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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Feb 8, 2017 3:03:03 GMT -5
Peter Buck doesn't like it, but as far as I know everyone else in the band does. Which is good, because it's fucking amazing. Didn't they have a veto system - if just one of them didn't like a song, they could stop it bring used on an album? I read that Peter Buck's finger hovered over that button here, but he relented at the last minute. Good thing, too, as it's a sweet little closer. Yeah, thank god, it's one of my favorite REM songs. Very haunting.
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Invisible Goat
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Post by Invisible Goat on Feb 9, 2017 16:11:37 GMT -5
I'm also a "Wendell Gee" fan. Love the banjo and weird, creepy lyrics sung in an innocent lullaby-ish melody.
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Post by Prole Hole on Feb 11, 2017 10:49:09 GMT -5
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) After the less-than-successful trip to London for the Fables sessions, the band return to America for the follow-up, the bright, breezy Lifes Rich Pageant. Let’s see if the return to recording Stateside has imbued the band with a renewed sense of purpose and energy. If I’m To Be A Camera: A visual pun! We have a mighty set of eyebrows in the top half of the cover, belonging to Mr Bill Berry, and below we have a couple of buffalo in sepia. Thus, Buffalo Bill! On the back we have a painting of a rather happy looking duck and yet more inaccurate track listings. Oh, and next to the track listings, little comments. Some of these are quotes (“I found it / Miles Standish proud” next to “Begin The Begin”), some are abstract (“Bury magnets. Swallow the rapture” next to “Fall On Me”), and some of which are just there (next to “Just A Touch” we have the far-from-enlightening “Rrrrrr”). When You Tire Of One Side: Dinner Side and Supper Side. Ok… Pre-existing Prejudices: Bafflingly, lots of people’s favourite R.E.M. album, though not mine. From my standpoint a liked-not-loved album, and one that’s on the middle rung of the R.E.M. album ladder. Songs: “Begin The Begin” And we’re off! Sharp, bright and clear, the sluggish, muddy feeling of Fables already feels long gone. Michel’s front and centre and up in the mix, every word is clear and distinct. Great little riff from Peter and Bill’s in full flow. Very much a declaration of intent, very positive, and a terrific album opener. Full of energy and drive. “These Days” One-two knockout of an album opener. Continues the same frenetic pace, Michael’s still bang in the middle of the mix, as indeed is Peter. These are songs which are actually about something (“we are hope despite these times”) after all the obscure imagery of the last three albums. And there’s a sense of humour! (“we have many things in common” sings Michael sincerely, while Mike’s backing vocals sarcastically ask “name three”). Rather wonderful. “Fall On Me” What all of Fables should have been like. Mike’s backing vocals are just amazing on the chorus, but let’s not underestimate Bill singing here as well (Michael: “don’t fall on me”, Mike “what is it up in the air for”, Bill “it’s gonna fall"). One of the most perfect of all R.E.M. vocals, Mike taking over on the middle-eight. Environmental feel ("buy the sky / and sell the sky"), allegorical (feathers, iron, weight all suggest Renaissance experiments with gravity by way of oral history) and uniquely R.E.M. at the same time. Why didn’t Fables sound like this? “Cuyahoga” Another statement of intent (“let’s put our heads together / and start a new country up”), mixed in with a semi-environmental and historical lyric (“this is where we walked / this is where we swam”). Noticeably more straightforward than the preceding three tracks in terms of its production. More lovely Mike backing vocals, and a good little bass line to get us going. Michael’s really working himself on the vocals. Yea, pretty damn good, if a bit of a step down. “Hyena” More pacy than the last couple of songs, but feels fairly inconsequential. The lyric fits thematically but it’s a bit vague and feels a lot less polished than anything else we’ve had so far. Bill’s doing his best, but it’s not in service of much. Middle-eight is the best part of the song, but there’s nothing really essential here. “Underneath The Bunker” Novelty song ahoy! Deeply silly, and obviously meant to be, this is a light-hearted bit of frippery, but it makes me smile. Daft, in the best possible way. “The Flowers Of Guatemala” Vaguely reminiscent of “Camera”, with the main instrumental being the bass line, and minimal percussion and guitar until the chorus. Not as good as “Camera”, but then again almost nothing is. Strong lyric, again suggestive of environmental concerns. Production is just a touch (heh) straightforward which is a shame. Slightly ungainly Peter Buck guitar solo in the instrumental break, but Michael’s lead vocal makes up for almost everything. Rather lovely, if not perfect. “I Believe” Back at full tilt. Little banjo introduction tells you where this is going. Michael at his most straightforward and sincere. Some really lovely lyrics (“golden words make practice / practice makes perfect / perfect is a fault / and fault lines change”), Michael has really found his groove on this album. More humour (“I believe in example / I believe my throat hurts”) and playfulness. Peter’s getting a good workout here. Rather charming, if not a lot more. “What If We Give It Away?” A bit of a step down. Rather simplistic and a bit obvious, though nice little guitar work. Feels a fraction out of place on this album. Lyric feels like it’s reaching for something but it’s not clear quite what. Nobody really shines here. Filler. “Just A Touch” Definitely a Peter-focussed song, with a driving guitar line. Bill’s battering away in the background, and Michael’s shrieking away to try and give some drive and purpose, but it’s not especially convincing. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Ends on an almost embarrassed fade, which, fair enough. “Swan Swan H” Genius. Another song that sounds exactly like Fables should have. A vague parable about American history (“Johnny Reb / what’s the price of heroes?”), and some lovely phrasing (“bone chains / and tooth picks"). Excellent acoustic guitar work from Peter, and a fantastic acoustic bass line from Mike. Really well produced, with understated accordion. “Superman” First appearance of a cover version on a R.E.M. album, and the first time Mike gets to take a lead vocal. Four-chord brilliance, and a fantastic album closer. Bill’s carrying the song and making it sound like more than what it is, but his work is incredibly effective. Listen to Mike on the middle-eight (“halfway to your heaaaaarrrrrt!”) followed by that funky bass line. Marvellous! Lovely moment on the last verse where Mike and Michael switch vocal lines and Michael’s suddenly carrying the lead on the first line, gives the song a great little extra push. Everyone is on absolute top form here, and this is just fabulous. Final Thoughts: Lifes Rich Pagaent so completely, absolutely and unquestionably blows away the cobwebs of Fables that it almost feels like a revelation. Almost, though, because in truth although there’s a huge amount to enjoy on Pageant, it’s R.E.M.’s most (here’s that word again) straightforward album, and its proximity to Fables (and the sharp, incisive nature of Lifes Rich Pagent) was always going to serve as a very direct contrast. The clarity in Michael’s vocals and the sudden sense of purpose to his lyrics are more than welcome, but it’s at the expense of atmosphere. For all the failings Fables had, it’s still a misty, moody record, full of nooks and crannies to explore. That’s not true of Pageant, but the sense of purpose that drives the album at least makes this record feel like the band have something to prove, and they set out to prove it in the most direct, accessible way possible. Don Gehman’s production is shiny and uncluttered, allowing the new emphasis on Michael’s vocals to come to the fore, but it serves the material well (much better than Joe Boyd’s production served the Fables material). When Pageant is good it’s brilliant (“Swan Swan H”, “Fall On Me”), but it loses some momentum in the back half with a couple of fillers (“What If We Give It Away”, “Just A Touch”) that sap some of that drive, where a couple of stronger numbers might have really made this something special. As it is, Lifes Rich Pagaent is never less than enjoyable. It’s just not often more, either. Best Song: “Fall On Me”, unsurprisingly. Though I honestly struggled between this and “Swan Swan H” as a selection. Worst Song: “Just A Touch”
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Feb 11, 2017 11:04:25 GMT -5
I read that they were a little short of material for this one, hence the novelty track, the cover version (stunningly good though it is), and maybe one or two dredged up from the vaults (Hyena, I think, or maybe Just A Touch, or maybe both) to make up the (still pretty short) running time. These were still the days of an album every year, of course. They were also attempting to develop from the previous REM sound, as typified in their minds by Driver 8, which, well, okay ... I'm not sure they replaced it with anything better than Driver 8, but fair play to them. I'd agree with Fall On Me as the best of them, with I Believe a close second. Real soft spot for Superman as well.
