itself. Some, including myself, believe it to be the most exciting and consistent item in the R.E.M. catalogue. Not only is it quite even, but around half the songs are absolutely incredible, and some of the band's best ever. The album strikes an interesting atmosphere, alternating smoothly between gorgeous ballads and ferocious, pummeling rockers. It's also the first R.E.M. record to feature full-scale production; as a result, the hooks are brighter, and not buried beneath so much murk, as they were previously. The overall "sound" here is manifested in "Begin The Begin," a mid-tempo rocker with awesome guitar-and-bass interplay, and one of the best songs to open any album. Is it my favorite R.E.M. song? Yeah, probably. "These Days" follows, and it's a faster, darker rock tune that really beats you into a pulp. Thus, "Fall On Me" arrives as a breath of fresh air, with those soaring melodies and pleading environmentalist lyrics. If not this one, then "Cuyahoga" is my second favorite song on here. It's just beautiful, and climactic, the way it travels from verse to middle-eight, eventually reaching that grand "Cuy-a-hooooogaaa!!!" refrain. The rawk feel is brought back to full force with "Hyena," which boasts one hell of a great performance by Bill Berry on drums, and a very memorable chorus. The Mexican throwaway "Underneath The Bunker" is a little odd, but appropriately short.

Side two doesn't lose a whole lot of the fire here, kicking off with "The Flowers Of Guatemala," another well-structured, climactic "power ballad" of sorts. (I use the term "power ballad" in the broadest sense - the song sounds nothing like "Sister Christian," for example.") "I Believe" is more hard-rocking jangle pop, and it's okay; actually, it's probably noteworthy mostly for its unique banjo intro. "What If We Give It Away?" is a very pretty ballad, and "Just A Touch" is a ripping, punk-influenced rave. But the real standout of side two comes in "Swan Swan H," a mysterious, Civil War folk-flavored song that recalls the mood of the last album. LRP concludes with a humble, garage-rockin' cover of "Superman," sung by the nerdy Mike Mills - the song is pure fun. And so is this entire album, in addition to being an important transitional work for R.E.M., and for rock music in general. One of the best rock n' roll albums of the '80s - buy it today!

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

COMMENTS

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With their 4th album, R.E.M. have created a masterpiece. Their first two records were masterpecies too true, but they both had one or two songs that kind of make you go "uuhhh…" . But from the rocking "begin the begin" to the end of the Cliché cover "superman", this album is great all the way through. No words can describe it, but this is definatly in the top three records of the 80’s. R.E.M.’s best to date, probably ever. – Trevor e.y.

DEAD LETTER OFFICE (1987)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

A collection of B-sides, covers, and rarities, Dead Letter Office isn't really a collection for the casual R.E.M. fan - just a compilation of musical leftovers. For such a collection of leftovers, it's at least interesting (although scattered), and there's not really any terrible performances in the mix like Peter Buck claims in the liner notes, although the short restaurant 'jingle' "Walters Theme", leading into a very drunk version of "King Of The Road" isn't really too much of a thrill and the band's cover of Aerosmith's "Toys In The Attic" is kind of weak and an injustice to the original. The almost 60s-surf styled instrumental "White Tornado", the exciting Reckoning outtake "Windout", a great take on "7 Chinese Bros." with different, hilariously sung lyrics by Stipe, the Fables outtake "Bandwagon" (which seems to be more interesting and catchy than half that album), the Velvet Underground cover "There She Goes Again" (one of three on this release, along with "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Femme Fatale") and the raw and amusing "Burning Hell" are the most worthwhile tracks, and the CD version adds the previously hard-to-find Chronic Town EP at the end. This is a nice package, but again, casual fans may not enjoy it.

OVERALL RATING: 6

DOCUMENT (1987)

(Nick Karn's review)

This was the album that finally broke R.E.M. through to the mainstream, Document is a huge, loud, political record with more of an emphasis production-wise on the fabulous Mike Mills - Bill Berry rhythm section, clearer Michael Stipe vocals continuing the tradition of the last album and more fantastic melodies. This release of course features the band's first two significant hits, "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" (an amazing sing-along rush of stream of consciousness thoughts by Michael Stipe, and one of the great karaoke songs of all time) and "The One I Love" (a very catchy song with an infectious riff and 'fire' chorus yell, and it's often misinterpreted as a beautiful ditty that many couples think of as their song, when in fact it's a vicious put down of a lover).

The album opens with a lesser hit, "Finest Worksong", which is a great working class anthem exemplifying the direction the band pursues here (awesome arena chorus) and moves into more politically intelligent numbers like "Exhuming McCarthy" (a very bouncy and melodic number written about the McCarthy witch trials in the 50s), "Disturbance At The Heron House", a musical answer to George Orwell's Animal Farm that's another melodic winner and "Welcome To The Occupation" that also benefits from Document's sound. The band's second cover version on a studio album, this time of Wire's "Strange", is another entertaining, catchy number that rounds out the album's first half.

The second half is also interesting and very consistent, as it opens with the aforementioned "The One I Love" smash, and features unconventional song structures, often repetitive lyrics and instrumental performances relying on the band's tightness as a unit that are amazingly catchy, weird and danceable - it's a side of an album that I always imagined would be perfectly appropriate for playing as background music in a record store. It is indeed hard to deny these last four strong songs - the dark and moody "Fireplace", the 'so ridiculously stupid it's great' "Lightnin' Hopkins", the intriguingly beautiful ballad "King Of Birds" and a very odd, atmospheric, and melodic closer "Oddfellows Local 151", which sets up an amazing mood. "R.E.M. No. 5", as the sleeve subtitles Document, is surely a force to be reckoned with.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5

This album sees the birth of the R.E.M. that everyone in the world knows and loves (or hates, if we include people who SUCK) because this was the point where they ditched that sludgy John Mellencamp guy and brought in producer Scott Litt. Litt streamlined the band's sound by making Stipe's vocals clear and audible (but not necessarily comprehensible), generally cleaning up the production values and depositing it all into a neat little '80s jangle-alternative cylinder. The ploy worked, as the band enjoyed their first commercial success because of the Top Ten single "The One I Love," a bitter, hate-filled kiss-off song that millions of complete idiots across the country interpreted as a love song because they listened to nothing but the first line ("This one goes out to the one I love"). I mean, I know that the mainstream isn't really concerned with lyrics in the first place, but do lines like "A simple pawn to occupy my time" really go right over peoples' heads? What about the angry-sounding music?

Bitching aside, the rest of the album for the most part is just as good as that magnificent single. A lot of people rank the slow-burning marching anthem "Finest Worksong" as their favorite R.E.M. song, and a lot more people give that title to the legendary "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," an almost impossibly-fun stream-of-consciousness singalong with random Stipeish lyrics ("The other night I dreamt of knives, continental drift divide, mountains sitting in a line, Leonard Bernstein") capped off by a fantastic chorus. A word to the wise, though: No one cares if you're able to memorize it. Trust me. Elsewhere, the band further mines "the generic R.E.M. sound" with sludgy, awesome tunes like "Welcome To The Occupation" and "Fireplace," gives a needed jolt of energy to Wire's "Strange," and goes all-out Southern hick on the drum-heavy "Lightnin' Hopkins". "Exhuming McCarthy" is a bit flawed, featuring music and lyrics that are a bit repetitive ("They're sharpening stones, walking on coals, to improve your business acumen") but the melody is peppy and catchy enough to get by.

