Fave REM Albums
Submitted by Wezzo on Fri, 09/17/2004 - 03:40
Tags:
- Up - A surprising choice for #1, yes, but I find this the most powerful, and indeed beautiful, of their albums. Lovely vocals.
- Out Of Time - Perfect balance of catchy pop and deep emotion. Great listen.
- Green - Another standout, some awesome tracks like Stand and Pop Song 89.
- Around The Sun - The most hugely underrated REM album yet, this powerful, emotional album is full of soon-to-be-classics. Stipe, Buck and Mills are really on top form.
- Reveal - Proves REM are still great. Gorgeous stuff like All The Way To Reno and Imitation Of Life.
- In Time - The Best Of 1988-2003 - OK, I cheated, it's a compilation, but this really represents their best work since 1989. Great.
- Automatic For The People - Another neat combination; four of my all-time faves are here too (Everybody Hurts, Nightswimming, Sidewinder, Man On The Moon)
- New Adventures In Hi-Fi - Often underrated, every track is a joy to listen to.
- Monster - Weak toward the end, but still great with some classics like "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?"
- Murmur - Not all great, but still a classic - Radio Free Europe" proves this.
Author Comments:
Comments welcomed! :)
Surely the most unusual rank of the R.E.M. albums I've ever seen.
I love all of the albums except Reveal, and I would be sentenced to death before I said Reveal was better than Murmur or Reckoning in any way, shape, or form.
Have you heard Reckoning?
I have heard Reckoning, but would not rank it here. Call me odd. ;)
"Favorite REM Album?"
Someone elses! Never been an REM fan.
"Catchy pop and deep emotion?" Isn't that an oxymoron?
(If i've come across as being a smart-ass, just remember that i'm the guy who doesn't know much about perfect balance or radio free Europe).
Probably is an oxymoron, but I did mean in different songs on the album. :)
I'z just pickin' Wezzo... trust me, I don't know enough about pop music or R.E.M to participate in this discussion. What I do know is that it's rare for true artists' (like R.E.M) with real life experiences, intelligent observations and the capacity to express emotion beyond "puppy love", to choose pop with which to do so.
Fair enough then, but "Losing My Religion" is one of the band's biggest hits, and surely fits into the pop genre? =)
REM is one of my favorite bands too, and it's nice to see some love for Out of Time, which is probably my 2nd-favorite album as well.
That said, my other rankings would probably be quite different. I would rank Automatic for the People as #1, and while I agree that Murmur is a bit overrated, I do think it's much better than Monster and Green. Green has a few great songs, to be sure, but I don't think it's one of their better albums. Personally, I find "Stand" very annoying, though I do like "Orange Crush" and "You are the Everything."
BTW, does the absence of Document indicate that you haven't heard it? Or that you don't like it? It's probably my 3rd-favorite REM album after Automatic and Out of Time. If you haven't heard it, I would strongly recommend it. If you just don't like it, well... c'est la vie.
P.S. I must admit that I haven't heard Up, Reveal, In Time, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, or Dead Letter Office. From what I've heard about those albums, I doubt I would like any of them better than my top 3 (or top 5, with Murmur and Reckoning), but hey, it's possible.
Wow, this is gathering responses fast!
Document - I'm sorry to say I haven't heard. I should pick it up, and maybe I'll love it, but until then I can't list it here.
Glad you like Out of Time too! Yeah, I love Automatic, and it's nigh-on equal with probably #2-5, but the others just beat it out.
About those. you haven't heard.. I'd recommend you get In Time if you can, to get the best of their more mainstream output. You may not like it, but hey, at least you'll know! =)
In Time sounds like a good compilation, but I doubt I'll be motivated to buy it any time soon, mostly because I already have 8 of the 18 tracks on albums I own. Sorry. Up or New Adventures in Hi-Fi are a bit more likely.
You probably already know this, but Document contains the REM classics "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", "The One I Love", and "Finest Worksong." It also contains some wonderful non-single tracks "King of Birds", "Disturbance at the Heron House", and one of my favorite REM songs, "Exhuming McCarthy." Definitely worth checking out.
In Time: Ah well.
Document: Yeah I know it contains End Of The World and One I Love, but I've got both of them downloaded (shock horror :)) so I've nevere really bothered with it. Maybe I should check it out though, as I've never heard of any of the others you mentioned. Thanks!
One of the best REM albums..."Life's Rich Pageant" is not represented! Have you listened to it? If not, I would recommend.
I haven't heard it unfortunately, same with a fair amount of their earlier work, but I'll check it out.. thanks!