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Post by Prole Hole on Feb 11, 2017 14:21:33 GMT -5
Yea, "Superman" is awesome and I don't think anyone's going to disagree with you there. I probably should have mentioned the fact that the running time here is quite short, so thanks for pointing it out. The fact that its quite speedly little album makes it feel relatively short anyway, but yea, it's only 39 minutes long.
And I won't hear anyone saying something bad about "Underneath The Bunker"! I have a weakness for R.E.M.'s novelty throwaways, so I fully admit I'm biassed here, but yea, silly though it is, it's great fun.
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Post by ganews on Feb 12, 2017 17:04:01 GMT -5
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) Bafflingly, lots of people’s favourite R.E.M. album, though not mine. I'll put in the top third, I think. Story time: my little sister and only sibling was born in the fall of my freshman year of high school. Once I got my own car in junior year, I used to joke (except it was true) that I was the only kid in my school with a carseat in his car for what wasn't his kid. On many occasions I drove my baby sister to one thing or another or picked her up after my school. There were two songs on the radio that she would try to sing along with me, R.E.M.'s "Superman" cover and "Little Black Backpack" by Stroke 9. It was very cute. In retrospect, it was almost a miracle that what had once been a flagship "alternative" radio station, 99x out of Atlanta, even still played old R.E.M. tracks in 1999-2000. But we were in Georgia.
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Invisible Goat
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Post by Invisible Goat on Feb 13, 2017 12:05:39 GMT -5
Surprised at the lukewarm LRP takes. Easily my second favorite. And probably one of the first albums I ever heard that was at all political in nature so probably very influential on me.
I will just mention a little favorite moment of mine, in one of the choruses of "The Flowers of Guatemala" he sings "The flowers cover everything / they cover over..." but instead of finishing the phrase a second vocal track fades in with "Amanita is the name." I thought that was so cool.
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Post by Prole Hole on Feb 13, 2017 16:04:18 GMT -5
Surprised at the lukewarm LRP takes. Easily my second favorite. And probably one of the first albums I ever heard that was at all political in nature so probably very influential on me. I will just mention a little favorite moment of mine, in one of the choruses of "The Flowers of Guatemala" he sings "The flowers cover everything / they cover over..." but instead of finishing the phrase a second vocal track fades in with "Amanita is the name." I thought that was so cool. Generally speaking I prefer "The Flowers Of Guatemala" as a live track, because it's the one track on the album I think the production doesn't quite get right, and it always sounds a bit... I dunno... off to me, heavy-handed maybe. Or maybe its the mixing. But Michael's vocal on it is absolutely terrific, of that there's no doubt. If LRP is your second favourite, I wonder what your actual favourite will be....? Watch this space I guess!
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Feb 13, 2017 21:51:15 GMT -5
Life's Rich Pageant is the best pre-pop REM album. One of the best albums of all time. "Begin the Begin" is the best way to kick anything off.
da-da-da da da da da da BAM BAM CHKKA BAM BAAAM
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Post by Prole Hole on Feb 25, 2017 6:41:26 GMT -5
Dead Letter Office (1987) The first not-quite-an-album, Dead Letter Office is a collection of out-takes, off-cuts, and other leftovers from the pre- Document era. As a “not-we” album, it’s not to be taken of a piece with what’s come before (or indeed what’s going to come afterwards). If I’m To Be A Camera: Crayon scribbles, a couple of child-like dawning of dinosaurs, and the name of the band in a big, hand-drawn “logo” bang in the middle of the sleeve. On the back, the by-now-traditional wrongly sequenced tracks are in evidence, this time listed alphabetically, because why not? The liner notes are by Peter, with little two or three sentence descriptions of each song, and Peter himself stating that he prefers singles to albums. Which is a thing to know. When You Tire Of One Side: Post and Script, which seems appropriate for a collection of odds-and-sods. Pre-existing Prejudices: Well, it’s a leftovers collection, which doesn’t often inspire confidence, but this is probably the only non-live R.E.M. album that I haven’t heard in over a couple of years. I have vague memories listening to this at university and it being fun but inessential. So without further ado, here we go! Songs: “Crazy” Cover of a song by Georgia band Pylon, though feels very R.E.M. regardless. Essentially indiscernible vocals on the verse mixed with a relatively clear chorus (“head shaking / and your arms are shaking”), this sounds very Chronic Town, and casts a somewhat similar atmosphere. You can feel the weight of the song is being carried by the rhythm section of the band. Decent start to the album, though the song itself does rather just stop. “There She Goes Again” First Velvet Underground cover. Brace yourselves… Despite the fact that it’s clear elsewhere R.E.M. are indebted to The Velvet Underground (“9-9”), it’s not clear from this recording that the whole band have actually heard the song, or at least the same version of the song. Michael has a rough grasp on the lyric, but no real engagement, and sounds actively uncomfortable singing the line “better hit her”. Mike and Bill do their best on backing vocals, and Peter gets a bit of energy in the instrumental break, but it’s not very convincing. Adds nothing to the original, nor to R.E.M. “Burning Down” A bit of energy! It all sounds a bit silly to be honest, but there’s at least some life to what’s being put forward here, and the band sounds a lot more engaged than they did on the last track. Peter’s woken up a bit and there’s a good bit of right-handed action going on (missus). For the second time in three tracks this feels very Chronic Town, rather than anything else. The song fades out, but rather than a long R.E.M. fade (think “We Walk”), it fades out much faster, which is a bit peculiar. “Voice Of Harold” “Rollin’!” This is the music of “7 Chinese Brother”, presented identically to the Reckoning version of the song, but with Michael singing the liner notes to an album called The Joy Of Knowing Jesus. Indisputably brilliant. Michael finds new little ways to emphasize lyrics and drawls everything out in a highly exaggerated Southern accent, and it’s just hilarious. Even funnier is Mike’s backing vocals (also intact from Reckoning) feeding into the new lyric and its just great when Michael ends up singing the record’s serial number because he’s run out of text. A must! Absolute, stupid genius. “Burning Hell” Peter’s song, without question. Big guitar riffs, heavily exaggerated background screaming, and suggests the band had been listening to a touch too much Alice Cooper, though this is obviously not meant to be taken remotely seriously. Michael trying to sound threatening trying force out lines like “they can burn in heeeeell!” is deeply funny, but he stretches his pipes a fair amount. For the first time on any R.E.M. record Peter gets a big, sloppy, cock-rock guitar solo in the instrumental break, which is worth noting for its mere existence. Dumb, big-stadium-rock-band finish seals the deal. “White Tornado” Incredibly 50’s feel to the music, Bill’s getting a real work-out on the snare while Peter’s doing a “Telstar” thing on lead (which sounds like it’s being played on one string). Mostly