The album's popularity and more conservative qualities (musically, not politically, since R.E.M. are quite a liberal band - TO SAMUEL AND KEVIN: THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION TO REPLY TO THIS REVIEW WITH POLITICAL MANIFESTOS) have given it a reputation as the weakest album the band released on IRS, but it's really just as well-written as the last few. The only really weak track is the closer "Oddfellows Local 151," and even that one plods along on a really cool murky riff which covers up the song's lack of melody. Now watch me as I give R.E.M. yet another freaking 9.

OVERALL RATING: 9

HIGH POINTS: The One I Love, It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine), Finest Worksong, Exhuming McCarthy, Disturbance At The Heron House, and pretty much all the rest, except for . . . LOW POINTS: Lightnin' Hopkins.

Along with the last album, Document established a defining sound for "college"-oriented rock that could enter the mainstream. Well, there was this, along with U2's The Joshua Tree, but R.E.M. rocked a lot harder. Anyway, if you recall the jangling pop rock that became prominent after the early '90s, there's no denying the influence of Lifes Rich Pageant and Document. Thing is, though, these records are a million times better than any modern, mainstream rock, because they weren't created solely for the purpose of marketing - the songwriting here is very much inspired, with thoughtful lyrics and very grabbing melodies. (For the record, R.E.M. did influence some good bands that don't necessarily sound like them - Nirvana and Radiohead, for example.) At any rate, this album sounds a lot like its predecessor, except for it's a little darker and more experimental. It's also the record that broke R.E.M. into the mainstream once and for all, containing two earth-shattering, radio-friendly anthems that LRP lacked. It may be impulsive of me to reward this the same high honors I give the last one, because the band don't completely reinvent themselves on here, as they do on so many of their other albums. But I believe that these two records collectively define R.E.M.'s influential sound, and Document shows enough modest artistic progression to warrant another perfect score.

Side one is distinguished as a collection of the album's more up-beat pop tunes. Nevertheless, you know Document has dark undercurrents from the start: the trudging "Finest Worksong" is a perfectly nervous opener, with an anthemic chorus to boot. "Welcome To The Occupation" is also cloudy and downhearted, but much smoother-flowing. The mood picks up a bit with "Exhuming McCarthy," one of R.E.M.'s typical, anti-Republican denouncements. Some fans accuse this song of being overly simplistic, but it's actually one of my favorites on here - the bouncy verses are irresistibly catchy, and the subtle bongos and horns in the background make the tune all the livelier. "Disturbance At The Heron House" is another personal fave, with lovely guitar and vocal melodies driving along this very evenly flowing pop song. After this, the band perform a slightly dressed-up version of "Strange," by Wire, and it rocks with a subdued punk fury. But the major highlight here is "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," which contains ear-grabbing, stream-of-consciousness lyrics and and wonderful, sing-along refrain.

Side two is more pessimistic, commencing appropriately with "The One I Love," one of the most misinterpreted rock n' roll songs of all time. The cold subject matter of the song - that is, using women for pleasure and then throwing them away - could not be clearer, really: "Another prop has occupied my time." Apparently, though, legions of high school kids prefer to go on slow-dancing to this one, only hearing the lyrics: "This one goes out to the one I love." Regardless, the song is a power-drenched classic. The rest of side two focuses more on atmosphere than on hooks, but the songs are still affecting for their own odd musical touches. Well, all except for "Lightnin' Hopkins," (I)maybe, which I have never cared for because it's so awkward and dissonant. But recently, even this tune is starting to grow on me, for much the same reason I used to dislike it - it's just so freakishly bizarre. "Fireplace" treads much like "Finest Worksong," with catchy, tension-building verses and an overall good sense of climax (that saxophone solo is cool too!). "King Of Birds" marches delicately during the verses, then provides some sluggish rock n' roll stomp for the chorus, and it's a fine ballad. Document closes with "Odd Fellows Local 151," which I personally love because of the slow-burning verses and Peter Buck's menacing guitar riff.

So, in all, I'd say this album is another unimpeachable classic. In terms of consistency, LRP is slightly stronger, but a handful of the songs on there are still just plain good. On Document, with one exception, every song is either a classic, or very good. Another 10-rating, then? You better believe it. Do I, firmly, in my heart, believe that LRP and Document are two of the greatest rock n' roll records ever made? Yes, in fact, I do believe that. Or, at least, in my experience, these are both among the few albums from which I've received the most raw enjoyment, for many years now. 'Nuff said.

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

[email protected] (Samuel Fassbinder)

COMMENTS

Look, Rich. I brought in an elaborate political argument because I thought it provided an important explanation of Joni Mitchell's Ladies Of The Canyon album. Maybe you'd agree that some idea of politics is a good thing to have if you want to understand some of the songs on that album, esp. in the "cultural" way I presented it. What all that has to do with REM, I have no clue.

EPONYMOUS (1988)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

A best-of singles collection covering the IRS years, Eponymous a nice, but not very essential, introduction to a listener unfamiliar with R.E.M. in this period of time (1982-87). To the already dedicated fans, it's not quite as effective, because there's too many great songs missing and the remixes are stale - the original (far inferior) garage mix of "Radio Free Europe" is interesting from a historical perspective but not much else, the horn mix to "Finest Worksong" detracts from the song rather than adds to it, so personally I could do without it, and the 'different' vocal mix to "Gardening At Night" (why this song and not "Wolves, Lower"?) is clearly the same thing.

A casual fan could do much better with Murmur or Reckoning as a much better introduction to quality R.E.M., which are greatest hits collections in themselves, in my opinion, and I'm not alone on that. To be fair, though, the track selection is good overall, as it includes such classics as "So. Central Rain", "Talk About The Passion", "The One I Love", "Driver 8", and "Fall On Me", and with the exception of the decent soundtrack song "Romance" placed in between the Fables Of The Reconstruction songs and "Fall On Me" from Lifes Rich Pageant, it's in chronological order, which tends to work better. A good farewell to IRS, and the band was on to Warner Bros. for their major label debut to come next.

OVERALL RATING: 7

GREEN (1988)

(Nick Karn's review)

R.E.M.'s major label debut Green, as the title might suggest, has more of a lyrical focus on the environment and the world in general, and it's also the band's single most diverse album musically, covering their political, and melodic sides and signs of the melancholic, stripped down acoustic direction they would take on the following albums - here, the mandolin gets introduced as a major part of the songs. The political atmosphere present on the last couple of albums is still here as well, with a few of the songs being heavy and riff-oriented, and there are also quite a few numbers that can be described as irresistibly catchy pop.

The album opens with a couple songs that easily fit into the latter category, almost deliberately parodizing the genre in "Pop Song 89", which has a dumb but entertaining hook and a danceable sing-along vibe, although lyrically and melodically it is a bit too close to the Doors' "Hello I Love You". The dreamy anthem "Get Up" also invites a similar 'get up and dance' reaction with the added bonus of a middle section filled with atmospheric chimes and bells and lyrical twists within. Moving further into the pop-oriented, dumb hook sphere is another major hit single, "Stand", one of their most notorious and probably best attempts at that type of song, complete with that incessant, bubblegum hook - it's cheezy, I know, but damn it, it's fun!! I dig it. Meanwhile, the untitled closer (commonly known as the "Eleventh Untitled Song") is also melodically wonderful, providing a great chorus.

