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Post by Reactionary Rage on Jan 26, 2019 15:23:42 GMT
Ignoring the post Bill Berry stuff.
Have a go....
Murmur (1983)
Reckoning (1984)
Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)
Document (1987)
Green (1988)
Out of Time (1991)
Automatic for the People (1992)
Monster (1994)
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
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Post by dipstick on Jan 26, 2019 15:56:11 GMT
Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
Murmur (1983)
Automatic for the People (1992)
Reckoning (1984)
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
Monster (1994)
Document (1987)
Green (1988)
Out of Time (1991)
Fables takes the top spot for me because it captures a rural Southern feel from the time that you don't find in many other works. It's hard to describe how the music matches the place, and if it wasn't experienced by the listener it may be missed.
The documentary "Sherman's March" (1985) about the narrator's search for a partner in rural Georgia hits the same feel for me. When I was a kid, that is what it was like visiting extended family in the country. Nowadays they're all dead and the countryside has turned into trailer parks or clearcut suburban developments from newcomers looking for their economic fortunes in the nearby cities.
My cousin summed it up when she said "I don't like to go back there anymore." followed by silence. I don't either.
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Post by oh oooh on Jan 26, 2019 18:03:37 GMT
A disclaimer - I'm not a fan, and I think what makes this especially difficult is that they were capable of near-greatness and absolute cack within the same album side. REM are one hell of a frustrating band. But here we go anyway...
Document (1987) - this was my first REM album, and I got into it big time along with all my mates. I played it as much as the Smiths and the Fall albums I loved (a local DJ, when he saw us approaching with requests, would invariably 'joke' "oh HERE we go - Smiths, Fall, REM...". It's all about the first side, anyway, which is excellent (apart from 'Welcome to the Occupation', an example of REM at their most turgid and po-faced). I think I'll always get a huge kick out of their cover of 'Strange', and 'Finest Worksong', 'It's The End Of The World...' and 'Exhuming McCarthy' are stirring big fuck-off rock songs without any of the embarrassing shit that normally comes along with that kind of music
Murmur (1983) - some great songs ('Radio Free Europe', 'Perfect Circle', 'Shaking Through') but it's spoiled by that weedy acoustic 'vegan rock' the band were sort of famous for
Monster (1994) - I haven't played it for a long time, but it always SOUNDED great and it's a lot of fun. 'What's The Frequency, Kenneth?' might be my favourite REM track of all (don't you hate it when people say 'that might be my favourite'? like anyone gives a flying fuck)
Out Of Time (1991) - another one I played a lot at the time, and this time everyone else was playing it too. 'Half A World Away' is stunning, 'Shiny Happy People' is a joy, 'Near Wild Heaven' is pretty (despite the vocal)
Automatic For The People (1992) - some of their best and some of their worst songs. I never got why people thought it was so great, not just because of my personal reaction but because the fucking thing is ALL OVER THE SHOP in terms of style. But 'Try Not To Breathe' and 'Man On The Moon' are truly beautiful pieces of music
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996) - I really can't be arsed now. 'Electrolite' is great. You get the sense they don't even know themselves what they're about, why they're doing this
Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) - two good songs, I think
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) - mostly sludge. Was their cover of 'Superman' on the album? or just an extra on the tape/CD?
Green (1988) - 'Get Up' sounds fabulous, but 'Stand', 'World Leader Pretend', 'Turn You Inside-Out' - some of the very worst shit ever put out under the name 'rock music'
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2019 18:21:15 GMT
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996) Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) Murmur (1983) Reckoning (1984) Automatic for the People (1992) Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) Document (1987) Up (1998) Monster (1994) Chronic Town (1982)* Accelerate (2008) Green (1988) Collapse into Now (2011) Out of Time (1991) Reveal (2001) Around the Sun (2004)
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Post by dipstick on Jan 26, 2019 18:21:26 GMT
"Document" is wayyyy too bright for my taste.
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Post by oh oooh on Jan 26, 2019 18:34:10 GMT
"Document" is wayyyy too bright for my taste. Really? The sound, you mean? I can't even pretend I've listened to it recently.
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Post by Charlie O. on Jan 26, 2019 22:09:10 GMT
"Document" is wayyyy too bright for my taste. It's way too drab for mine! Reckoning Murmur Fables Lifes Rich Pageant Green Monster Documentthe rest
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Post by dipstick on Jan 26, 2019 22:26:56 GMT
"Document" is wayyyy too bright for my taste. Really? The sound, you mean? I can't even pretend I've listened to it recently. Yeah it's in the production. It's not bad, especially by 80s standards, but I prefer the murkier sounding stuff.
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Jan 27, 2019 21:36:41 GMT
Superb:
Murmur Reckoning
very good:
Automatic for the People Lifes Rich Pagaent
Good:
Monster Document Fables
Patchy:
Green Out of Time New Adventures
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Post by oh oooh on Jan 27, 2019 22:11:33 GMT
You start the thread and all you do is provide a LIST?!?