just an excuse to have Bill show off a bit, which he certainly does. No vocal at all. Short and punchy. “Toys In The Attic” Aerosmith cover, with all that implies, though at least it’s 70’s Aerosmith rather than shitty-movie-soundtrack Aerosmith. For a big, powerful rock song Michael’s still being mixed like we’re in Murmur territory, which is a bit odd. Vocal sounds like both Mike and Michael are singing at the same time (or maybe the vocal is double-tracked), a nice idea that’s a bit lost because of the low mixing. Peter’s doing some not-very-Peter guitar work, and he’s pretty great at it. In the end, unremarkable but fine. “Windout” Oh, Bill’s off again! But other than that this is… certainly a song. Bill gets the best work here, but nobody’s really shining and it’s all a bit by-the-numbers. Sounds like the sort of song you’d play as an encore when you’ve used up your good material and are just pissing about. “Ages Of You” Fairly standard R.E.M. of the Chronic Town variety, though miles better than anything else – “Voice of Harold” aside – so far. Michael’s vocals are smeared all over the place, as you would expect. Vaguely reminiscent of “Stumble” (especially with the big, echo-drenched backing vocals), and the stars of the track are Mike and Bill. Fine, and in fact pretty good, but it’s hard to imagine there’s an album out there really lacking for this song’s absence. “Pale Blue Eyes” Second Velvet Underground cover, with a country pacing that doesn’t really suit the song. Sounds like it’s being played by a barely adequate bar band somewhere in the middle of nowhere down South. Peter Buck’s guitar solo on the instrumental break is staggeringly bad, if quite funny. Why was this necessary? Michael ends the song by saying, “that was real pretty”. No, it wasn’t. “Rotary Ten” Instrumental that sounds vaguely reminiscent of 50's/60’s spy movies. A good example of why Peter’s a rhythm guitarist, not a lead guitarist. Bill’s trying on drums, bless him, and Mike’s doing a walking bass line that at least fits the rest of the music, then it all staggers to an unloved close. “Bandwagon” Best song on the album, at least because it actually appears to be a song. Great lyric from Michael at his most sincere (“this is a parade / yessiree Bob!”). Mike’s found something to do on backing vocals and Peter’s shifting chords all over the place. A key change on the verse gives a little extra push. Yes, really rather terrific. “Femme Fatale” Third, and mercifully final, Velvet Underground cover. As with “Pale Blue Eyes” this is given a vaguely country feels (slightly more successful here, though not by much). It’s not quite clear that Michael knows the tune on the verses, but he’s better on the chorus – not a high bar though. First chorus lacks the “’coz everybody knows…” backing vocals, which sounds odd, but they’re there for the second run through. Punishingly average, at best. “Walter’s Theme / King Of The Road” The former is an attempt at writing an advertising jingle for Walter’s BBQ, the latter is a cover of the hackneyed Roger Miller “classic”. Musically “Walter’s Theme” is nothing remarkable, and Michael’s drawls out a few down-home food offerings. This then staggers to a charmless close, before the band eventually, just about, stagger their way into “King Of The Road”. There’s no way anyone was sober recording this, and Mike’s reduced to shouting out the chord changes, which is hysterical, as indeed is the whole enterprise. Peter hacks his way through the guitar solo like a man whose life depends on it, and the whole thing tumbles to a stop. “I hope this is on tape” says Mike as the whole thing crashes to an end. Fear not, for it is! Completely charming. In Conclusion: Dead Letter Office is, by design, inessential, and it rarely ever rises above that. Obviously this is meant to be a bit of light-hearted fun to plug the (relatively non-existent) gap between Lifes Rich Pageant and Document, and certainly it does that. There’s a sort of wonky charm to it that’s fairly undeniable and, terrible Velvet Underground covers side, almost all the songs here have something to recommend them, even if it’s often not a lot more than idle curiosity. It’s sweet that the band let something so obviously unpolished exist, especially after the comparatively slick and shiny previous album, but it’s that sweetness that stops the whole enterprise sliding into fan exploitation. It really is nice to hear all the off-cuts in one place, all the little lost B-sides and drunken mistakes. But even putting that aside, “Voice Of Harold” and “Bandwagon” are, in and of themselves, worth spending time with and worth rummaging through the album to find. That doesn’t in any way make the rest less inessential, but charm wins out over professionalism here, and this is a very charming release indeed. Neat! Best Song: “Bandwagon”, or “Voice Of Harold” Worst Song: Anything that comes within spitting distance of The Velvet Underground For Those Interested: The reason I’m covering this, but not Eponymous, is that Eponymous contains just too many tracks which I’ll already be writing about. Dead Letter Office, at least, isn’t covering any already-existing album material. I’ll do a little addendum to Document to cover the stray tracks from Eponymous, but it’s definitely not going to get the full treatment. Despite a frankly magnificent photo of Michael Stipe on the inner sleeve.
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Post by ganews on Feb 25, 2017 13:09:28 GMT -5
Hey man, Roger Miller is classic.
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Feb 25, 2017 13:25:58 GMT -5
My love for Voice of Harold runs incredibly deep. If he really did just extemporise it, then his timing towards the end is amazing - the way he drawls 'the finest sound available anywhere' just in time to jump into the chorus is utterly perfect. Not much else to add, other than my copy includes the Chronic Town songs, an acoustic version of Gardening At Night, and ends with All The Right Friends. Which is the joint best song on it, with Voice of Harold. So thank you to the Newcastle upon Tyne libraries service for getting that version.
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Post by Prole Hole on Feb 26, 2017 6:48:27 GMT -5
My love for Voice of Harold runs incredibly deep. If he really did just extemporise it, then his timing towards the end is amazing - the way he drawls 'the finest sound available anywhere' just in time to jump into the chorus is utterly perfect. Not much else to add, other than my copy includes the Chronic Town songs, an acoustic version of Gardening At Night, and ends with All The Right Friends. Which is the joint best song on it, with Voice of Harold. So thank you to the Newcastle upon Tyne libraries service for getting that version. Yea if Voice Of Harold was really that off-the-cuff (and I have no reason to think it's not) then it's just so well done. IIRC the UK CD release of Dead Letter Office contained Chronic Town to make up for the fact that it never got an official release in the UK, I'm pretty sure that I have that version on CD (though I was using the vinyl release for the review, I actually completely forgot about Chronic Town being on it, otherwise I'd have mentioned it).
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Feb 27, 2017 18:03:39 GMT -5
I read somewhere that "Voice of Harold" came about because Stipe was extremely self-conscious about his vocals and was singing very quietly and mumbling even more than usual, so the other band members got him to sing the liner notes of that gospel album over the instrumental of "7 Chinese Bros" to improve his confidence.
It's a tribute to just what an amazing vocalist Stipe is that it actually has some real emotional resonance. Even when he sings "J Elmo Fagg" and has to stifle a laugh.