On the acoustic side, the album contains three relaxing mandolin driven numbers that allow a focus on Michael Stipe to open himself a bit more lyrically within this environment. "You Are The Everything" (which has a focus on world concerns), "The Wrong Child" (a song from the point of view of a permanently disabled young child) and "Hairshirt" (a fascinating song lyrically from the point of view of a dog) all have a good amount of poetic beauty to them within the lyrics.

On the loud, anthemic, often political side comes what is possibly R.E.M.'s best single song in their entire career, the phenomenal "anti-war" album highlight "Orange Crush", which has everything - moody guitar textures, a great bassline, indecipherable lyrics dealing with the "Agent Orange" Vietnam War situation, an explosive and damn catchy 'follow me, don't follow me' chorus, and a mysterious, dark middle section enhanced with odd helicopter samples and a oddly distorted spoken word part. Coupled with the loud, aggressive and rhythm section driven rocker "Turn You Inside Out", which has an irresistible chorus, this provides a killer 1-2 punch on the album's second half. The first half closer "World Leader Pretend" is an impressively melodic social commentary, and incidentally is the only song up to this point that has its' lyrics featured in the liner notes (something the band became notorious for), and "I Remember California" has such a brilliant, hopeless melody and riff to round out Green, an album which is one of their best 'middle period' releases.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5

R.E.M., being humans and thus tantalized by the idea of money, left IRS Records after the breakthrough success of Document and signed a deal with the devil, A.K.A. Warner Bros. Records, a label infamous for being affiliated with Bugs Bunny and having that really retarded-looking shield logo. The result of this corporate leap is probably the band's weakest album of the '80s and one of their weakest overall, but the fact that the album is pretty damn good anyway stands as a testament to the band's unerring talent (Monster excepted). The only really offputting facet of the recording is that it sounds really commercial; Scott Litt's production style is taken to a bombastic arena-ish extreme which makes the album sound incredibly dated. Still, it's a lot less dated than, say, Forever Your Girl.

Instead of using the shiny production values to act like a load of sellout swine, however, Stipe and the boys instead refreshingly chose to mock the mainstream to a certain extent. "Pop Song 89," "Get Up" and the hit single "Stand" are all bubbily-poppy and contain some of the most intentionally stupid and simplistic lyrics of the band's career ("Hello, I'm sorry I lost myself, I think I thought you were someone else"), and to top it off, the melodies latch themselves to your brain like a leech or something. Several of the album's more serious tunes are winners too; the anti-war anthem "Orange Crush" is a tense, driving number with great backup harmonies from Mike, "You Are The Everything" is an airy ballad which shows the first use of Peter Buck's mandolin on an R.E.M. record (correct me if I'm wrong, which I often am), and "World Leader Pretend" is a gorgeous, flowingly atmospheric number whose lyrics are uniquely printed in the album's liner notes (something unseen on an R.E.M. album before they went and ruined everything with the notes to Up).

Still, intentional mockery and catchy poppiness can't save weak material, and a few of the songs are kind of weak by R.E.M. standards. "Turn You Inside Out" is a really blatant attempt to rewrite "Finest Worksong," but the obnoxious vocal delivery and overloud drums just ruin the whole deal, the bastards. Likewise, besides "You Are The Everything" the mandolin numbers are kind of inconsistent; "Hairshirt" and "The Wrong Child" are really pretty but just kind of meander around without making any point (especially the former). Still, it's a decent album for a major-label debut, and apparently the masses thought so too since the world tour for this album was so huge that it took the band two-and-a-half years to release a followup. But what a followup!!

OVERALL RATING: 8

HIGH POINTS: Orange Crush, Pop Song '89, World Leader Pretend, Stand. LOW POINTS: Hairshirt.

R.E.M.'s first album for Warner Bros. is no doubt their most transitional one, and it rivals the follow-up as their most musically diverse. The most obvious glimpse toward the future comes in Peter Buck breaking out the mandolin on a few songs. The record alternates between peppy pop songs, melancholy rockers and reflective, mandolin-based ballads. As unfocused as it may seem, all sides of this album work (although some work better than others), and the mood is noticeably sinister, thanks to Scott Litt's loud, echoy production.

What work the best on here, at least in terms of consistency, are those damn catchy pop songs (perhaps afterthoughts of the last two albums). All four of them are good, and three of them combine to really make side one shine. My favorite of these is "Pop Song '89," which is deceptively simple, but engaging to no end if you look beneath the surface a little - I absolutely love the way the guitar line interweaves with that bouncy bass riff and mechanical drum pattern, and that chorus is sure memorable too. Then there's the hit single "Stand." It's very lightweight, and catchy in a "guilty" way, but still catchy all the same. I know there's nothing "sinister" about these songs - if I thought that, I would have no will to live - but most of the rest of this album comes off as quite a bit darker, or introspective at least. Even the stomping "Get Up" is a little ominous for a pop song, especially during that ascending bridge.

At any rate, the first half is counterbalanced a bit by some slower numbers. "You Are The Everything" is a pleasingly calm ballad that provides breathing time between the more danceable "Get Up" and "Stand." "The Wrong Child" is another mandolin song, and it reminds me a lot of "The Battle Of Evermore," but it manages to bring side one to a pleasant close. (On the track listing, it appears to be the first song on the second side, but on my crumby cassette copy, it's included at the end of side one). Still, if the first half contains a highlight that isn't an upbeat pop song, it's "World Leader Pretend." This powerful political epic warns of a politician's immense power ("This is my mistake/Let me make it good"), and the arrangement is gorgeous, including strings, marching drum overdubs, and a nice performance by Michael Stipe on vocals. For some reason, this was the only song for quite some time to which R.E.M. revealed the lyrics on the album's sleeve. I guess they just figured everything else they recorded was intellectually inferior to this, the pompous bastards.

Side two contains all of the album's "heavy" songs, most significantly "Orange Crush," the major standout of the record, and a crunching, echoy guitar rocker with outstanding back-up singing by Mike Mills and gripping anti-war lyrics. The brooding "Turn You Inside-Out" follows, and, unlike the last song, it takes a few listens to grow on you - but again, it's the vocal workouts of Stipe and Mills that add enjoyment to the song. The slow burning "I Remember California" is a bit more half-assed and "fillerish," but it's so creepy that you should find it somewhat palatable if you enjoy the atmosphere of this album. All of this seething rage is padded out by "Hairshirt," which is lumbering and boring, and the weakest of the three mandolin ditties (and all the songs too, I guess). There's also an unlisted pop song that closes the album, and it's a minor, uplifting highlight (I like the use of organs during the wordless chorus here). As an album, Green mixes a variety of styles in an interesting way. Plus, it contains a few knock-out classics, and most of the other songs are okay (though they take some getting used to). It's a dropoff from the IRS albums, for sure, but still a solid effort from these ever-reliable Georgia boys.

OVERALL RATING: 8

OUT OF TIME (1991)

(Nick Karn's review)

Taking a well deserved lengthy break after their longest and most draining world tour to date, R.E.M. returned to the studio and released their most mellow album yet, Out Of Time. The album marked a big departure from the normal R.E.M. sound, incorporating mandolins, string arrangements, and for the first time to a significant effect, musical guests. The album begins with such a cameo performance, from rapper KRS-One in the funky, entertaining and at the same time thought-provoking "Radio Song", which has a really beautiful chorus and a cool ending section led by the song's musical guest. Following is the mandolin-driven classic "Losing My Religion", one of the band's biggest hits and rightful classics, because of the engaging melody and fascinating 'at wit's end' lyrics.

