I say they've reached their "Shaquelle O'Neal 2008" stage of their career (aka anything decent we get from them at this point is a bonus).
AND WE'RE TRADING O'NEAL! If only R.E.M. could be traded for something more vital, as well.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 6 February 2008 06:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Document was always my least favorite of the classik R.E.M. albums -- it's the only one I never even bothered to buy on CD, even at the height of my high-school fandom (I just made do with the cassette) -- but I've found myself compelled to listen to it lately. It sounds oddly good to me now, fsr. (I still think there are some whiffs on side 2; I'm not into R.E.M. gettin' funk-ay, etc.)
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:25 (five years ago) link
I like it better now than I did at the peak of my R.E.M. fandom. Sure, it's frontloaded and drops in quality a bit after 'The One I Love', but I'll take things like 'Fireplace' over lesser tracks from the post-Berry albums.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:33 (five years ago) link
I'd take any other 80s R.E.M. album over Life's Rich Pageant. Easily the "worst" of their classic run.
― (V) (°,,,,°) (V) (Austin), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:35 (five years ago) link
Yeah I don't think "LRP" has aged particularly well... Neither has "Fables," IMO (though it has a few key trax).
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:37 (five years ago) link
Fables is my go-to R.E.M. album. Far and away the best thing they ever did.
― (V) (°,,,,°) (V) (Austin), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:43 (five years ago) link
!
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:44 (five years ago) link
I've went in the other direction with Lifes Rich Pageant in that I don't feel the need to listen to it these days, but that's because I've played the shit out of it. Lifes Rich Pageant is frontloaded too, but manages to not make the drop-off as obvious. The only track that I don't have much time for on it is 'What If We Give It Away?' ('Underneath the Bunker' doesn't count!) ...
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:46 (five years ago) link
New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the best album they ever made!
While it is a very good album, no.
― (V) (°,,,,°) (V) (Austin), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:49 (five years ago) link
Yes.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:53 (five years ago) link
IRS run
"chronic town"fablesmurmurpageantreckoningdocument
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:54 (five years ago) link
Reckoning near the bottom? Interesting - that's probably my favourite of all the IRS albums. Chronic Town still sounds incredibly fresh to my ears too.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 17:59 (five years ago) link
Surprised you guys rate Fables so highly... It sounds really uneven to me now.
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:02 (five years ago) link
30+ years later I suppose it doesn't matter so much, but I distinctly remember there being a half-baked feel at the time with 2 key tracks (Hyena and Just a Touch) regularly appearing in setlists, an instrumental, cover, etc.doesn't really matter much now, the album coheres in a way that didn't seem as evident upon release.
probably worth noting to the comment above about how much LRP gave way to the sellout chorus: Dead Letter Office was widely loved at the time and I think part of that may have been the self-deprecating tone.
still, I'm in the vocal minority of fans that thinks Side 2 of Document is one of the weirdest, best and most pure (last?) distillations of the IRS-era band.
― campreverb, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:05 (five years ago) link
xp (I do think "Life and How to Live" it is one of their greatest/underappreciated tracks)
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:06 (five years ago) link
― i’m still stanning (morrisp)
Their worst of the first decade, i.e. mushiest and least distinguished
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:06 (five years ago) link
I like Fables... a lot, but it's nowhere near my Top 5 R.E.M. albums overall.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:08 (five years ago) link
No album that leads off with 'Feeling Gravity's Pull' can justifiably be classified as the "least distinguished" of a band's output.
― (V) (°,,,,°) (V) (Austin), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:14 (five years ago) link
still, I'm in the vocal minority of fans that thinks Side 2 of Document is one of the weirdest, best and most pure (last?) distillations of the IRS-era band
i respect what you're saying but to me green (major label debut notwithstanding) is the last stand of that band, with callbacks and everything ("i can turn you inside out" <-- "finest worksong"), and "strange" is one of my least favorite of their covers (except for the "michael's nervous and the lights are bright" update)
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:17 (five years ago) link
― (V) (°,,,,°) (V) (Austin)
Depends what you think of a man who sings "It's a Man Ray kind of sky" srsly
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:21 (five years ago) link
The opening line of that song is v good, tho
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:25 (five years ago) link
And yet, you remembered it.
I can't remember any of the lyrics from Life's Rich Pageant.
― (V) (°,,,,°) (V) (Austin), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:43 (five years ago) link
but I'll take things like 'Fireplace' over lesser tracks
lol i will definitely be belting out "fireplace!" from here on out when listening to this album in the car.