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Post by Prole Hole on Mar 4, 2017 18:29:16 GMT -5
Document (1987) Aside from the sort-of greatest hits that is Eponymous, the last proper, full album to be released on IRS before the band jumped to Warner’s and international stardom. Also first of six albums to feature Scott Litt behind the mixing desk – he’ll be producing from here until New Adventures In Hi-Fi.If I’m To Be A Camera: A black and white house, on its side while someone (Michael?) looks through a camera, while another camera points in an entirely different direction (straight down) in a look that very slightly recalls the Soviet silent era film Man With A Movie Camera. There’s an artificially slipped spine, and a triangle that declares R.E.M. No 5 (as in, this is the fifth full album release not including Chronic Town and Dead Letter Office). For the first, one and only time in the IRS years, the tracks are listed in the correct order on the back sleeve and inside there’s a couple of Dignity Of Labour murals and two postage-stamp sized pictures of the band (two members per stamp). When You Tire Of One Side: Page and Leaf. I suppose one does lead to the other (trees turned into pages) though Page is the first side and Leaf the second. Or are we to take a leaf out of the page of the album (i.e., is this an exhortation to get angry and political?)? Either way. Pre-existing Prejudices: My favourite album. Which is to say, when asked what my favourite album is, the answer is always Document. And who knows, it might be? It might also be Murmur, Automatic For The People (sorry, I might have slightly tipped my hand there as to what I think of that album, but really what else were you expecting?), Sgt Pepper, Kind of Blue, Ziggy Stardust, Trans-Europa Express, Fear of Music… well you get the idea with that. But it’s always been my answer, and I do genuinely love it, so time to see if it can still hold the number one spot (pop-pickers). Songs: "Finest Worksong": We open with the same punching declaration of intent that Lifes Rich Pageant opened with, but louder, angrier and with more purpose –the same idea times a hundred. Lovely sliding guitars in the background next to the loud ones up front, and Mike’s backing vocals are terrifically supporting. Huge Bill drums matching Peter’s huge guitar, and Michael is forceful but not snarling – there’s a controlled anger here (“what we want and what we need / have been confused been confused”). Michael does then shriek his way back into the final verse (“ taaaake your instinct…” as we get a little key change. Bracingly, shockingly effective. Yet the almost jazz-styled end to the song also sounds like new territory, and it sets up a feel that will provide connective tissue to the rest of the album. "Welcome To The Occupation": Provocative title for a provocative song. Another Stipe parable, this time about exploitation - “fire on the hemisphere below” he sings while reeling off a list of resources that can and have been exploited by America (“sugar cane and coffee cup / copper steel and cattle” before wryly observing this is an “annotated history”). Mike’s bass line is the stand-out here (the three notes preceding Michael demanding “listen to me, listen to me!”), but there’s nothing misplaced here anyway. "Exhuming McCarthy": Typewriter key opening! First use of a sound effect to open a song since “Radio Free Europe”. The contempt in Stipe’s voice as he spits out “loyal to the bank of America” is wonderful to behold. More funky Mike bass in the offing, which is never bad. “It’s a sign of the times,” oh yes it is. Bill’s doing good support work here (of course), unfussy this time out but a good fit. “By jingo, buy America” means it’s not hard to work out what this one’s about (in case the title wasn’t clear enough), but this is the most directly political the band have been yet, streets ahead of anything on Lifes Rich Pageant. We get a snippet of the famous Senate house speech that ended McCarthy’s career - “let us not assassinate this man further…” and “at long last have you left no sense of decency?" “Meet me at the book-burn” Mile cheerfully delivers on backing vocals, while Michael really spits out the closing “exhuming McCarthy”. Just fucking brilliant. "Disturbance At The Heron House": Lovely cyclical guitar line from Peter at the opening. “Liberty and honour under the honour roll” sounds vaguely of a piece with “Morak Kiosk”, and a lovely phrase. An Orwell-esque parable about politics and how those in charge treat those beneath them with contempt - “when feeding time has come and gone / they’ll lose their hearts and head for home / try to tell us something we don’t know”, declated the overlord of the song. Deeply cynical, but brilliantly realized. Really, I could just list the whole lyric because it’s nigh-on perfect, one of Stipe’s greatest. This maintains the politics of the album but approaches it in different ways, so Document never becomes hectoring or polemic. "Strange": Cover of a song by Wire. Shifts the angle of the album from the overtly political nature of the first four songs to the more angular back half of the album. A necessarily transitional song, but it retains the driving edge the album’s sustained thus far. Peter’s the stand-out here, but once again just marvel at how brilliant Mike is as a backing vocalist. "It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)": What am I supposed to say about this song? One of the best known of all R.E.M. songs its hard to come to with fresh ears, but just take note of the way Bill’s driving everything, it all hangs off his solid drumming here. This is absolutely Bill’s song as far as the musical three-quarters of the band go. Peter’s fairly muted, choruses aside, and the lyric is clearly pattered off “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (or “four candles / fork handles” if you prefer a different cultural point of reference), though the machine-gun delivery suits Michael’s vocal extremely well. There’s something incredibly joyous about this song though – it sounds like everyone has a huge grin on their face, and the music carries this j oie de vivre all the way. Silly big singalongachorus feels perfectly in keeping. Strained guitars leading into the final chorus run-throughs are a great example of instrumentation and production working together. “Time I had some time alone,” sings Mike on backing vocals, in a classic R.E.M. three-way vocal round. End of side one, with the first side fading away in a clatter of lyrics. "The One I Love": The political has become the personal. Snarling guitar line, and some of Bill’s most under-appreciated work, but he’s really terrific here. Michael’s singing is very restrained, letting the lyric work through its meaning rather than his delivery of it. “Fire!” on the chorus is, obviously, a classic R.E.M. moment, but it’s the restraint Michael shows on the verses that really give the song its power, even though the “fire!” is still a fine work-out for his pipes. Great minor lyrical shift on the final verse “another prop / has occupied my time” rather than “a simple prop”. It’s not hard to see why this was R.E.M.’s first glimmer of singles chart success, and it still stands up as a great song in its own right. "Fireplace": For the second time, another clear shift in direction on an album that never allows itself to become complacent. There’s a clear sense of “cleaning house” via the lyric, the sense that, as with the lyric, the album is going to move on to something different now (“hang up your chairs to better sweep” and lots of general cleaning imagery). The track ends in extended jazz-influenced brass, and though it has a musical link to the end of “Finest Worksong” still sounds like nothing quite has on an R.E.M. album, and add some different colour to the track. "Lightnin’ Hopkins": Bill’s off! Then Mike’s in on backing vocals! Then Peter! Nice layering way to build into the track. Michael is really snarling here, it’s a terrific vocal performance from him and everything is spat out. What does this track have to do with the blues singer, rather than simply being a striking title? Nothing that I can tell, though the “lightning one” chorus declaration feels of a thematic piece with the album (the declaration of “firehouse” in “Oddfellows Local 151”, “Fire!” from “The One I Love” and the profundity of fire imagery throughout the album”). Funky ending. "King Of Birds": If “Finest Worksong” was “Begin The Begin” times a hundred, then this is “Swan Swan H” times a hundred (and in the same position on the album, second from last track). Some more incredibly striking imagery from Michael (“a thumbnail sketch a jewellers stone / a mean idea to call my own”). Great tension built under the verse with Bill’s almost military drums, which resolves on “leaves me cold” as he returns to a more traditional drum pattern. Michael’s strained vocals on the instrumental break “ awwwwwwwwwaaaayyyyy!” as he reaches for, then finds the note, then we cut back to the military drums is simply genius. “My kingdom for a voice” indeed. "Oddfellows Local 151": Sinister, jutting, angular guitar line from Peter. Great bass support from Mike, and Bill’s holding it all together on drums. Peter’s off-kilter, strained guitar sound feels very dirty, and like nothing else on Document, though the song feels of a piece with previous Michael storytelling lyrics (the sinister instrumental and specific character suggest “Old Man Kensey” as an antecedent), and there’s a real vividness to what he’s describing here. “Firehouse!” also links to “The One I Love’ of course, delivered in the same way, but there’s a much greater sense of urgency here - it’s a great vocal from Michael, and one that deserves to be appreciated