TS: R.E.M.'s "Life's Rich Pageant" vs "Document"

New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the best album they ever made!

While it is a very good album, no.

Yes.

IRS run

"chronic town"
fables
murmur
pageant
reckoning
document

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.

Surprised you guys rate Fables so highly... It sounds really uneven to me now.

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.

xp (I do think "Life and How to Live" it is one of their greatest/underappreciated tracks)

Surprised you guys rate Fables so highly... It sounds really uneven to me now.

― i’m still stanning (morrisp)

Their worst of the first decade, i.e. mushiest and least distinguished

I like Fables... a lot, but it's nowhere near my Top 5 R.E.M. albums overall.

No album that leads off with 'Feeling Gravity's Pull' can justifiably be classified as the "least distinguished" of a band's output.

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)

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)

Depends what you think of a man who sings "It's a Man Ray kind of sky" srsly

The opening line of that song is v good, tho

Depends what you think of a man who sings "It's a Man Ray kind of sky" srsly

And yet, you remembered it.

I can't remember any of the lyrics from Life's Rich Pageant.

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.

And yet, you remembered it.

So? I remember Dubya speeches and the names of old boyfriends too.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I like Man Ray kind of sky Alfred...

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!

turning in my True Distiple card

lol Andrew

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...

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

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

idk about best/pure, but i like it a lot and it is indeed pretty weird

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

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'

Austin, gah. Fall on Me, Swan Swan Hummingbird, Superman... and nothing memorable in there, lyrically speaking? Okay.

fuckin "cuyahoga" and "these days" too

when you're short of original material

not seeing it

It is remarkable how they released all those classic albums, one per year, from ‘83 – ‘88.

Sax solo on “Fireplace” is so good.

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

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.

a mean idea to call my own
a hundred million birds fly away

a meager thing, recognition

I miss the days when there were so many R.E.M. threads we were bored of them.

fly to carry each his burden

that's great, it starts with

happy throngs, take this joy wherever
wherever the tax returns are

Offering the educated
Primitive and loyal

Our father's father's father tried
Erased the parts he didn't like

What the heck is going on at the beginning of “Superman”?

The scratchy spoken intro is attributed to a Japanese pull-string Godzilla doll.[3] Translated loosely from the Japanese, it says, "This is a special news report. Godzilla has been sighted in Tokyo Bay. The attack on it by the Self-Defense Force has been useless. He is heading towards the city. Aaaaaaaaagh...."

Oh yeah, I do hear the word “Gojira” now

I think 'Disturbance At The Heron House' might be one of his finest vocal melodies, I often wonder if it was difficult to replicate in a live setting because he always used a slightly lower, less vaulting melody.

Not my favourite R.E.M. era. Picking "Life's Right Pageant" because "Fall On Me".

Life's Rich Pageant is gorgeous, but I dunno it was a more vulnerable time for me and I can't listen to it. At the time I liked it more, but now that I'm a mean crusty old fart, I prefer Document 'cos it's louder and darker.

Fables > LRP > Document

I think. I love it all but Document seems a little... icy?

Icy? It's literally the one they told you to "File Under Fire"!