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R.E.M.Albums ReviewedMurmur (1983)Reckoning (1984) Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) Life Rich Pageant (1986) Document (1987) Out Of Time (1991) Automatic For The People (1992) Monster (1994) New Adventures In Hi Fi (1996) Up (1998) Reveal (2001) Hindu Love Gods (1990) Murmur(1983)My father always used to tell me a story about an old Scottish folk singer who earned respect by always ensuring that the audience could hear exactly what he was singing. This is the exact opposite of Michael Stipe's vocal performance on Murmur; the title is a reference to his virtual incomprehensibility. While my dad may theoretically hate it, R.E.M.'s debut album is an absolute critic's favourite, and it's not difficult to see why. Murmur was released at the height of one of pop's most vacuous and tasteless phases, yet R.E.M. share more with post-punk groups like Joy Division and folk-influenced guitar bands Big Star and the Byrds than with contemporaries like New Romantics Duran Duran, melding their sixties and seventies influences to the post-punk aesthetic to create an entirely new sound. In fact, perhaps the group's closest parallel was with The Smiths across the other side of the Atlantic; both groups relied on a unique lead vocalist (Stipe's murmuring isn't quite as dramatic as Morrissey's flamboyant moan, but it's just as idiosyncratic), a three piece band which pursued its own unique style rather than rocking in a conventional sense and a guitarist who rarely soloed, instead laying down layers of texture. Both bands also released five albums during their initial tenure in the mid eighties; in 1987 The Smiths split up and R.E.M. signed onto a mainstream label. While R.E.M. have gradually become more mainstream since Murmur, many key R.E.M. elements are recognisible here; Michael Stipe's cryptic lyrics, Peter Buck's jangly guitars and Mike Mill's plodding bass are all present, and the band's signature sound is all but intact on this debut. The opening, vaguely danceable, 'Radio Free Europe' was a surprise minor hit; documentary footage shows eighties teenyboppers enjoying it to a surprising degree. The remainder of Murmur, however, is moody and more organic, more typical of the group's early style. The piano led 'A Perfect Circle' and the piano infused 'Shaking Through' are particularly pleasant, while 'West of the Fields' (which sounds like "Wezstzofields" after Stipe's tonsils get tangled in it) is an appropriate ending, climactic but not losing the rest of the album's subtlety. Discounting the irritatingly straightforward 'We Walk', which is pretty much enough to single-handedly ensure that this album doesn't earn full marks, I could happily leave Murmur on all afternoon. It's a quintessential statement for R.E.M., and there are plenty of fans who would argue that they never bettered their first full length album. 
 Reckoning(1986)I've always been slightly underwhelmed by Reckoning; it's usually ranked among R.E.M.'s elite albums, but although I think that it's a solid entry in their excellent early catalogue, it's not quite up to the same standard as Murmur or Lifes Rich Pageant. The dour Indie folk of Murmur has already altered somewhat, and the group are pursuing a more conventional college rock sound; over the course of their independent label albums, R.E.M. gradually became less cryptic and more direct. Reckoning is punchier than previously, and less acoustic, but Stipe's vocals are still low in the mix (he's credited as the "lead vocal instrument"). In other words, it's a pretty natural progression forward for the band, and even if it neither fully captures the naivety and freshness of Murmur or the rock punch of Lifes Rich Pageant it offers something of each of the attractive features of those two albums. Opening track 'Harborcoat' demonstrates the potential of this micro-era of R.E.M., marrying an arrangement that's more propulsive than anything on Murmur, opening with a Bill Berry fill, to a pretty folk rock melody that would have been right at home on that album. The other really effective rock piece is the closing 'Little America', which is one of the more fascinating and overlooked songs in the R.E.M. discography. Elsewhere, the material is largely slower and prone to monotony without the atmosphere of Murmur, but nonetheless enjoyable as long as the songs are up to scratch. Most of these slower songs are enjoyable, although the chorus hook of 'Pretty Persuasion' is irritating (especially as it's reiterated as a bonus track at the end of the disc), and 'Camera' drags on for five and a half minutes even though it's the least interesting song on the disc. These missteps are more than countered by lots of pretty material like the atmospheric 'Letter Never Sent', the gently repetitive 'Time After Time' (thankfully, not a Cyndi Lauper cover), the bright country of '(Don't Go Back To) Rockville' (inspired by a girlfriend of Mike Mills), the apologetic 'So, Central Rain', and the enigmatic '7 Chinese Bros'. I like this album plenty, but there's no really single fantastic track to push it over the top, and having heard Murmur and Lifes Rich Pageant first, it's just a highly competent but somewhat unsurprising link between those two peaks.