more. Tense, shrieking guitars on the long close to the song really feel atmospheric, as Michael sounds increasingly insane shrieking “firehouse” and making mouth noises. Unbelievably brilliant album closer, the best yet, and we’ve had “Superman”, so that’s saying something. Final Thoughts: Well. Lifes Rich Pageant is a hugely enjoyable album, but as I said in the conclusion to that album’s review, it’s also not often more than that. Document is, in absolutely every way, the “more” that Lifes Rich Pageant is lacking. The politics here is stronger and better defined, the passions burn brighter, the music is more evolving and less straightforward, and there is a righteous, furious anger to the material that is absolutely breath-taking. “Begin The Begin” is a fine statement of intent, but “Finest Worksong” is that and a whole lot more, doing the same job but with bucketloads more passion and conviction (and “Begin The Begin” isn’t lacking in those as it is). What makes this work is just how deftly it’s all put together – this is a political album, but it’s not “vote Democrat!” or “Republicans suck!” politics, nor is it the vague “follow me!” politics of, say, U2 (an obvious point of comparison for a band like R.E.M.). The very first line of the album is “the time to rise has been engaged” – it’s time to get off our arses and do something, to take responsibility for the way the world is, rather than sit back and observe or just hope that things will get better (I shall resist the temptation to point out how prescient this is in 2017. But, you know). There’s a blending of the personal and political in a way that hasn’t happened on any previous R.E.M. album, and while there are obvious moments of despair about how the world is (the vicious, unforgiving “Exhuming McCarthy”, the bitterness of “Disturbance At The Heron House”) there’s also a direct message as to what to do about it (“your finest hour” Michael belts out on “Finest Worksong”. Clear). There’s a sense of history here as well (“Welcome To The Occupation”, the title itself redolent of U.S. intervention in South America) which also observes that the problems faced aren’t new – it’s been going on for some time (“freedom reigns supreme” Michael sarcastically states, as if that justifies everything), and that knowledge needs to be owned before the problems can be addressed. It’s also no co-incidence that the two songs which most directly embrace history, “Welcome To The Occupation” and “Exhuming McCarthy”, are sequenced next to each other, as the focus of history tightens and the screw is turned again. Yet for all the overtly political material on the album, two songs stand head and shoulders above everything else here in terms of recognition, and neither could be described as remotely political. Both “The One I Love” (do we even need to point out at this stage that it’s not a love song?) and “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” push the album in different directions (again, no co-incidence that they’re next to each other), and stop things becoming too ponderous or self-righteous. It’s that shifting of focus – politics moves to history moves to pop moves to jazz moves to… whatever “King Of Birds” and “Oddfellows Local 151” are – that keeps up the feel and momentum of the album. The tone and mood keeps shifting, which makes for a directed but energetic album. On which note, say hello to Scott Litt in the producer’s booth, because he’s a perfect fit for the band – he knows where to place tension and where to release it, how to really use what the band have to the very best, and the result of his work is easily the best produced album since Murmur. OK, so it’s possible I might have gotten a little carried away there. So is Document (still) my favourite album? Yeah, I think it probably is. Unless I’m in the mood for some jazz or German electronica, that is. Best Song: I can’t just say “everything”, right? Oh well in that case… “Exhuming McCarthy”. Then “Disturbance At The Heron House”. Worst Song: “Strange”, though only really by dint of it being a cover, not an original. Bonus Material: Eponymous“Radio Free Europe” (original Hib-Tone single): Faster paced version of Murmur opener, this version is, if anything, even better than that album’s version, a near impossible feat. The Murmur version – a little slower, a little more restrained – is a better fit for the album and more in keeping with its dream-like, obscure mood, but this is a powerhouse version of the single, no question. Peter’s sharper, Michel sounds a bit more confident – though the lyric is just a little less formed – and all the same tensions are in the same place. Worth buying Eponymous for this alone. “Gardening At Night” (Different Vocal Mix): The version that should have been on Chronic Town. Completely upfront but relatively low vocal finally lets the real qualities of the melody shine through, and fits better with the mixing of something like “Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)”. The lyric is still obscure at best, but the upfront placement really gives this an energy and focus the official version lacks – amazing the difference a bit of mixing can make. Everything else here is the same as on the Chronic Town version. “Romance” (non album track): Some staccato drumming from Bill shoots this one out of the starting blocks, but it’s…not especially remarkable. While it helps to increase the “why buy this?” factor of Eponymous it sounds like it belongs more on Dead Letter Office (after “Ages Of You”, maybe). Distinctive chorus at least “easy come / easy go” which is also a fair summary of the song. It’s there, but nobody’s over-exerted themselves. OK. “Finest Worksong” (Mutual Drum Horn Mix): Club mix of Document opener (elsewhere I have a 12” club version using this mix as well – was someone really under the belief that people were going to dance to this in a club? I mean, it’s a great song and all…). Gains a four-clicks-on-the-sticks intro for no apparent reason. The major difference here (“major” might be a bit misleading) is the horns which have been added from the second verse forward. They certainly add a different feel, but they act to resolve the tension that been set up between Peter’s sawing guitar and Mike’s pummelling bass, rather than add to it as per the Document version. It’s not ineffective, exactly, though as with the Hib-Tone “Radio Free Europe” the version on the album is better for the album, while this acts an interesting look at how the song could have been had it been produced a little more traditionally. It’s not bad – not at all – and the horns shrieking out of the instrumental break do add some real momentum, but it’s not entirely essential either. Interesting, though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 19:02:30 GMT -5
Try as I might (every couple of years or so), I just can't get into Document. It's easily my least favorite of the I.R.S. records.
I remember reading Peter Buck saying that the band was desperate to try out new sonics around the time of their fifth album. I can't fault them for that, but I'm glad they didn't stick with the Document sound (riff-based, chugging, almost amelodic) for long.
Good writeup, nonetheless.
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Mar 4, 2017 20:19:44 GMT -5
As briefly discussed in the box, the sequencing of this album lets it down slightly for me, in that side 1 is approximately 5 times better than side 2. My two least favourites (Fireplace and Lightnin' Hopkins) being right next to each other proves quite a slump; I also find the final track more admirable than likeable. That said, I doubt resequencing would fix things, somehow: it would just spoil the majestic first side while only minimally improving the second. The positives are many, though. Their joint best opening track with Radio Free Europe; It's The End ... and The One I Love are imperishable, and impervious to overplaying; the sound is punchy and muscular without being rockist; and Mike Mills is endlessly great in everything he touches. Faves: Finest Worksong, Exhuming McCarthy, It's The End ... But the whole first side is probably the strongest side of their entire career.
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Invisible Goat
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Post by Invisible Goat on Mar 4, 2017 21:13:53 GMT -5
Yeah my feelings about Document are much more in line with Dellarigg's. I think "Strange," "Fireplace," and "Lightnin' Hopkins" are just outright bad songs, at least for R.E.M., and while "The One I Love" is great, I've heard it enough times to last several more lifetimes beyond this one, so it's solidly in their second tier for me. That said it's still a fucking incredible album, and "Oddfellows Local 151" is probably my pick for their single most underrated song, assuming that everyone by now has realized that "Me In Honey" is one of their best. "Oddfellows" manages to feel so disturbing and sinister while still being very vague about everything.
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Post by ganews on Mar 4, 2017 22:15:56 GMT -5
When You Tire Of One Side: Page and Leaf. I suppose one does lead to the other (trees turned into pages) though Page is the first side and Leaf the second. Or are we to take a leaf out of the page of the album (i.e., is this an exhortation to get angry and political?)? Either way. Leaf in this context probably just means "a single sheet of paper". This is my favorite R.E.M. album. It is also the first one chronologically after the debut EP that I immediately know every single track completely without looking it up. "End of the World" was the first song where I deliberately sat down to memorize the lyrics printed off a young internet, something I once did a lot of.