Afterwards comes the very mellow "Low" which has great haunting song dynamics and a powerfully bleak chorus, and in fascinating contrast comes the Mike Mills-led on the somewhat more upbeat "Near Wild Heaven", which is another 'happy' pop tune in Green's style that actually outdoes the previous album in that department because of the chorus harmonies and instrumental dynamics. The first side ends with the soothing and quite beautiful instrumental "Endgame", and then comes another 'embarassing' pop hit, "Shiny Happy People", which features a guest appearance by Kate Pierson of the B-52's - it's undeniably cheezy, but it'll definitely put you in a good mood, and the melody is great, I have to give it that.

Coming after the most obviously pop number of the band's entire career is one of the band's most melancholic - the spoken word "Belong" has somber instrumentation to set up a mood to go along with the mysterious lyrics that tell some sort of strange story, and "Half A World Away" is another great representation of the Out Of Time sound. Mike Mills takes the lead vocal duties again for the beautiful instrumental depth and hopeful vibe of "Texarkana" before the album heads back into darker territory again in the live favorite "Country Feedback", a brilliantly hopeless and powerful ballad and ends with the really catchy, entertaining rocker "Me In Honey".

In all, an extremely solid return for the band - I used to think this album was overrated on account of all the embellishments 'taking away from what originally made the R.E.M. sound great in the first place', but I've learned to appreciate again because of the considerable amount of excellent melodies and gorgeous mood pieces here, and I recognize it as one of the band's finest albums.

OVERALL RATING: 9

You've heard it all by now, one of the most important albums ever, a landmark album in bringing underground music to the mainstream, a harrowing artistic achievement and one of the biggest albums of 1991 at that. Besides Nirvana's Nevermind, though, a lot of other music came out in 1991, and this album did a mighty fine job of turning R.E.M. from fledgling mini-stars into A-list superstars. There's absolutely no question why this happened, of course -- Mike Mills, coked out of his mind, charged into a 7-Eleven with an Uzi wearing nothing but a jockstrap and a headb---I mean, the mandolin-driven "Losing My Religion," complete with a badly lip-synced video, surprisingly became R.E.M.'s biggest hit of all time, shooting into the Top 5 and becoming the band's overplayed signature song. Hey, fine by me - it's a great song, and the opening line "Oh, life. It's bigger. Bigger than you. You are not me." has become a classic Stipe-ism.

The album itself has been continously chastised by both the mainstream and R.E.M.'s devoted fanbase for being too blatantly commercial, mainly because it sports loads of guest stars and session musicians and a slick, overproduced '90s sweet folk-pop vibe, but in truth none of these things really hurt the songs. The guest stars are a hoot, no matter what way I look at it - rapper KRS-One contributes backing vocals to the funky opener "Radio Song," and even though it's not exactly the most artistically-successful song released under the band's banner, it's funny and incredibly catchy. The other guest star is Kate Pierson of the B-52's (hell yeah!) who adds harmony vocals to the intentionally ironic and hilarious hit "Shiny Happy People" (which really isn't as bad of a song as most of the band's fans will tell you - it's really infectious, but you've probably heard it anyway so why am I talking) and the rumbling, repetitive closer "Me In Honey."

Guest stars aside, the album is easily the most diverse-sounding in the band's ouvere, kind of a slap-in-the-face to people who accused R.E.M. of being too sludgy and one-note. The songs range from the soaring, mumbled "Belong" to the low-key minimalist organ dirge "Low" to the stream-of-consciousness downbeat rant "Country Feedback"(one of Stipe's personal favorites), and each song is clouded in a unique atmosphere that sets it completely apart from every other song on the album. And hey, Mike Mills gets to sing lead twice!! He sings the bubbly, harmony-laden "Near Wild Heaven" and the flowing "wide open spaces" rocker "Texarkana" (with a great bass hook), and they're both fantastic. It's really sad that this is pretty much the last album where he played a large vocal role in the songs (hereon out, his backing vocals are pretty much used sparingly as token nods to his existence on singles), but when your singer shaves himself bald and comes out of the closet it's kind of tough to keep things the way they were before.

I haven't really complained about the album at all, which might make it seem weird that I'm about to give it an 8 but that's because taken on a song-by-song basis the songs are all pretty much great. It's just not a total knockout like R.E.M. have shown themselves capable of delivering (*cough*Murmur*cough*). Plus, the instrumental "Endgame" is a bit overlong and corny for my liking. Still, it's a high 8, and it's a welcome reminder of a glorious time when R.E.M. were one of the five biggest acts in America instead of Destiny's Child or some crap.

OVERALL RATING: 8

HIGH POINTS: Texarkana, Losing My Religion, Radio Song, Low. LOW POINTS: Country Feedback, Belong.

Probably R.E.M.'s most varied album. Anyway, the only real competition it has in this department is Green, but even that record has just three main types of songs, really. So, yeah, Out Of Time is so versatile that it probably should have been difficult for fans to adjust to when it first came out. But, as it turns out, roughly half the fans I know - possibly more - have taken a real shine to this one. Despite all of the very un-R.E.M.-like bombast - celebrity appearances, complex string arrangements, more ballads, etc. - most of the songs on here are quite impressive, or at least somewhat enjoyable, and the band's stylistic broadening works overall. Take, for example, the album's best song (IMHO), "Texarkana." Pretentious, maybe. But it moves so fluidly, as the soaring orchestration combines with the band's solid rhythm and Mike Mills' vocals, creating one very jaw-dropping experience. Whew. Hell of a song, especially during that "Catch me if I fall!" coda. Or take also the equally amazing megahit, "Losing My Religion." Sappy and overly folkish? Eh, could be. But the production makes it work again, with an incredible sense of build-up to accompany that beautiful mandolin lead and Michael Stipe's poetic lyrics.

My other absolute favorite on here would be "Radio Song," which is just so funky, but melodic at the same time. I just love the way that one-chord organ part rings in and out of the beat, and great chorus, too! "Low" is also a wonderful song, with its brooding atmosphere, enhanced by that slight, eerie organ riff and thumping bongos. There are also a few nice, lightweight pop songs in "Near Wild Heaven," "Me In Honey" and "Shiny Happy People." The latter, of course, has gotten considerable flack for being a bit too perky - and the lyrics are a little difficult to bare in places - but the song is still impossibly catchy. Me, I can stand it. The rest of the more "experimental" numbers produce mixed results, I guess, but not so "mixed" that they ruin the album for me. "Endgame" is just a pretty instrumental with not a whole lot of substance to keep you entertained. The spoken-word "Belong," which features only back-up singing during the chorus, is certainly interesting, but also tedious and overlong. "Country Feedback" is dreary, and I've never understood the appeal of it, personally, although a lot of fans sure seem to adore it.

In all, for being as much of a transitional and varied work as OOT is, I still enjoy listening to it, because it contains just enough strong musical material to be even. I also have a notable amount of respect for the album, as this was the recording that brought R.E.M. completely out of the old and placed them squarely in the '90s. On OOT, they've certainly gone from minimalistic garage-rockers to mature, folk-pop composers. I prefer the R.E.M. of old, but I think that's just a matter of personal taste. At any rate, this is the last R.E.M. disc that I really like.

OVERALL RATING: 8

AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE (1992)

(Nick Karn's review)

Taking the mellow, dynamic instrumentation approach even further, Automatic For The People relies more on setting up a mood within the backing music (which is more embellished by string arrangements, this time by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones) that tries to leave some kind of serious impression on the listener. Because of this, many fans and music critics consider this one their best late period album, if not the best in the entire R.E.M. catalog.