Fables Of The Reconstruction(1985)The most underrated and overlooked of R.E.M.'s IRS albums, Fables Of The Reconstruction was recorded in London with Fairport Convention and Nick Drake producer Joe Boyd. The Byrds influence was always commented upon in R.E.M.'s early reviews (Peter Buck wrote "we get compared to The Byrds every day"), and it might have been expected that Boyd would accentuate such tendencies and lead the band in a more folk influenced direction. Instead, if anything, the opposite occurred; while lyrically, story telling songs like the dog napper 'Old Man Kensey' might be derived from a folk tradition, musically the group are more direct and punchy than before, losing some more of their crypticism. Although moody pieces like 'Old Man Kensey' and 'Feeling Gravity's Pull' do account for the album's reputation as sleepy, they're dominated by bouncy new wave and brash power pop in songs like 'Driver 8' and 'Can't Get There From Here'. If there's a major criticism of this album, it's perhaps less melodically interesting than R.E.M. are typically, but it compensates with a wider range of styles and more colourful arrangements than previously. Indeed, the opening trifecta on Fables Of The Reconstruction is arguably the strongest start to any R.E.M. record. 'Feeling Gravity's Pull' is a weird atmospheric opener, and it's a bold choice to have up front, but it's highly effective, before the album kicks into gear with the catchy folk rocker 'Maps and Legends' and the upbeat 'Driver 8', easily one of the most memorable songs in the R.E.M catalogue. The reputation of this album as a downer is further dispelled by the energetic and eccentric power-pop of 'Life And How To Live It' and 'Can't Get There From Here', while the stuttering rocker 'Kohoutek' is another overlooked gem. There is a pair of mundane rockers on the second side, but the piano driven 'Wendell Gee' ends the album on a calming and elegiac note. Fables Of The Reconstruction is a little too spotty in patches, and perhaps a little too disjointed, to rank among R.E.M.'s absolute best, it's still one of their better albums; I'd probably choose it behind New Adventures In Hi Fi but over Reckoning as their fifth best.
Lifes Rich Pageant(1986)Stipe's vocals are now a lot louder in the mix, and it is possible to hear what he is singing, but it still doesn't make much sense. Admittedly, "on Zenith, on the TV, tiger run around the tree/Follow the leader, run and turn into butter" is an extreme example. Although Lifes Rich Pageant lacks a little of Murmur's uniqueness and charm as a result of turning up the volume, most of the changes are beneficial. I'd almost be content if R.E.M. had frozen themselves in time in 1986 and locked themselves in their studio, only letting Bill Berry outside once a year to poke a lovely new album through the time wormhole. Subsequent style changes have generally been detrimental for R.E.M.; neither the acoustic flavours of Out of Time or the hard rock of Monster were particularly admirable. Most of the songs here are upbeat, operating nicely outside the periphery of the rock cliché, but arguably the most effective is the mellowed out 'Flowers of Guatemala'; Peter Buck squeezes out a lovely melodic solo which awakes the otherwise soothing song in a breathtaking fashion, while his riffing is seldom as effective on the excellent opener 'Begin the Begin'. Mike Mills gets a few vocal spotlights and sounds fantastic; his cover of 'Superman' is charmingly naive, while his bridge on the wonderful single 'Fall On Me' and harmonies (chorus of 'Cuyohoga') enhance each song. R.E.M. also peel off a punk song ('Just a Touch') which is better than anything Offspring have done in their entire career; Mills' piano and organ are impressively rocking. Along with the toss off but short instrumental 'Underneath the Bunker', the worst aspect of Lifes Rich Pageant is the intentionally misleading packaging; the track order on the back cover is all higgledy piggledy and omits a couple of songs. There seems to be a general consensus among web reviewers that Lifes Rich Pageant is R.E.M.'s best album, an opinion which I heartily endorse.