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Post by Prole Hole on Mar 5, 2017 6:12:03 GMT -5
Yeah my feelings about Document are much more in line with Dellarigg 's. I think "Strange," "Fireplace," and "Lightnin' Hopkins" are just outright bad songs, at least for R.E.M., and while "The One I Love" is great, I've heard it enough times to last several more lifetimes beyond this one, so it's solidly in their second tier for me. That said it's still a fucking incredible album, and "Oddfellows Local 151" is probably my pick for their single most underrated song, assuming that everyone by now has realized that "Me In Honey" is one of their best. "Oddfellows" manages to feel so disturbing and sinister while still being very vague about everything. I love "Oddfellows Local 151" so much, so it's lovely to see someone else defending it. It's such a weird, dissonant track but it's just a perfect album closer. In many ways it anticipates the similarly-brilliant "You" that closes out Monster, but I'll wait until we get there before I start pontificating on that. ganews - I too made strenuous efforts to memorise the words to "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" to the point that I could likely still do a credible karaoke version of it (not that I imagine that it's a song that comes up often on karaoke...). But rather than the internet, a friend of mine had a fanzine-printed book called "A Book Of Song Words" which made attempts to list the lyrics of everything up until the end of Green - I wish I (or he) still had it, because some of the efforts were hilarious. EDIT - I should have placed greater emphasis on just how much this album relies on the rhythm section of the band. I don't think Mike has been better on backing vocals than he is here, and he's been brilliant up till now. But his work here is beyond good - this album alone might just make him the best backing vocalist I've ever heard, anywhere (and the rest of the back catalogue confirms it). And Bill's work here is just beyond brilliant - I know being the drummer is a thankless task, but post- Document I'm putting Bill up there with the likes of Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Chris Frantz and John Bonham. Different in style to those, obviously, but equally as gifted. Better, maybe.
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Post by Prole Hole on Mar 12, 2017 6:07:33 GMT -5
Green (1988) The big time! R.E.M. leave indie label IRS for the corporate hugs (and money, and promotion) of Warner Brothers, to try and push their career a bit further. The fact you’ve heard of them means this strategy worked. But did the move take away what made the band special? If I’m To Be A Camera: Some orange ferns, obviously. What else would you have on the cover of an album called Green? The back cover is a transection of a tree, and an electricity pylon and cable, with a small planet Earth in the bottom. And for the very first time, the inner sleeve reproduces the entirety of a lyric, with “World Leader Pretend” being the song in question. There’s also a teeny-tiny photo of the band, which remains as unflattering as ever. Bill looked like he’s about to launch into “Achy-Breaky Heart”, Michel looks like he’s just aged out of being a twink but has decided to hang on to the image, Peter looks like someone who’d come round to collect a bad debt, and Mike looks like everyone’s accountant. In sharp contrast to the IRS years, there is, instead of inaccurate track listings, no track listing at all (except on the physical media). When You Tire Of One Side: Air and Metal, which fits with the environmental tone of the rest of the packaging. Pre-existing Prejudices: I can’t remember the last time I listened to Green from start to finish. I remember greatly liking it when I first got hold of the album then… nothing. I don’t know why it fell off my radar, so it’s time to see if I just have a blind spot. Songs: “Pop Song 89” R.E.M. are really getting in their propulsive openers aren’t they? Appealingly crude little guitar phrase from Peter, and as ever Bill’s on form to anchor everything (lovely drum pattern under the final “hi hi”’s right at the end of the song). Noticeably cleaner and less angry than Document. Still a hint of the politics though, “should we talk about the weather / should we talk about the government”, and the weather reference links to the environmental feel of the packaging. Catchy, fun opener, with just a little hint of something more. “Get Up” The positive, up-tempo feel continues. The exhortation to “get up, get up” feels very of a piece with Lifes Rich Pageant and its more straightforwardly optimistic message. Great chugging guitar from Peter, but the star here is Mike on backing vocals. “Dreams they compliment my life,” he sings, countering Michael’s “Dreams they complicate my life,” a terrific piece of writing from Michael and great vocal from Mike. Refreshingly different instrumental with the “music box” break. “You Are The Everything” First appearance of a mandolin. Watch this space for why that will be important… Extremely confessional and intimate lyric that feels more personal than anything Michael’s written so far (“I’ve very scared for this world / I’m very scared for me”). Environmental feel continues (“I think about this world a lot / and I cried”). No percussion at all, also a first. Deceptively simple little song but deeply affecting. Really rather brilliant, in fact. “Stand” Talk about a contrast! From the deeply personal to the Biggest Dumbest Song (so far…). Yet the more positively uplifting side of the album continues as Michael asks us to consider where we are (“think about the place where you live / wonder why you haven’t before”, which sounds rather “Once In A Lifetime”). Peter’s song, and he get’s a hilarious wah-wah guitar solo. More environmental imagery (“if bushes were trees / the trees would be falling (fallen?)”. Geuniely funny Mike backing vocals “feet!” and “hands!” near the Big Stupid Key Change. Michael’s “staaaaaaaan-D!” finish is the same as the way Talking Heads finish “Radiohead” on True Stories. “World Leader Pretend” The core of Green. From the moment it opens, it’s obvious this is where the heart of the album is. A worthy first lyric to be printed, and one of Michael’s strongest. Nicely understated vocal from him, as Mike echoes “freedom” in the background. The confessional nature of the lyric (“this is my mistake / let me make it good”) makes this feel of a piece with “You Are The Everything”. Listen to Peter go on slide in the middle eight! Really nice texturing, but lets not underestimate Mike’s piano under “this is my world / and I am the world leader pretend.” Magnificent. “The Wrong Child” Deeply strange little song, with Mike echoing or anticipating almost every line that Michael sings. Another very personal-sounding lyric, written in the first person, though it doesn’t sound like it’s about Michael himself this time out, more a character. For the second time, no percussion, just lots of guitar, mandolin and bass. Lyric feels very slightly resonant of “Perfect Circle”, of all things. Really interesting idea, though not quite 100% successful, but nice to see the band trying something genuinely new – there’s nothing their back catalogue that sounds like this. Finishes (try to hide your surprise) on the uncertainty of a seventh. “Orange Crush” Mike gets the opening lines– “follow me / don’t follow me” – and Bill’s getting a fantastic workout here. Exceedingly clever lyric – orange crush, as in the implication of the defoliating chemical used in Vietnam, as Michael screeches out the “we are agents of the free (Agent Orange)”, while the burning links to the environmental theme, and the political (even “I’ve got my spine” suggests both genetic deformities and someone having the courage of their convictions). Simple but brutally effective guitar line from Peter. Very easy song to overlook, but it’s really, really, really good. “Turn You Inside Out” The most Document-esque song on Green. Bitter, vicious, loud and nasty. Lovely backing vocals from Mike (“I believe in what you do / I believe in watching you”) lends a suitably last-album cynicism to the proceedings. Brilliant way Michael’s able to turn the chorus into a threat – “I could turn you inside out” he bellows, “what I choose not to do.” Be careful, the lyric says, because we can destroy you when we want to. Equally brilliant guitar work from Peter, his best on the album by some distance. To Be Played At Maximum Volume. I fucking love “Turn You Inside Out.” “Hairshirt” Another mandolin workout, and another track without percussion. Unconventional melody from Michael that’s extremely effective and gives a good example of his range and phrasing (“and the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaves of conversation are enough / to knock you down / with the undertow”). When he sings “so alone” there’s real emotion there. The hairshirt of the title is largely being equated with guilt, though there’s also a play on words (“the wrong dog’s like chest”). How could I not like a song with a pun? Quietly terrific, and a successful example of what “The Wrong Child” aimed for. “I Remember California” Post-apocalyptic Document work-through. Bill’s