There are indeed quite a few quality numbers (the best here are phenomenal emotional workouts seriously deserving of their classic status), but overall, the mix of songs isn't quite as consistent as previous albums, and I can't help but feel there's something missing - namely, a collaborative feel between members within the songs. Add that to the orchestration occasionally obscuring some of the material ("Sweetness Follows", "Nightswimming"), and you'll have the reasons why I don't quite agree with the critics - the sound is even more far removed from what made the band completely special in the first place as well.

The politically charged opener "Drive" uses acoustic guitar and orchestration with a powerful melody to its' advantage to get the album off to a fine start, and "Try Not To Breathe" is very moving but takes a bit of getting used to due to its' not very attractive melody and overall vibe. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", meanwhile, is a fun sing-along rocker with great lyrics and a weird vocal style. Following is another one of my top five favorite R.E.M. songs ever, the breathtakingly orchestrated and uplifting hit single "Everybody Hurts" - it may be a bit sappy, but I simply can't resist the brilliant mood it creates (coupled with its' video, the song is an extremely powerful experience). The filler track "New Orleans Instrumental No 1" is an OK keyboard jam by Mike Mills, and the side closer "Sweetness Follows" has its' moments of pure beauty but again takes a bit of getting used to, and even now still leaves something to be desired.

"Monty Got A Raw Deal" opens the second half as one of the album's pure catchy rock numbers with particularly hard-hitting Bill Berry drum work and a fabulous guitar line in the chorus, while "Ignoreland" is another serious winner - a great hard rock riff, distorted vocals and really freakin' great angry political lyrics and a brilliant adrenaline rush of a chorus. Unfortunately, it's followed by the horrid "Star Me Kitten", which gets my vote for R.E.M.'s worst album track ever, a slow, pointless ballad-like dirge with no melody or life whatsoever.

But that song should consider itself lucky to be sandwiched in between two of the band's absolute classics - "Ignoreland" before it and the phenomenal Andy Kaufman ode "Man On The Moon", which has incessant 'yeah yeah yeah yeah's in the verses, awesome lyrics inspired by American culture which tie into the chorus brilliantly. The piano-led beauty of "Nightswimming" (which is slightly overdone by strings but nonetheless very effective) and the very pleasant acoustic ballad "Find The River" close out this release in satisfying fashion. This album is neither among R.E.M.'s best nor is it an effective representation of their classic sound at all, just an outstanding showcase of their "mellow and emotional phase", and it's very recommended.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5

After R.E.M.'s diehard fans were put off by the commerciality and wimpiness of Out Of Time, the band promised that for the followup they'd return to their rock roots and release a harder-rocking album. These claims put their enraged fanbase at bay, which gave the lying bastards a chance to go and release an album which was even softer and more commercial than anything they'd released before. Luckily, before anybody could complain, the music press started hailing the album as the band's best of all time and it went on to enjoy almost as much commercial success as its predecessor (Out Of Time hit #1, this one hit #2 - yeah, I know chart positions are relative, what's it to you?). Purists complain that the album is far too slickly-produced and sounds too much like adult pop at times, but this hasn't stopped the album from generally being considered R.E.M.'s unabashed masterpiece.

I can't really hold up the album as the band's best, however - there's no question whatsoever that it's more cohesive and emotionally-jarring than Out Of Time, but the album is just a bit too inconsistent for my tastes. First off, the anti-suicide hit single "Everybody Hurts" definitely has its heart in the right place, but the lyrics are incredibly Hallmark-ish and cliched (though I guess someone contemplating suicide wouldn't be soothed by Stipe's typical enigmatic lyrics, but still, he could've been a bit more creative than "If you think you've had enough.....of this life....well, hang on..."), and the sappy uneventful piano-balladish backing music doesn't help matters much. Plus, there's a filler instrumental ("New Orleans No. 5" or something) that doesn't even hold a candle to "Endgame," and both "Star Me Kitten" and "Nightswimming" are songs that have been hailed by fans as among the band's best ever, but are really pretty routine and boring melodically. I might take some heat for not liking the latter, but come on, it's not even very meaningful - the song's about swimming naked, wow, genius, hand this band a Grammy.

Luckily, the rest of the album is pretty much just as great as if not better than anything else R.E.M. have done. The perennial classic and the album's defining song is "Man On The Moon," a soaring, ultra-melodic tribute to comedian Andy Kaufman with some of the band's most striking lyrics (if you leave out the "yeah yeah yeah yeah" after every line, that is). Everything else is split either between dark and depressing ("Try Not To Breathe" and "Drive," the best "Comfortably Numb" ripoff I've ever heard) and life-affirmingly hopeful (the closer "Find The River" and the playful "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite"), with an out-of-place but catchy-as-frig Republican-bashing rocker ("Ignoreland") and another solid celebrity tribute ("Monty Got A Raw Deal," about Montgomery Clift) thrown in for just a touch of extra flavor. If the entire album was of this level of quality, it would probably be worth the "unabashed masterpiece" label it's earned with critics, but a bit too much of the material hits the "eh" receptors in my brain for me to agree completely. It's still really solid, and a heap of a lot better than the next album.

OVERALL RATING: 8

COMMENTS

I will have to side with the critics and call this an "unabashed masterpiece"--sorry guys. It's just that R.E.M. are not a band known for being very bombastic, and now they are VERY bombastic. I'm so happy! They've stepped into the dark side.

The only song that doesn't knock me 'tween the eyes is--you guessed it--"New Orleans Instrumental." The rest of it is perfect. Especially "Find the River". I think you all need to start smokin' some o' the devil's weed while listening to this. Maybe it will sound better. Or, in the absence of the devil's weed, try some rum. Or just breathe a lot of pure oxygen. Sometimes that works.

MONSTER (1994)

(Nick Karn's review)

This was R.E.M.'s long-promised "back to basics rock" album, a release that is by far the heaviest and loudest in their entire catalog (which also saw a supporting tour, their first since Green - I caught them live in October of '95 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia as my first ever concert), with a more pronounced glam rock feel in the lyrics. It's also, however, the band's most uninspired effort in terms of actual songwriting quality and their weakest album. The lyrics are too obscure for their own good here, the melodies aren't that great, and unlike the last few albums there's no musical depth to the songs. There's no denying that when the volume is up, the overall power of the band is down.

The opening track "What's The Frequency Kenneth?" is a good example of this - it's a decent enough sing-along track with a pretty good riff and a catchy chorus, but it gets old after awhile, and there's just not that much substance to it. "Crush With Eyeliner" and "King Of Comedy" are also nothing more than decent - they're pretty cool as far as mainstream rock songs go (especially in the mid 90s period), but by R.E.M. standards they're easily tossable - the same can be also said about "I Don't Sleep, I Dream". "Star 69", however, is one of the few absolute classics contained within this popular used bin album - brilliant angry lyrics dealing with phone crime, great catchy melodies in the chorus and verses, a powerful riff and nice live energy. The side closer "Strange Currencies" meanwhile, is pretty darn good for an "Everybody Hurts" ripoff with about a tenth of that song's power.

