Concluduing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1985…
#1 – Fables of the Reconstruction – R.E.M.
After making this list, I looked back to see my lineups for 1983 and 1984. To my surprise, the same band was on top of all three. R.E.M.’s debut Murmur claimed the #1 spot in ’83, and their sophomore effort Reckoning pulled off the feat for ’84.
So I guess it’s both no surprise and a testament to the greatness of R.E.M. that they pull off the trifecta and hit #1 yet again with 1985’s Fables of the Reconstruction.
This murky masterpiece is not only my favorite album of 1985, but my favorite R.E.M. album and one of my favorite albums of all-time. It’s a mesmerizing blend of traditional folk rock and the alternative genre R.E.M. was in the process of inventing.
With a song cycle inspired by the southern roots of the Athens, Georgia, based band, Fables feels like a portal to a dusty universe of lonely roads and hard-luck people. A glorious strain of melancholy runs through even the most upbeat songs.
And oh what songs they are! My favorites include ‘Maps and Legends,’ ‘Driver 8,’ ‘Can’t Get There From Here,’ ‘Good Advices,’ ‘Green Grow the Rushes,’ and ‘Wendell Gee,’ but every song here is a triumph. And more important, they all feel like essential pieces of the glorious whole.
I don’t know if R.E.M. will go four-for-four when I get to 1986. They did release an incredible album that year, so the odds are pretty good. Regardless, this timespan saw one of the very best bands at their very best, and that’s a wonderful thing to behold.
That’s when Wendell Gee
Takes a tug upon the string
That held the line of trees
Behind the house he lived in
He was reared to give respect
But somewhere down the line, he chose…
[Chorus]
To whistle as the wind blows (Gonna miss you, boy)
And whistle as the wind blows did he (Gonna miss you, boy)
[Verse 2]
He had a dream one night
That the tree had lost its middle
So he built a trunk of chicken wire
To try to hold it up
But the wire, the wire turned to lizard skin
And when he climbed inside…
[Chorus]
There wasn’t even time to say (Gonna miss you, boy)
Goodbye to Wendell Gee (Gonna miss you, boy)
So whistle as the wind blows (Gonna miss you, boy)
Whistle as the wind blows did he (Gonna miss you, boy)
[Chorus]
There wasn’t even time to say (Gonna miss you, boy)
Goodbye to Wendell Gee (Gonna miss you, boy)
So whistle as the wind blows (Gonna miss you, boy)
And listen as the wind blows did he (Gonna miss you, boy)
[Outro]
If the wind were colors (Gonna miss you, boy)
And if the air could speak (Gonna miss you, boy)
Then whistle as the wind blows (Gonna miss you, boy)
And whistle as the wind blows (Gonna miss you, boy)
Meet Me In Montauk 
This was indeed a great album, though my favorite from REM has always been 1992’s Automatic for the People.
In my opinion, they reached their peak two years later, with “Document”.
Catching up on the ‘84 picks, and what a pick this is. This is one of my time capsule albums, so closely do I associate it with my first year in college when I discovered it. It is likely my favorite album of the year, too, though I’ll have to weigh in after the full deep dive. “Green Grow the Rushes” is one of my favorite songs of all time.