song, hands down, his percussion work here is brilliant, and indeed a possible career-best. The most explicitly environmental lyric on the album, the song sung from the perspective of someone remembering everything we have after it’s been lost, a new (and successful) approach from Michael. The interplay between Peter’s relatively low guitar line and Mike’s relatively high bass line on the dark, growling opening is just of many examples here of just how well these two work together. Mike Mills is forcing me to run out of adjectives to describe how good his backing vocals are – the way he parallels Michael on “the lowest ebb and highest tide” is just unbelievably good. This is also where Green should have ended, because it’s a perfect album closer, as we slide towards “the edge / the end of the continent”, but instead what we get is… “Untitled” Technically not called “Untitled” but on the physical medium (LP in my case), 11 tracks are listed by number with the names next to them, and next to track 11 (which this is) there’s nothing – so it’s actually just un-named. Decent, but not entirely successful, attempt to end the album on a more up-beat note than “I Remember California”. Mike’s doing some good stuff on backing vocals (the surprise!), and I know that it’s Peter playing the loping drum pattern, not Bill (you can tell). Michael’s doing his best to resonate sincerity, but he’s done it better. Not bad, but also not the ending this album deserves, this feels like a B-side. In Conclusion: An album of contrasts, Green feels like it’s drawing on the influences of the last two albums, while adding a strong environmental tone to give this album its own distinct approach. The bright, primary-coloured optimism of Lifes Rich Pageant is clearly visible on the likes of “Stand” and “Untitled”, and the darker, more angry approach of Document is clear to see on the likes of “Turn You Inside Out” and “I Remember California”. The problem with this approach is that, rather than standing on their own and becoming the album’s defining characteristic, Green’s environmental concerns get a little lost in the shuffle. They’re present on a number of tracks, and they do provide a degree of cohesiveness to the album, but equally the environmentalism never quite manages to emerge as the album’s dominant theme, instead sitting alongside exhortations to either remain optimistic in the face of difficult times, or to embrace anger and react to those times. That gives Green a slightly disjointed feel, without the cohesiveness of either of the last two albums, and the first half in particular struggles a little to gain traction, even while individual songs remain strong. The album is weighted so that the second half (or side two, for the oldies) is noticeably superior to the first half, and the run from “Orange Crush” to “I Remember California” is about as strong a second half as you could possibly wish for, the album at last finding the cohesion that it struggled with on the first half. Well, up until “Untitled” anyway, which has the unenviable task of trying to end the album on an up-beat note, and, after the sonic avalanche of the preceding five tracks, just can’t manage it. It feels like an afterthought (and its lack of a name re-enforces that feel), a less-than-successful attempt to tie everything up with a bow. Nice try, and all that. However, if this sounds overly critical, there’s still a huge amount to enjoy here, and Michael’s come on leaps and bounds as a writer – this is by miles his best outing as a lyricist so far. Something as apparently simple as “Stand”, the Biggest Dumbest Song of the album (by design) manages to be entertaining, meaningful and straightforwardly fun all at the same time, but he reaches whole levels elsewhere on the album. The post-apocalyptic look-back perspective of “I Remember California” is something that’s never been attempted before, and the intimate, confessional nature of several songs (“You Are The Everything”, “The Wrong Child”) gives us new insights into Michael as lyricist and what he’s capable of. Even the album’s title, Green, has many different interpretations (colour, money, inexperience, sickness, environmentalism). Yet all pale next to the behemoth that is “World Leader Pretend”. The first half of the album runs up to the song, the second half slopes away from it, and it provides the centrepiece around which the rest of the album sits. It’s a magnificent achievement, and a real amalgamation of everything else the album is trying out. Michael’s confessional lyric is perfected but with hints of the cynicism and politics (the personal is the political); Mike’s bass (and piano) and backing vocals are peerless; Peters finds exactly the right guitar work; Bill knows and understands how to support what’s being done. There are few songs in R.E.M.’s back catalogue as straightforwardly brilliant as “World Leader Pretend” and as a synthesis of everything Green is trying to do it’s nigh-on perfect. But… Green is a definite step down from Document. Of course I’m going to say that, because every album is a step down from Document in my eyes, but even with that in mind, Green feels a little… safer than its processor, even given the new styles and musical experimentation that’s going on here. Successful or not, the last three albums have all had a distinct, unique approach that helped define them – Fables’ myths of the past, Lifes Rich Pageant’s optimism, Document’s anger. Green incorporates a lot of elements from the past, but in doing so never quite gains the same clear, defined approach that makes it stand out from what’s come before – it feels more like a summary than a step forward. There’s a vast amount to love about Green, and as R.E.M.’s major-label debut, it fulfils all that could be asked of it and then some, but seen simply as the next R.E.M. album, it’s just a little… lacking. Best Song: Well, “World Leader Pretend”, obviously. Though secretly “Turn You Inside Out” will always have my heart. Worst Song: “Untitled”
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Mar 12, 2017 10:23:13 GMT -5
... never much liked World Leader Pretend. (I know, I know. I'm a bad fan sometimes. It's the same with The Clash: the much-beloved Stay Free, Police and Thieves, and Straight To Hell never did much for me either.) I find it a little dull, melodically, a charge I can also level at The Wrong Child and Hairshirt. So I'm building up to saying this is one of their lesser golden era efforts, for me. The upbeat songs on the first side are fine, even Stand, but they feel a little insubstantial somehow, especially when compared with the upbeat IRS years songs. If I'd been into REM at the time, or even heard of them, I might've been a little concerned that something had been lost in the move between labels. I would've been wrong, of course, but I would've had a long wait to find out.* I love Orange Crush and You Are The Everything, though. Both amazing songs.
*This came out in 1988, didn't it? Really long gap between it and Out Of Time - wonder what the label made of that.
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Post by Prole Hole on Mar 12, 2017 13:10:13 GMT -5
... never much liked World Leader Pretend. (I know, I know. I'm a bad fan sometimes. It's the same with The Clash: the much-beloved Stay Free, Police and Thieves, and Straight To Hell never did much for me either.) I find it a little dull, melodically, a charge I can also level at The Wrong Child and Hairshirt. So I'm building up to saying this is one of their lesser golden era efforts, for me. The upbeat songs on the first side are fine, even Stand, but they feel a little insubstantial somehow, especially when compared with the upbeat IRS years songs. If I'd been into REM at the time, or even heard of them, I might've been a little concerned that something had been lost in the move between labels. I would've been wrong, of course, but I would've had a long wait to find out.* I love Orange Crush and You Are The Everything, though. Both amazing songs. *This came out in 1988, didn't it? Really long gap between it and Out Of Time - wonder what the label made of that. You're right about it coming out in 1988 - I had it listed as 1989, so I've corrected it now. Out Of Time was 1991, so yes, quite the gap, though I know that all of 1989 was spent doing the Green World Tour, so the band definitely put in the hours. On which note, I'm not doing DVDs or whatever, but Tourfilm, the 1989 Green World Tour official release, is extremely highly recommended by me - the only concert film I've ever seen better than it was Stop Making Sense, but even then its a hairline between which is better. It's really that good. FWIW I'm not a big fan of "Straight To Hell" either, I've never much understood its popularity (but then again, Combat Rock isn't close to being their best album). Ah well. I like "Stand". I realise that might not be obvious from what I wrote about it, but honestly I do!
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Post by ganews on Mar 12, 2017 14:09:57 GMT -5
I actually put Green in strong contention with Document for my favorite R.E.M. It has the advantage of not including "End of the World", which I like more the less often I hear it.