The second half opener "Tongue" is another one of the major stinkers of R.E.M.'s career, with annoyingly high register, girlish vocals throughout the entire song with crappy lyrics, although one of the album's best sing-alongs, "Bang And Blame", kind of makes up for it, and has really great live energy and paranoid lyrics going for it too. "I Took Your Name" is a nice representation of the energetic concert feel and guitar tone apparent throughout a lot of this album, but the following "Let Me In" (a tribute lyrically to Kurt Cobain, who had committed suicide the same year) is another dull, dirge-a-thon with no discernable riff or melody. Monster does end strongly to keep it slipping into totally mediocre territory, however, with its' last two songs - the distortion filled "Circus Envy" is really explosive, venomous, and has a first-rate chorus, while "You" has powerful throbbing distortion, a fabulous riff, and a very dramatic melody to end things on a bit of a high note.

OVERALL RATING: 6

To compensate for Automatic's mellowness, R.E.M. returned to their alleged "rock roots" for the followup, though I really don't know what they were talking about when they claimed such a thing because their '80s albums really didn't rock very hard. They sure jangled nicely, but aside from some of the songs on Pageant none of their '80s material was exactly headbanging material. Still, I guess they felt that they'd somehow betrayed their fans for the past several years by not playing brainless guitar rock, and Bill Berry was getting a bit sick of playing pristine early-'90s alterna-jangle, and as a result Monster is loud, raw, ugly, and almost completely removed from anything the band had done before. Incidentally, it's also not very good.

When I first picked up this album for cheap (this album is no stranger to used bins) I absolutely hated it and thought it was all a bunch of tuneless grunge posing. My opinion of it has improved over time, and it's gotten to the point where I generally like most of the songs. That's the problem, though - I only like them. The only really great tunes are the riffy single "What's The Frequency, Kenneth"(one of the only songs ever that seems to get slower as it goes along, but who cares) and the breakneck, out-of-control "Star 69," which rivals "Harborcoat" in the "most vocals piled on top of one another" contest.

Most of the rest aren't bad, but they're all flawed in one way or another - "I Don't Sleep, I Dream" has a neat murky atmosphere which is ruined by Stipe attempting a falsetto in the chorus, "King Of Comedy" has a cool groove but is way too repetitive, and the album's other hit single "Bang And Blame" has a nicely-rocking chorus but its verses are almost completely tuneless and its running time of six minutes is simply way too long. To top it off, for the course of the entire album Pete Buck's guitar is incredibly overamplified and echoey and makes a lot of the songs sound really annoying, particularly songs based entirely around that tone like "Crush With Eyeliner" and "I Took Your Name."

Still, the album isn't awful, it's just pretty weak by R.E.M. standards. The messy, growling rocker "Circus Envy" makes up for its tunelessness through a pounding and relentless guitar groove, and the only really bad songs are the tuneless Cobain tribute "Let Me In" and the gut-wrenching lite soul number "Tongue"(which fans seem to love, but for the life of me I cannot understand why). Most of the album is basically okay, but it's a bit of a chore to listen to. Like I said, go buy it used; if you pay retail for this album you're officially an idiot.

OVERALL RATING: 6

COMMENTS

fuck you! asswipe! 50 cent is a fucktard! anyway i must make a joke: 1234567891011!!!! ay! que dia miserable al trabajo! primero el ataque del woodpekero loco! luego un dissastro de electricidad! y finalmente un catastrofia de biesbol! ay! narangjas en la cabeza! eres una puta! que pasa? que pasa no es que so bruto, animale, idiota! y tu tienes la de verguenza! never odd or even if i had a hi fi! madam i'm adam too hot too hoot! no lemons no melons too bad i hid a boot! lisa bonet ate no basil. warsaw was raw. was it a car or a cat i saw! rise to vote sir! do geese see god? do nine men interperate nine men i nod. rats live on no evil star. won't lovers revolt now race fast safe car! pa is a sap ma is as selfless as i am. nay a moody baby doooooom a yam! ah satan sees natasha no devil lived on. lonely tylonol not a banana baton! no x in nixon o stone be not so. o geranimo no minor ego. naiomi i moan a toyota is a toyota. a dog a panic in a pagoda! OH! NO! DON HO! NURSE I SPY GYPSIES RUN! SENILE FELINES NOW I SEE BEES I WON! UFO TOFU! WE PANIC IN A PEW! OOZY RAT IN A SANITARY ZOO! GOD! A RED NUGGET! A FAT EGG UNDER A DOG! GO HANG A SALAMI I'M A LASANA HOG! ho! hum! the tune is dumb! the words don't mean a thing! shake that healthy butt! 50 cent sucks ! i wish it will end and if we kill avril lavinge! yay! that's the end of that shit! dragon power! o te olvida me mi? desgraciada! any how monster rules!

NEW ADVENTURES IN HI FI (1996)

(Nick Karn's review)

On the road in support of Monster, R.E.M. decided to give their following album a twist and write and record the new material on the road - in concert and doing soundchecks. As a result, the new songs certainly have a "road" feel to them reflected within the lyrics and music, and although the songs were all recorded at different locations and the sound quality differs slightly between them, they never feel disjointed at all. The band's playing is as tight as ever, the songwriting is strong, and the live energy is definitely high on the more rocking tracks, which are everything Monster attempted to be but didn't quite get there, and the mellower stuff is more like Automatic For The People without all the unnecessary embellishments that tended to get in the way of that material.

New Adventures In Hi Fi, although praised by critics, was something of a disappointment in the commercial sphere (it didn't generate a significant hit single) and even among longtime fans. I personally can't understand why a lot of people shun this album, as it's as accomplished and consistent as anything in their catalog. Granted, it does run a little long at 65 minutes (by far their longest album up to this point) and it could have been trimmed a bit, but the approach R.E.M. uses here works to their advantage much more often than not, so in my opinion it's easily their most underrated effort ever.

"How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us" is a sign that the band would go in a more experimental direction, particularly in the weird background sound effects, with eerie repetitive piano and a beautiful chorus. "The Wake Up Bomb", the first track featured here that was actually recorded live performed in front of an audience (with the crowd noise overdubbed out), is a highly entertaining Monster-esque glam rocker. The dark mood of the Automatic For The People-ish "New Test Leper" also really works well, with cynical lyrics about talk shows, and the second 'live' rocker "Undertow" is highlighted by a great bassline, a couple of nice guitar breaks and a powerful chorus.

The first of three 'uncommercial' singles "E Bow The Letter" features an E-bow played by Buck which gives it a great mood, guest vocals by Patti Smith in the chorus and odd stream of consciousness lyrics that work well, while the longest song R.E.M. has recorded on an album at over 7 minutes, "Leave", uses some kind of studio effect to make it sound like a drill going off in the background, with a highly emotional vocal performance and melody, and a fabulous riff as the ingredients for the album's most stunning song, while the uptempo "Departure" (the third 'live' rocker) is easily the best out of the four, with more 'stream of consciousness' road lyrics and another first rate chorus really making the song.

The second half opener "Bittersweet Me" has an effective melancholic lyrical slant and tight band playing, while "Be Mine" is one of the band's most gorgeous love songs ever, with an absolutely beautiful sappy melody and an amazingly powerful performance from Peter Buck, where he hits just the right notes to make the song incredible (especially in the guitar solo sections). Finally, the final 'live' rocker "Binky The Doormat" (don't ask about that title) is extremely well-written and played with a great chorus and backing vocals, the instrumental "Zither" isn't very interesting and is merely filler, the driving riff and great melody to "So Fast So Numb" works quite well, "Low Desert" is a slower, much lesser piece, but the pleasant pop of the piano led closer "Electrolite" makes up for it. In all, New Adventures is the first hint of a radical musical change that would come in stunning fashion on the next album, and an excellent achievement in itself.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5

This album is a bit of an anomaly in R.E.M.'s catalogue, in that even though all of the material is completely new and original, it was mostly recorded live during soundchecks, kind of similar to Neil Young's Time Fades Away. In that respect, it kind of serves as a mini-documentary of the band's disaster-ridden Monster tour (Bill suffered a brain aneurysm, Mike caught the flu and Stipe had to perform an entire show with a hernia, all presumably as some sort of heavenly punishment for releasing Monster), and understandably the music is a bit similar to that on the previous album. The good news, at least for me, is that even though the band still treads down the rocky path of acting like rock superstars, the songwriting is a lot tighter this time around and Pete got rid of that annoying echoey overamplified guitar sound for the most part, thus rendering the songs a heap of a lot more listenable. And that's why this is the best album ever made.