Document(1987)R.E.M. scored major radio play with 'The One I Love', 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' and 'Finest Worksong', allowing them the luxury of a major label record contract for their next album. While R.E.M. are still a viable entity almost twenty years later, Document marks the end of the group's most consistent phase, Document is less consistent and less interesting than its predecessors, but superior to most of R.E.M.'s subsequent output. The three obvious singles are all enjoyable, even if they're a little slick. 'The One I Love' is one of Stipe's most charmingly oblique lyrics: the "this one goes out to the one I love" verse fits in so seamlessly with the "fire" chorus that the lack of sense doesn't matter. 'Finest Worksong' is stuffed full of hooks, while 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' is willfully subversive. The singles are counterbalanced by some poor material in the form of 'Strange' (a Wire cover that's nowhere near as good as the original) and 'Fireplace', which both have irritating and repetitive choruses. Document is rounded out by eccentric and obscure material, far more typical of R.E.M.'s independent years. These are less interesting than fantastic titles such as 'Exhuming McCarthy' and 'Disturbance At The Heron House' suggest, but are still reasonably substantial. The closer 'Oddfellows Local 151' is easily one of the group's most intense performances on record, even resembling Joy Division to a limited extent. Document isn't necessarily much weaker than Lifes Rich Pageant on a song for song basis, but as a whole it is far less accessible and cohesive; as much a disparate collection of songs as an album. The bonus tracks appended to the remastered CD edition include an amusing instrumental, two alternate versions of 'Finest Worksong' and a live acoustic medley of two songs from Reckoning and Peter Gabriel's 'Red Rain'. There's enough of interest on Document to make it worthwhile, but the album's timing and the quality of the singles suggest something far better.
Green(1988)I don't have this, although I guess I should try to hear it sometime - it does feature the excellent 'Orange Crush', but I'm not too keen on 'Pop Song '89' or 'Stand', and I'm not in that much of a hurry to find it. Out of Time(1991)Longstanding R.E.M. fans consider that the group's major label work on Warner Brothers since 1988's Green constitutes a sellout and is therefore of less merit than their earlier Indie work. Because the first R.E.M. material I was familiar with was from Automatic for the People I don't hold that mindset, but after hearing 1991's Out of Time it is easy to see where the attitude originated. Adding to this identity crisis at this point in their career, in some ways Out of Time is the least pure R.E.M. album, with suprising guest appearances by incongrous personalities like the rapper KRS-One on the irritating 'Radio Song' and The B-52's Kate Pierson, while Peter Holsapple, formerly of the dB's, is an unofficial 5th member on this album alone. The acoustic pop leanings aren't a bad idea, and they work fine on the darker material on the next album, but the majority of the material is so shallow that it isn't a satisfying listen. Stipe's lyrics often verge on banal, and it's probably not a coincidence that the best song is also the darkest lyrically: 'Losing My Religion', where Stipe famously declares "Life is bigger than you/And you are not me." The next best song is 'Shiny, Happy People', which is just as hokey as the rest of the album, but is saved by a catchy guitar line. 'Country Feedback' is half decent, but in hindsight is only an inferior prototype of New Adventures in Hi-Fi's 'E-Bow the Letter'. Otherwise Out of Time is inconsequential; without 'Losing My Religion' it would be almost entirely dispensable. While Out of Time is more pleasantly listenable than any other two star album on the Fyfeopedia, it is also one of the more pointless.
Automatic for the People(1992)"Today I need something more substant, more substantial" sings Michael Stipe in Automatic for the People's 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite'. And R.E.M. deliver with Automatic for the People, a vast improvement from the nauseatingly sweet and shallow pop of Out of Time. While the two albums share a folkish sensibilility, Automatic for the People projects a more sincere and poignant core. 'Find the River' and 'Sweetness Follows' are particularly beautiful, while even the over-played 'Everybody Hurts' has emotional resonance. The monotonous 'Everybody Hurts' is the low point of the album, unfairly the song most associated with the group, while 'New Orleans Instrumental' is also tedious. Regardless of these two missteps, Automatic for the People should go down as one of the better albums of the 1990s, showing the group maturing into a more adult niche and creating satisfying records without relying on energy. Former Led Zep bassist John Paul Jones does a fantastic job of creating string parts that are beautiful without heading into emotionally manipulative adult contemporary. Building string and guitar parts fuel the excellent 'Drive', 'Ignoreland' rocks, while there are plenty of enjoyably idiosyncratic acoustic songs like 'Monty Got a Raw Deal' and 'Man on the Moon'. My favourite is the lilting ballad 'Find the River', especially the enigmatic line "coriander stem and rose of hay" which is strangely uplifting. Automatic For The People provides a successful balance between credibility and commerciality; while it is an accessible record, most of it is sincere and memorable.