― andrew m., Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:49 (five years ago) link
So? I remember Dubya speeches and the names of old boyfriends too.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 18:58 (five years ago) link
my memory failed me and turns out i'm not funny at all and am totally wrong. i'm turning in my True Distiple card and bowing out.
― andrew m., Wednesday, 25 July 2018 19:10 (five years ago) link
Austin, gah. Fall on Me, Swan Swan Hummingbird, Superman... and nothing memorable in there, lyrically speaking? Okay.
Personally I love all these records like children; I'm not gonna be tempted to take any sides any time soon. Document, Fables, Pageant, Murmur, Reckoning: all of a piece for me and all necessary. Then a transitional mid-period. not sure whether Green or Out of Time is the correct hinge point, but Automatic is definitely mid. Then what I would classify as their late career (Up and beyond) when I lose the plot and mostly stop caring.
― nonsensei (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 19:12 (five years ago) link
Yeah they're all quite rad in their own ways though I think the sonic chemistry of the Easter/Dixon records they did at Reflection (Murmur and Reckoning) was stratospheric.
― timellison, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 19:39 (five years ago) link
I like Man Ray kind of sky Alfred...
― timellison, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 19:40 (five years ago) link
That song was one of the ones where you knew that even if the production on their records was changing, they were still growing and getting better. They were like completely different on that tour!
― timellison, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 19:41 (five years ago) link
turning in my True Distiple card
lol Andrew
― timellison, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 19:43 (five years ago) link
Document" is my least fsvorite and "Pageant" my most favorite of the IRS years. But in reality my most played REM over the last decade or so is "Dead Letter Office"! Such fun, that one...
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 26 July 2018 00:15 (five years ago) link
Fables is my favorite REM LP too.
"Man Ray kind of sky" may be corny, but it just sounds good and Stipe seemed to value that over anything
― antisocal (rip van wanko), Thursday, 26 July 2018 00:34 (five years ago) link
idk about best/pure, but i like it a lot and it is indeed pretty weird
― mookieproof, Thursday, 26 July 2018 00:38 (five years ago) link
With hindsight I dont really understand why they needed to release an album every year?
Capitalising on momentum is one thing but not quite the same when you're short of original material
― Master of Treacle, Thursday, 26 July 2018 00:47 (five years ago) link
the custody battle over these albums is going to be complicated. a lot of claims out there.
i love LRP. there are plenty of lyrical moments that grab me on it, and plenty to beguile, as well. within the first few seconds of the album, he's already referencing the apostrophe-less title of the album, sort of, and cole porter's 'begin the beguine'
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 26 July 2018 00:51 (five years ago) link
fuckin "cuyahoga" and "these days" too
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 26 July 2018 01:05 (five years ago) link
when you're short of original material
not seeing it
― mookieproof, Thursday, 26 July 2018 01:07 (five years ago) link
It is remarkable how they released all those classic albums, one per year, from ‘83 – ‘88.
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Thursday, 26 July 2018 01:14 (five years ago) link
Sax solo on “Fireplace” is so good.
― timellison, Thursday, 26 July 2018 01:35 (five years ago) link
Document is a slight dip on the preceding 4 for me, and Fables is probly still my default favourite, but on the whole i think they're all great records that have a couple of duff tracks each maybe but people can't agree on which tracks those are
― the Joao looked at Jonny (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 26 July 2018 01:58 (five years ago) link
Murmur will always be my favourite R.E.M. album, hearing it after only knowing Automatic + Monster + various hits was such a revelation to me but LRP is a close second and probably the one I listen to the most. Lyric-wise it's definitely one of their most memorable for me (caveat: I'm not a huge lyrics person), lines like "I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract" pop into my head a lot. But yeah really none of the IRS records are less than great.
― Gavin, Leeds, Thursday, 26 July 2018 10:09 (five years ago) link
a mean idea to call my owna hundred million birds fly away
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:41 (four years ago) link
a meager thing, recognition
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 22:10 (four years ago) link
I miss the days when there were so many R.E.M. threads we were bored of them.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 22:10 (four years ago) link
fly to carry each his burden
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 14 July 2020 23:03 (three years ago) link
that's great, it starts with
― FAC 179 (morrisp), Tuesday, 14 July 2020 23:05 (three years ago) link
happy throngs, take this joy whereverwherever the tax returns are
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 14 July 2020 23:07 (three years ago) link
Offering the educatedPrimitive and loyal
― Mule, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 04:58 (three years ago) link
Our father's father's father triedErased the parts he didn't like
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 13:10 (three years ago) link