.....Yeah right. This album is more enjoyable than Monster, that's for sure, but it still suffers from a few small problems. Firstly, it's way too long, and not at all because of the number of songs included, but because most of the songs are just far too lengthy by R.E.M. standards (many hitting 5 minutes). As great of a jangly ballad as "New Test Leper" is, does it really need to go on for that long? Don't we get the point by the third verse or so? And as stupid and hokey as "Binky The Doormat" is, does it really need to exist at all? Why did they waste time with such a pointless and generic instrumental as "Zither"? And what's with that lame attempt at a "cool" R&B groove that opens the album ("How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us")? I guess it sounds okay on the first couple of listens, but really, that has got to be one of the stupidest songs the band has ever recorded, and that ear-piercing '90s-ish synth is really irritating.

Luckily, the rest of the album is pretty much wonderful, ranging from charging rock (the glam tribute "The Wake-Up Bomb" and the raging "Departure," probably the most obviously "live" song on the album) to beautiful ballads ("Be Mine" and the superior "Nightswimming" rewrite "Electrolite") to, well, typical R.E.M. material (the free-form first single "E-Bow The Letter" featuring a creepy Patti Smith guest vocal, and the absolutely wonderful kiss-off song "Bittersweet Me"). And even though I complained about the songs being too long earlier, the seven-minute "Leave," the longest song R.E.M. have ever recorded, is easily one of the best songs they've ever done, combining a fierce, commanding guitar melody with a should-be-irritating-but-isn't car-alarm backing. The album certainly doesn't display R.E.M. at their very best and is only worth a low 8 at most, but it's certainly an improvement on the previous album's formula and an example of what R.E.M. is capable of when they're rocking properly. Of course, everyone else doesn't like this album, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, even though it's right.

OVERALL RATING: 8

[email protected] (Andrew McQuillan)

COMMENTS

Leave is the best song and E-Bow is an underrated single, even though it used to seem like a bit of a drone when I was 13 and it had first come out. This is a tremendous album that doesn't get enough recognition.

i agree with you about new adventures in hi fi. it is my faviotrite r.e.m album. it is extremly eclectic but still very well writtin

P.S

i own all the other r.e.m albums. this one is deifinitly the peak

UP (1998)

(Nick Karn's review)

The band was shocked in late 1997 by the sudden departure of drummer Bill Berry, the backbone of the band and catalyst for several of R.E.M.'s greatest songs, but they decided to continue on in his absence and take advantage of the opportunity to record what is, no question, their most radically experimental album to date. Even the title Up (despite its' thoroughly unimaginative title) suggests an even greater direction for the band - it's essentially a reinvention that takes many listens to fully get used to. There are a great amount of keyboards and other assorted instruments (don't ask me what they are) played mostly by Mike Mills, the use of drum machines in other places, some of Peter Buck's weirdest guitar performances (when he's not completely buried), and maybe Michael Stipe's best lyrics yet (which are all printed in the liner notes for the first time in the band's career).

The decision was apparently made within the band to put the most shocking departure, "Airportman", as the opener for the album - it's the song that relies most on strange electronic textures, a drum machine rhythm, and very low register, quiet, almost spoken vocals. Even the following rocker "Lotus" has a significant amount of weird keyboard embellishments, warped vocals, and very strange lyrics, with a chorus of 'I ate the lotus'. "Suspicion", meanwhile, relies more on instrumentated atmosphere than anything else, and it's done in impressive fashion, especially when the song comes to its' phenomenal 'let the music carry you away' bridge.

"Hope" is even stranger - the best way to describe it is a combination of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" (where the song's melody is borrowed from), Automatic For The People and Radiohead's OK Computer with one of Stipe's more astonishing lyrical performances - the song can only be really appreciated if you sing along with it. "At My Most Beautiful" is a more conventional number, and it shows Stipe is getting quite great at writing intimately gorgeous ballads, and "The Apologist" has a fascinating shuffling rhythm and intriguing lyrics. "Sad Professor" closes the first half as a phenomenal mostly acoustic song due to its' incredible chorus.

The second half opens with what can maybe be considered as an 'Out Of Time on acid' number - "You're In The Air" has some instrumentation reminiscent of that album, but goes into a somewhat more moody, experimental and heavenly direction. "Walk Unafraid" is even more embellished by challenging instrumental textures (this could possibly be 'New Adventures In Hi Fi on acid') and has one of the most astounding choruses I've ever heard - those two factors combined make it one of the album's best. The best comes in "Why Not Smile", which is quite affecting in its' simplicity - the lyrics, vocal melody and the way it's presented instrumentally is stunning and beautifully hopeful.

"Daysleeper", meanwhile, was the most obvious choice for a first single - really, a much more normal, folky song compared to the rest of the material, but it's still an excellent pop gem. "Diminished" is yet another moody masterpiece, with a great bassline, while "Parakeet" uses more highly mysterious and incredibly accomplished experimental backing music - it's got both an air of threatening darkness and heaven within its' 'open the window.. to lift into your dreams' chorus, and "Falls To Climb" uses keyboards in such a perfect fashion to close the album on an unexplainable high. Overall, this album doesn't quite have as much as a profound effect on me as it did a year ago, but it's still a astonishing journey of mood, emotion, beauty and creativity.

OVERALL RATING: 9

This is a tough album for me to rate. Objectively, it's a historical disappointment (yeah, I know that grammatically I'm supposed to say "an historical," but that looks so stupid that I'm willing to bypass that) -- drummer Bill Berry left the band after the New Adventures sessions for various medical and personal reasons, and since he was one of the band's songwriters and a more-than-competent drummer, his departure unquestionably hurt the band. In his place on the album are a slew of session drummers, many with wildly different styles (and none of them very impressive), and the songwriting gap is mostly filled by tossing in a bunch of slow ballady dirge-ish numbers, some of which contain electronic elements. By all logic, this album is supposed to suck, and that's pretty much how it's been treated by critics since its release, but I've always really liked it.

First things first -- the album's electronic elements definitely are distracting when they pop up. The opener "Airportman" is probably the most offsetting song of the band's career, basically a slow electronic hummed dirge backed up by drum machine that sounds a whole lot like Yo La Tengo in one of their less creative moments. It sounded okay when used as a band intro in concert, but it doesn't exactly get the album off to a kickin' start, if you follow me. The drum machines and keyboards also detract from some of the weaker songs like "Hope" and "The Apologist" (basically a mindless lyrical retread of "So. Central Rain" without any of that song's charm). I'm not saying that I'm a rock purist who shuns anything at all electronic (I'm a fan of the Pet Shop Boys, for frig's sake), but this kind of stuff just doesn't sound right integrated into the sound of a band as organic as R.E.M..

