Tag Archives: r.e.m.

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Song of the Day #1,389: ‘Begin the Begin’ – R.E.M.

Best Albums of the 80s – #14
Lifes Rich Pageant – R.E.M. (1986)

Given the spotty output of R.E.M. over the past 15 years, it’s easy to forget what a force they were in the 80s and early 90s. But no band better defined the alternative movement — and particularly how musical integrity could lead to mainstream success.

Five R.E.M. albums had a shot at this list, with three in the running right up until I finalized things. In the end, two made the cut. And first up is Lifes Rich Pageant.

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Song of the Day #1,374: ‘Try Not to Breathe’ – R.E.M.

Best Albums of the 90s – #4
Automatic For the People – R.E.M. (1992)

R.E.M.’s Automatic For the People earns its high spot on this list for a couple of reasons.

First, the obvious: it is the richest, most rewarding album recorded by one of the all-time great alternative bands. R.E.M. put out a lot of great music in the mid- to late-90s right through to their final album a year ago, but nothing that approached the majesty of this record. And the only earlier album in the band’s discography that I’d put on this level is Fables of the Reconstruction.

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Song of the Day #1,183: ‘Electrolite’ – R.E.M.

R.E.M.’s last album as a quartet — and therefore the last “true” R.E.M. album — was 1996’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

It would be easy to dismiss the band’s subsequent output as a pale reflection on its first ten albums, but that’s a bit too easy. The five albums R.E.M. recorded after Bill Berry’s departure include some memorable work. Most notably, 1998’s Up, the band’s first record as a trio, is a rich and resonant album.

At the time of Up‘s release, Berry made the very gracious statement that he left the band only to see them record their best album yet. An exaggeration, perhaps, but certainly a sign that his was an amicable departure.

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Song of the Day #1,182: ‘Find the River’ – R.E.M.

Out of Time was an unlikely hit album, but its follow-up was even more of a surprise. 1992’s Automatic For the People is a somber, murky meditation on death that happened to go quadruple platinum.

It’s a testament to R.E.M.’s integrity that their two most commercially popular albums were also two of their more experimental.

Automatic For the People is a particularly gorgeous record, all cellos and distorted bass lines, Stipe’s mumbled vocals processed into a low grumble on some tracks and allowed to soar on others. I rank this album just below Fables of the Reconstruction as the band’s best work.

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Song of the Day #1,181: ‘Half a World Away’ – R.E.M.

R.E.M.’s Out of Time was released in 1991, and marked the band’s giant leap into the mainstream. First single ‘Losing My Religion’ became an unlikely smash, perhaps the first song featuring lead mandolin to reach Billboard’s top five. Guitarist Peter Buck was learning to play the mandolin for the first time when he stumbled upon the riff that would become ‘Losing My Religion.’

Out of Time is an odd mix of some of the best music the band ever recorded (‘Country Feedback,’ ‘Losing My Religion,’ today’s SOTD) and some of the worst (‘Radio Song,’ ‘Shiny Happy People‘).

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