Monster(1994)With their previous two records, R.E.M. ceased touring and became a studio based band, following the lead of groups like XTC and late period Beatles, focusing on intricate and acoustic based arrangements that would have been difficult to successfully recreate in arenas. When they decided to tour again (an unfortunate decision in hindsight), they purposefully created a loud and aggressive album that would be fun to recreate live. In many ways, Monster, the resulting album, is the most atypical of R.E.M.'s records, trading in the sincerity and restrained arrangements of the rest of their oeuvre for a sound that's equal measures of seventies glam and nineties grunge. At times this record works really well, with Buck generating some great guitar noise with layers of tremolo and reverb on anthemic, sleazy, decadent songs like 'What's The Frequency Kenneth?', but a lot of the material is too flat to really make an impression. In fact, Monster holds some unofficial record for being the most rapid accumulating album ever in second hand stores; selling well on the back of an excellent previous album and impressive leadoff track/first single ('Kenneth'), the rest of the album is largely disappointing by R.E.M.'s standards, belying their usual work ethic. Monster is still arguably worth the low price you should be able to find it for, just for its best moments. Opening 'What's The Frequency Kenneth?' might be my favourite R.E.M. song ever, with the echoing guitar effect used as a central hook, while 'Bang and Blame' is another excellent anthemic rock song. 'Strange Currencies' is very much akin to the previous album's 'Everybody Hurts', but it's an improvement, with a less bombastic and more varied and concise structure (plus it's nowhere near as overplayed). The other standout is 'I Don't Sleep, I Dream', successfully employing a Stipe falsetto that's seldom heard outside this album. In fact, the combination of sometimes sexual lyrics and falsetto in songs like 'Tongue' (although apparently Stipe's playing an abused woman in this one) might be a further reason for the album's second hand status, particularly in the Bible belt. The qualitative problem, however, is that there are far too many nondescript songs here, like 'Let Me In' and 'Circus Envy'; the album sounds pretty impressive on initial spins, but a lot of the tracks reveal themselves as somewhat routine on subsequent listens. Monster's simply one of R.E.M.'s most tossed off albums; although it does have a certain charm, don't expect to play this one anywhere near as often as say Murmur or Reckoning.
New Adventures In Hi Fi(1996)The concept of nineties R.E.M. recording a loose and sprawling album recorded on the road is about as appealing as that of R.E.M. attempting a glam album (refer to previous record), but this time around it turned out surprisingly well. Even more against the odds, New Adventures In Hi Fi was largely recorded during sound checks on a horrific tour, during which Berry was close to death from an aneurism, Stipe was hospitalised by a hernia and Mills by a laparatomy, causing the tour to drag on interminably. Surprisingly, the album suffers little from the rawer approach, and it's far more authentically aggressive and rough around the edges than the contrived Monster. Unfortunately, however, it's far too long for its own good, and what could have been a fine bounce back from the disappointing Monster is weighed down by a few filler tracks and songs that wander beyond optimum length. Even so, it shows plenty of creativity; its length and inconsistency make it difficult for those who aren't dedicated fans to appreciate, but dedicated fans will find plenty of treasures spread among its 65 minutes. I've owned this album for a long time, and it's only relistening to it for reviewing that I've started to really enjoy it beyond the most obvious standout tracks. The relatively sedate nature of the opening track, the minimalist piano driven 'How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us', and the relatively calm singles 'Bittersweet Me' and 'E-Bow The Letter' paint a somewhat disproportionate picture of the album; a lot of the remaining tracks are relatively gritty, and it's slightly overlooked gems like 'Undertow', 'Be Mine' and 'So Fast, So Numb' that form the backbone of the record. Award for the standout track goes to 'Leave', at seven minutes the longest track R.E.M. have recorded, rocking off the base of a dissonant synthesiser loop. 'E-Bow The Letter' is another epic, but sinks in more subtly, building intensity over its slow pacing with backing vocals from Patti Smith and impressionistic lyrics from Stipe ("aluminium, it tastes like fear/adrenaline, Princess Leia"). Other keepers include the charming low key 'New Test Leper' and the closing ballad 'Electrolite'. There's a bit of filler like the instrumental 'Zither', the glammy and abrasive 'The Wake Up Bomb', and 'Departure', where the hackneyed travel lyrics overshadow an otherwise strong song. Still, this is exactly the kind of album that dedicated fans will enjoy wading through, and in spite of its filler and sprawling nature New Adventures In Hi Fi is definitely among the group's best records.