Ooooh Dougie. Oooh
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Jan 27, 2019 22:12:16 GMT
WANKER
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Admin
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2019 7:33:16 GMT
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Jan 28, 2019 9:01:04 GMT
Apologies for not providing a full and lengthy response to my post in the requisite time.
Anyhoo….
These days I’m firmly of the opinion that they peaked at the beginning. Murmur and Reckoning are very much volume 1 and 2 for me. The latter is a bit tougher musically and there are moments of real magic throughout. Perfect Circle is especially wonderful. I can remember being quite obsessed with that song as a teenager and I’m not sure if they were ever more evocative or more touching. They really captured a special kind of twilight, ephemeral mood there that is suggestive without ever really committing to any fixed meaning. The early stuff has that quality in spades which is where the magic resides for me. I mean I have no idea what most of these songs are about and that’s fine. They exist in their own little interior world and as the bands career developed and Stipe felt the need to say things of meaning and significance to a burgeoning audience that’s where they tended to fall down. Don’t Go Back To Rockville is beautiful. Maybe their best song and now that I can play it on the guitar I can play along to it too! Mike Mills was always their secret weapon and his choir boy vocals have always been a delight. Stipe’s vocals too can be really wonderful. As much as he is a bellend and at his earnest worst their achilles heal I’ve always loved his voice.
I haven’t listened to Fables in a long time so my memories are faded but I recall it being more heavy on atmosphere rather than tunes. Lifes Rich Pagaent is the start of their ascendency to the arenas of the world and beyond I guess. Stipes vocals are cleaner, lyrically he is less obtuse and there is a ringing confidence in the performances and the production that appears quite different to the eyes-to-the-floor awkwardness that typified Murmur. Some of it is very good (Begin The Begin, These Days, Cuyahoga, I Believe) but some of is throwaway (Underneath The Bunker) and under developed (Flowers of Guatemala). Fall On Me signals the start of something problematic lyrically (it’s about acid rain folks! This stuff is important!) but it’s a wonderful pop song and Stipe/Mills vocals form a beautiful combination here. Their voices sounded so great together.
They lose me somewhat after this for a few records. Document has some highs (Finest Worksong and It’s The End…) but I’ve always been rather nonplussed by it. There’s a stench of the “big statement” about it that has always put me off. There was a lot of that political stuff in the 80s which is understandable given the backdrop of Reagan and Thatcher but, sheesh, politics and music are as welcome as Cannon and Ball or Little and Large at a comedy festival. Green has some terrible moments and it’s an odd mix of pop fluff, arena “rock” and earnest attempts at something weightier and serious (World Leader Pretend). Very little of it is convincing and there is a man-child banality to the bubblegummy Stand that is hard to digest as an adult although I remember enjoying it as a thirteen year old. The untitled bonus song is fabulous though. Again, Stipe and Mills in harmony. It’s one of my favourite songs they ever did. In short, it’s a transitional record that feels half-baked and unsteady. Crucially the mandolin also appears which depending on your point of view might signal the beginning of the end. I do quite like You Are The Everything though. The Wrong Child is dreadful muck, however.
Out of Time is a good EP. I love Texarkana and Me In Honey. Radio Song is maybe the worst thing they ever did up to that point. They were never convincing when they tried to get a bit fun-kay but that song is a real abortion. Automatic is mostly very good and some of it is genuinely fabulous. I revisited it last year and found myself enjoying it a lot. Unusually for them some of the big numbers - Sidewinder, Moon – are amongst the best things on there. Find The River is magnificent. Try Not To Breathe is genuinely moving. A huge improvement on the last two records but not quite the masterpiece many claimed it to be on its release.
I’ve come round to Monster over the years despite being hugely disappointed by it on release. I still think it drowns somewhat in its own guitar fuzz a bit but I’d quite happily take it over Green or Document or Out of Time.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi was an odd album. I don’t think the approach worked but there are a handful of moments like Leave and Electrolite but then you’ve got glam bobbins like the Wake Up Bomb (that title!). It would have made a decent single album with a bit of extra work.
Some real highs then and genuine lows. The lows are the kind of lows that I don't think "great" bands should have, at least not during their so called peak years. But when they are good they were fabulous.
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2019 10:43:21 GMT
GUD LAD
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2019 16:26:49 GMT
Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) Murmur (1983) Automatic for the People (1992) Reckoning (1984) Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996) Monster (1994) Document (1987) Green (1988) Out of Time (1991) Fables takes the top spot for me because it captures a rural Southern feel from the time that you don't find in many other works. It's hard to describe how the music matches the place, and if it wasn't experienced by the listener it may be missed. That's pretty much the order I'd put them in to. I'm not from the South, heck, I'm not even from Southern California, but you're description of Fables always felt that way too.
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