The good news is that apart from these songs, the songwriting is typically excellent, something which a lot of people chose to skip over when predictably locking into a post-Monster anti-R.E.M. groove. "Walk Unafraid" for one is easily one of the band's best songs, with tense verses and a hard-hitting, memorable chorus and a distorted guitar intro which sounds right off of U2's Achtung Baby. Stipe lets his Beach Boys fandom shine with the Pet Sounds tribute "At My Most Beautiful," and while the meticulously-constructed song has been derided as a soulless pastiche, it really is gorgeous when evaluated on its own merits. The album's single was "Daysleeper," which has been endlessly likened to sounding like a jangly Automatic outtake, but it's true, so it's hard to argue. The less-successful followup was the retro rock tune "Lotus," which is kind of catchy but a bit slowly-paced, and the way that the "SSSSSSS" sound is so heavily accented really gets annoying, especially if listened to on headphones. It's a good song, but it sounds a whole lot better in concert.

The rest of the album basically consists of a bunch of typical R.E.M. balladic mood pieces like "You're In The Air" and "Diminished" which are all really good but can't really be described, since superficially they all sound pretty similar to one another. If I were to rate this album based on my personal feelings about it, it would get an easy 9, but I'll have to let subjectivity slide for a bit since it was pretty much my first R.E.M. album (believe it or not) and nostalgia tends to cause people to overrate things (example: me and the entire TMBG catalogue). In other words, a 7 seems like a decent grade for this little slab of metal - it's a good album, but its transitional nature makes it come off as a lot less organic and more thrown together than most of the band's material. It's better than most people will tell you (like most of the band's '90s work) but don't pick it up expecting an easy first listen.

OVERALL RATING: 7

REVEAL (2001)

(Nick Karn's review)

Remember how I mentioned earlier that Out Of Time was the band's mellowest album yet? Well, a decade later with the release of this, it appears that statement is no longer true. Musically, R.E.M.'s 12th studio album continues in the Up vein of experimentalism and nasty things like drum machines, keyboards and other embellishments in the mix. While the last album at least had a couple uptempo pieces in stuff like "Lotus" and "Walk Unafraid", on first listen, Reveal seems to be caught in a same-sounding mellow state of songs that don't really go anywhere, but while it's true the album lacks the major highpoints of their better works, the overall sound has an attractive way of drawing the listener in, appropriately 'revealing' nuances in the songs, and more importantly, hooks that are often as memorable as anything the band's ever written.

Lead single "Imitation Of Life" suggests a back to the roots vein that sounds unlike anything on the rest of the album at first, as it seems to be the most uptempo singalong track here. While a bit too reminiscent of the earlier classic "Driver 8" in places (as Rich Bunnell constantly points out), the melody is certainly infectious, and the cryptic first verse ('charades pop skill, water hyacinth, named by a poet, 'imitation of life') is classic Michael Stipe. There are other nods to the past too: "She Just Wants To Be" and "Disappear" are certainly in the mid-late 90's vein, with the former being almost a successor to "Leave" in its' melodically memorable, though slightly repetitive, vein, while the latter sounds like a neat cross between "New Test Leper" and "Daysleeper". The nice rootsy ballad "Chorus And The Ring" also could conceivably have come straight off of Automatic For The People without being a total clone of that style.

The other tracks, though, are much more thoroughly representative of the album's overall sound, particularly its' initial three song stretch. The opener "The Lifting", in fact, might be the highlight of the whole thing - the mood it creates through its' background tones, the excellent melody, appropriate bassline, subtle guitar work, and vocals (particularly the 'never, never, never...' bit) is really majestic and satisfying. "I've Been High", meanwhile, is more electronically influenced to a good effect, particularly in its' smooth transition from the verses to the chorus, and the great tone of the ringing guitar to the chorus of "All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)" works incredibly well. Really hook-filled number. There are also the pretty atmospheres of "Summer Turns To High", which do justice to its' powerful chorus.

The more 'out there' track "Saturn Return" probably utilizes those electronic touches the most, but the combination of those background vocals, gorgeous piano lines and soaring vocals merging with mysterious lines like 'easy to poke yourself straight in the eye...' really make it work. Elsewhere, the piano-driven "Beat A Drum" may seem unmemorable at first, but again, there's another good subtle hook for you. The last two songs, "I'll Take The Rain" and "Beachball", though, are probably the only relatively weak ones here - the former's melody is certainly decent and beautiful, though the song is a bit overlong, and the latter seems somewhat dull outside the nice horns in the intro. In all, though it's a bit short on truly excellent highlights, Reveal is still one of the band's most consistently enjoyable (though not among their best) albums on account of its' strengths. Their best since Automatic, like all critics say with EVERY new R.E.M. release? Nah, but that's no knock on the album - it's quite good.

OVERALL RATING: 7.5

R.E.M.'s second album without Bill Berry sees them finally resting on their laurels and putting out an entire album of laid-back, moody dreamy stuff, kind of like what Automatic would sound like if it weren't so heavily rooted in the jangly sweet commercial poptones of Out Of Time. The melodies are easy on the ears, the tempoes are slow and the atmosphere just bursting with that sort of airy mysticism that Pat McCarthy drowned the band with on the previous platter. In fact, I'd label this as the point where R.E.M. became insignificant and began producing easy-listening music for yuppies if (1) the hardcore fans had already been saying that since Green and (2) the songs on here weren't so damn good.

I'm serious -- though the melodies are often incredibly minor-key, they're almost all distinctive and fantastic and contain some wonderful hidden hook that's bound to draw you in against your trendy willing-to-bash-R.E.M. will. The most direct songs are the few that contain guitar, like the propulsive opener "The Lifting" and "All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)," but that's not to dismiss the softer material at all. "Beat A Drum" and "I've Been High" are easily two of the band's most impressive ballads -- clean and electronically-influenced as they are (especially the latter), they both contain absolutely fantastic and uplifting melodies that are a lot more direct and gripping than any of the ballads on Up (which were great, but had to get under your skin a bit).

The song titles "Summer Turns To High" and "Beachball" caused critics to whip out the "vapid Beach Boys retread" title for another go-around following all of the fun they had trashing "At My Most Beautiful," but I'm going to assume that they didn't listen to the songs and just looked at the words "summer" and "beach" because the songs sound absolutely nothing like the Beach Boys. Ooh, they're ballads, I guess they're derivative of Pet Sounds then, just like Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."

That's not to say the album is perfect - it's definitely flawed, not only because of relatively dull material like "Disappear" but also because either deliberately or subconsciously the band threw in lots of obvious rips from R.E.M.'s classic sound. The most blatant is the single "Imitation Of Life," which is a really catchy if out-of-place pop song, but the chord sequence in the verses is exactly the same as that on "Driver 8." Try playing "Driver 8" while singing the lyrics to "Imitation" over the first verse, they fit perfectly. Additionally, the word "gravity" is used in at least two songs (I know they didn't exactly invent the word, but when a band has a popular fan favorite called "Feeling Gravity's Pull" and sings the word in such a distinctive way -- "graaaaaaaviiiiityyyYY," it counts) and Stipe resorts to his patented "Watch. Me. Pro. Nounce. Ev. Ery. Syl. La. Ble. I. Am. Deep." vocal style a bit too often for my comfort. Whether intentional or not, these retreads didn't really help the album commercially, since it bowed on the charts at #6 and promptly dropped out of the Top 20. Not that it really matters, since for at least three albums they've basically been producing music for the sole purpose of satisfying their fanbase.

OVERALL RATING: 8