I generally have two important entry points to the music of my favorite bands… the album that first introduced me to them, and the album that I bought upon release and discovered along with all the other fans.

Sometimes that’s the same album. In R.E.M.’s case, those albums came a few years apart. My first introduction to the band was 1985’s Fables of the Reconstruction, which I probably heard for the first time in late ’87 or early ’88.

As is often the case, this entry point album remains my favorite to this day. That spark of first love certainly counts for a lot.

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