Every R.E.M. album, ranked
I can remember the first time I heard R.E.M. â late to the game, really late one night while on spring break from college, rainy night at home with the windows open. I had missed out on âChronic Town,â the legendary EP co-produced by Mitch Easter, who, little did I know, I would get to know a bit years later when I would move to Winston-Salem, N.C. I bought a copy of âMurmurâ and âAfoot,â the first record by Mitchâs band Letâs Active, and put them on late that night.
I remember having the notion that I genuinely had never heard anything like this (and I had heard a lot). I would tell people that everything that came before sounded like I was listening with cotton balls in my ears and these records sounded like I took the cotton out, unaware of what a clichĂ© this was. (Hey, I was a kid.) Whatever the case, I loved it, and itâs no exaggeration to say that R.E.M. would be the most important band to me in my most formative adult years.
When I did move to Winston-Salem, my friend Jon Healey (now an editor at the L.A. Times) was, in the spirit of the day, the federal courts reporter and the music critic, and recorded and produced an album â Thrift Bakery, great band, please check them out â in our living room, because thatâs what on there at the time. He had records sent to our house, because theyâd get stolen off his desk at the paper. I still remember the thrill when âLifes Rich Pageantâ arrived on our porch in the summer of 1986. Itâs probably the R.E.M. record Iâve listened to most.
At the risk of sounding like the classic old man yelling at clouds who says, oh, their earliest stuff was their best stuff, ahem (clears throat), their earliest stuff was their best stuff. I kind of lost interest after Bill Berry left the band, and for good reason â those records werenât as good. But not all of them were awful. Although âAutomatic for the Peopleâ has to be one of the most overrated albums of all time.
Ouch.
At least thatâs my recollection. Iâm going to mow through their entire catalogue, which I have done before. But this time Iâm going to write a little something about each record, and what it meant to me, as well as my critical evaluation. (Note: I review movies, TV, political media, etc. Iâve written like three record reviews in my life. Which is why Iâm doing this here, LOL. This is strictly amateur hour.)
That said, first up is âChronic Town.â Letâs go!
âChronic Townâ
Peter Buckâs guitar on the first track, âWolves, Lowerâ immediately introduces what will become a staple, and in some ways a cross to bear, of a new brand of âSouthernâ rock: jangle rock. (Before R.E.M. âSouthern rockâ would call to mind Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers, bands like that, who are great, but doing something totally different.) The chimes in the guitar tone recall the Byrds, sure. But the urgency is different, more pronounced. Michael Stipeâs lyrics are difficult to parse and make sense of, something that would continue for the bulk of the bandâs best records. (This isnât to say he isnât a good lyricist. But the mystery really added something.)
This is, out of the box, a great record (or EP). It famously finished second in the EP category of the Village Voiceâs Pazz & Jop criticsâ poll in 1982. My favorite track varies from time to time, which is a good sign, but probably âWolves, Lowerâ and âCarnival of Sorts (Boxcars)â win out most of the time. Nothing really sounded like this, and man, it is a sound I like. A thing that is true of this is a thing that is true of all of their early records: I never tire of it.