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Post by Nudeviking on Mar 12, 2017 19:20:03 GMT -5
I'm done with David Bowie and haven't decided what to do for my follow up, so I'm playing along at home with other discography runs for the time being. Since I own this album and thus could do this one with minimal effort R.E.M.'s Green won out over the other selections. Below is my review... R.E.M. - Green (1988)When I was in elementary school, my father, an optician by trade, decided that he would not be content making glasses for the remainder of his years, and so he decided to return to school to become an optometrist. The nearest school of optometry was a college in Philadelphia, some four hours from where we lived, so my father went away to college at age 37. For whatever reason, while he was a student he become a fan of what was, at the time, known as "college rock." Camper Van Beethoven, Pixies, The Replacements, and, most pertinent to this review, R.E.M... Today we're looking at Green, which would have been the "new" album at the time and thus, is most likely the first R.E.M. album I would have heard while driving somewhere with my father over Christmas break or summer vacation. This was R.E.M.'s first major label album and thus the point at which they "sold out," even though "It's The End of the World as We Know It," and "The One I Love," were both all over MTV before this album dropped. Being 8 years old at the time I don't know what sort of backlash the band faced for wanting people to actually be to find their albums in record shops, but I can imagine it was quite harsh. Pre-Existing Prejudices
I have heard this album a majillion times. I had a dubbed copy of it that I used to listen to in middle school on a shitty knockoff Walkman I got at Bradlees until the tape was rendered useless. I replaced it with a CD when I was flush with part-time job money and had minimal expenses. I have not listened to this album straight through since the early aughts when I copied all my CDs onto my computer as MP3s. Songs
"Pop Song 89" Such a fine album opening track. I wish R.E.M.'s vision of late 80s pop songs had been the actuality. It was unfortunately not. Instead of songs like this we got shit like Milli Vanilli. The drumming is pretty great during the verses. Bill Berry's really an underrated drummer. "Get Up" A solid follow up to a strong opener. Mike Mills demonstrating why he's the best backing vocalist in the history of rock music. "You Are Everything" Mandolin and accordion song. I do not remember this song from past listens to this album. It's a pretty good song but they did the mandolin lead quasi-Ren Faire folk song thing better on "Losing My Religion." "Stand" I hated this song when I was a surly teenager. I don't know why now. It's a solid pop song and seems to feature someone playing the Pianosaurus (pictured below). I mean it's not like it's "Shiny Happy People," or anything. The greatest dinosaur based musical instrument of all times...
"World Leader Pretend" This is a decent jangle pop song made a bit better by the addition of a lapsteel. The guitar here's pretty good too. Well done lads. "The Wrong Child" More mandolin. This song's just kind of here. It's not bad or anything but I can't imagine anyone being like, "My favorite R.E.M. song? Easy! 'The Wrong Child!'" "Orange Crush" AW YE YE! This might be my favorite R.E.M. song or at least one of my top five tracks by Michael Stipe and Co. Mike Mills is awesome at backing vocals here and even the random army marching sound effects/Michael Stipe spoken word part works with the song. A Grade A jam of epic proportions. "Turn You Inside-Out" This is one of those songs that it's hard to write anything about. I liked it a lot when I first heard it years ago. I like it today. There's nothing particularly unique about it, it's just a real solid rock anthem. "Hairshirt" Mandolin and bass. As fair as mandolin songs on this album go I prefer this one to "The Wrong Child," but this isn't as good as "You Are Everything," which works better as a song for me. "I Remember California" Wolverines and bumper cars remind Michael Stipe of California. I like this song a lot. It's got a slinky guitar line in it and the rhythm section has shit locked down during the verses. This is a fairly awesome R.E.M. song. " " This is kind of weird. There's rock organ and weird percussion. This doesn't really sound like an R.E.M. song. As an album closer I think it's kind of shit. It would have been better if "I Remember California," was the final track. Final Thoughts
This album's all over the goddamn place. R.E.M. seems confused about whether they want to be folk singers or a rock band and decided to just split the difference. Both modes are fine but it sort of gives the album a schizophrenic feel. That being said, it's a pretty good album, but when all is said and done, in the grand scheme of R.E.M. albums, it seems like a transitional album. Best Song: "Orange Crush" Worst Song: " "
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Post by ganews on Mar 12, 2017 19:33:07 GMT -5
On individual songs: On a mixtape my mom had made of favorite R.E.M. songs, which I heard many times as a kid, "Pop Song 89" came right after "Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)". This is one of my favorite one-two punches in music, even if it never was.
Back when college football stadiums had marching bands to pump up the crowd instead of just playing recorded pop music between plays (the better to be like the pros), it was a rare thing to hear the latter. However UGA had a tradition of playing two hometown band favorites over the loudspeakers before the game started, "Stand" and the B52s' "Roam".
"Orange Crush" is the best song ever made to feature a spoken-word interlude.
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Post by Prole Hole on Mar 15, 2017 8:53:03 GMT -5
Nudeviking - WOOOO and thanks for playing along! And, also, thanks for introducing me to the Pianosaurus. That does look like the most awesome of all dinosaur intruments, though perhaps Tea Rex knows of others. Interesting that we both agree that "I Remember California" should have been the last track of the album - I've mentioned this to a few REM fans in the past and practically had my head ripped off for saying it. Hersey, it seems. But really, it's just such a better album closer. "But that's where the heart and soul of the album is!" quoth the naysayers. "Mayhaps you failed to hear the five previous sonic assaults and a handful of maudlin mandolin songs that suggest "uplifting" is not, in fact, the soul of the album," I suggest. "Offest of the most fuck," I get told. Those people are still wrong, though.
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Post by Nudeviking on Mar 15, 2017 9:52:04 GMT -5
Nudeviking - WOOOO and thanks for playing along! And, also, thanks for introducing me to the Pianosaurus. That does look like the most awesome of all dinosaur intruments, though perhaps Tea Rex knows of others. Interesting that we both agree that "I Remember California" should have been the last track of the album - I've mentioned this to a few REM fans in the past and practically had my head ripped off for saying it. Hersey, it seems. But really, it's just such a better album closer. "But that's where the heart and soul of the album is!" quoth the naysayers. "Mayhaps you failed to hear the five previous sonic assaults and a handful of maudlin mandolin songs that suggest "uplifting" is not, in fact, the soul of the album," I suggest. "Offest of the most fuck," I get told. Those people are still wrong, though. Wait a second, are you saying that popular opinion holds that " " is a great album closing track? I mean " " isn't a bad song for a b-side or a bonus track on the Japanese version of the album or even a random track in the middle of this album, but as a closer? It's so different from everything that came before it that it's by default just kind of sucks. It's like one of those record scratch sound effects in a preview for a shitty comedy movie. I don't think I understand people.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2017 10:22:26 GMT -5
When you're wrapping up this feature, it would be fun to have a ranking of R.E.M.'s radio singles. Thinking of it because I'd have a hard time not putting "Orange Crush" at the top of that list. It's one of those pop singles that just feels elemental, a riff that might as well be carved into stone.
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Post by Prole Hole on Mar 15, 2017 10:54:51 GMT -5
When you're wrapping up this feature, it would be fun to have a ranking of R.E.M.'s radio singles. Thinking of it because I'd have a hard time not putting "Orange Crush" at the top of that list. It's one of those pop singles that just feels elemental, a riff that might as well be carved into stone. It's an interesting idea, and I'll definitely be ranking the albums, but I'm afraid "Radio Free Europe" would take the top spot for me. Or "Drive". But probably "Radio Free Europe".
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