Up(1998)Bill Berry left the band during 1997, a major upheaval for the group who'd had no lineup changes since their formation almost twenty years later. Berry was also more than just the drummer, sharing equally in writing the music with Buck and Mills. The group considered breaking up, but Berry made them promise to continue. While continuing, R.E.M. took a radical departure from the hard rock flirtation of the previous two records, with Mills primarily playing keyboards and Buck playing bass. While the change may have helped the group redefine their sound, this album still has the sense that song writing doesn't come as naturally to the band as it used to, and that they had to spend a lot more time agonising over these songs than they did previously. With its slow tempos and lack of much approachable material, Up can be a difficult proposition, even though it contains plenty of strong material. Interestingly it's the first R.E.M. album to feature a lyrics sheet, perhaps indicating that with the departure of Berry, Stipe is assuming more prominence. Like the previous album, Up's first track flirts with modern sounds in an unusually progressive manner for R.E.M.. 'Airportman' is built around a minimalist repetitive riff that's more in electronica influenced territory. On the other extreme, first single 'Daysleeper' is very much in a traditional R.E.M. vein, with acoustic guitars and a memorable chorus. 'Lotus' is almost the only track that could be described as upbeat, with its almost funky keyboard riff. 'At My Most Beautiful' is an enjoyable Beach Boys homage, while 'Suspicion' and 'Falls To Climb' indicate that the group still have some enjoyable melodies available to them. If you're not turned off by the slow pacing and predominance of ballads, this album's definitely worth exploring, but it requires a bit more effort than usual, and the album making process is becoming less natural for the group by this point.
Reveal(2001)Up was less organic and guitar-oriented than their previous albums, as the group embraced more electronic elements and used more keyboards. For Reveal, REM are more comfortable with their status as elder statesmen of rock, and create an album that combines the best sonic facets of their Warner Brother's work. The friendly acoustic sounds of Out of Time and the electronic textures of Up are combined with the conciseness of Automatic for the People, sitting comfortably together to create a summery stew. The production is wonderful, right from the burbling get-go of 'The Lifting', making Reveal a pleasure to listen to, while the album has a stately elegance. I'd grown to dislike the single 'Imitation Of Life' after hearing it as muzak on the soundtrack at work, but hearing it on a proper stereo you can hear all sorts of fancy squelches that enhance one's listening experience no end. Regrettably, even though the inviting atmosphere makes Reveal seem delightful, the album just isn't as substantial as REM's best work. To date, I've found precisely two songs that I would rate along REM's best; 'Reno' has the country feel that its title suggests, married to a memorable melody, while 'I'll Take The Rain' is an absolutely gorgeous ballad. Most of the other compositions around the start and end of Reveal seem relatively interesting, but the album falls somewhat asleep in the middle with unmemorable compositions like 'Saturn Return'. Still, as a superficial whole, Reveal gives off a pleasing aura of conciseness and consistency, and certainly makes up the most approachable album that REM have released since Automatic for the People.
Around The Sun(2004)Don't have this one; I hear that it's kind of boring, although I guess I shouldn't write it off just like that. Hindu Love Gods: Hindu Love Gods(released 1990)An R.E.M. side project, formed by Mills, Berry and Buck along with the late Warren Zevon on lead vocals, the Hindu Love Gods album was largely recorded in the mid 1980s while working on Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene. It's far less subtle and idiosyncratic than contemporary R.E.M. albums, and much more resembles the work of a well oiled bar band; Berry sums up the disc well with his comment that "it took us about as long to do as it takes to listen to." A collection of mostly blues covers, it's very much to be taken at face value, and it's certainly not an essential part of the R.E.M. discography, even though it's interesting to hear the group let their hair down and play in a more relaxed and less ornate style. Buck in particular, is playing a fuller rhythm sound that's different than his typical Byrds-derived jangle. Zevon's vocal swagger is entertaining, full of libido and gusto in songs like 'Travelling Riverside Blues' (appropriated by Led Zeppelin for 'The Lemon Song'). It's entertaining, but the material's mostly ubiquitous ('Mannish Boy', 'Wang Dang Doodle', 'Junko Pardner') and it's played mostly pretty straight, and it doesn't hold up to repeated listens. The exception is a glorious cover of Prince's 'Raspberry Beret'; the only song here that deviates a long way from its standard arrangement, transformed from effeminate psychedelia into blustery swagger. You might want to download that track, but otherwise I'm not sure why anyone would want to own this - I paid $2 for my copy, and it's going straight into my sell pile when I finish this review - but it's an innocent diversion, and R.E.M. freaks may enjoy the insight into an otherwise hidden facet of the band..
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
