the carlos Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I think I said this the last time - Fables of the Reconstruction and/or Reckoning (for me, anyhow).same. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 As you note, this discussion comes up frequently; but I've known a lot of people who point to Fables as decisively as anyone could, many that do are quite militant about it. I never felt that way, but I always loved that about REM and those fans -- and I guess the same can be said for Wilco. The music resonates in such a way that can't be described or translated, yet it's unmistakable. I was hoping someone would check my facts. Joke. I like that album because it tells stories - I like that sort of REM, along with U2, I feel that is what they do best, along with political type songs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
froggie Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 Automatic for me... Pageant and Out of time are a close 2nd Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 This thread isn't breaking any new ground, but it IS demonstrating how great R.E.M. have been. I think so far we've had 7 different albums (including Chronic Town) mentioned as their best. And that doesn't include Adventures in Hi-Fi or Up.......2 albums I've seen on fave lists. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 IMO their best is: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeattleC Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I would put Accelerate up there on top at this point in time, but I can appreciate that it's a minority view. That's partly because I saw three of the band members (Peter, Bill, and Scott) play several times over the last few years in small venues around Seattle, backing up Robyn Hitchcock as the Venus 3, so the sound and feel really connects with me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dreamin' Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Reckoning is my favourite album, but my favourite song (Fall On Me) is on Lifes Rich Pageant. I've discovered a lot of amazing music over the years by listening to whatever Peter Buck was raving about in interviews. The guy has great taste. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rsjbraz Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Green for me, there's just something so special about that album.Then probably Murmur & Reckoning & then Out Of Time.The one I really don't like is Automatic, it's such a bland album. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
moxiebean Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I like that album because it tells stories - I like that sort of REM, along with U2, I feel that is what they do best, along with political type songs.I like Fables for the same reason - great songwriting/stories. I've always though of Fables as their last murky, southern-haunted album (although it was recorded in England) and it's my favorite songwriting-wise. It was also the first of their albums I could sing along to beginning to end, confident I was getting the lyrics right. I also equally love Life's Rich Pageant. Really upfront production (after the murkiness of Fables) and the thing just rocks in places. Also it's their last album before they started writing overtly political stuff. Sorry, but I can't stand their political stuff - I wish they'd stick to writing about trains and attics and the civil war or whateverthehell they were mumbling about on those first couple of albums. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I like Fables for the same reason - great songwriting/stories. I've always though of Fables as their last murky, southern-haunted album (although it was recorded in England) and it's my favorite songwriting-wise. It was also the first of their albums I could sing along to beginning to end, confident I was getting the lyrics right. I also equally love Life's Rich Pageant. Really upfront production (after the murkiness of Fables) and the thing just rocks in places. Also it's their last album before they started writing overtly political stuff. Sorry, but I can't stand their political stuff - I wish they'd stick to writing about trains and attics and the civil war or whateverthehell they were mumbling about on those first couple of albums. Southern-haunted album - that's a great phrase. I meant songs such as Flowers of Guatemala - not shit like Ignoreland. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
moxiebean Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I meant songs such as Flowers of Guatemala - not shit like Ignoreland.I'm with you - there's a timelessness to their best (usually earlier) work. The songs could've been written yesterday, or 150 years ago but always with a strong sense of place (the South). But it could be the South of the 1920's or the 1870's. Some of it had political or social underpinnings, but on songs like Flowers of Guatemala it was usually obliquely buried (no pun intended) - more hinted at. It's something they started to drift away from after Pageant and the lyrics became more time-specific and contemporary. That and Michael Stipe stopped actually singing and started doing that annoying spoken thing he does on most songs now - it's like he's overcompensating for all the early mumbling. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 Southern-haunted album - that's a great phrase. I meant songs such as Flowers of Guatemala - not shit like Ignoreland. "I wish they'd stick to writing about trains and attics and the civil war or whateverthehell they were mumbling about on those first couple of albums" Ha, that's awsome. I totally agree. To me, R.E.M. is at its best when they write the same way Monet or Van Gogh paint a picture. I think it's Stipe's way-too-direct wording and phrasing of his most recent political songs that drives me crazy. Flowers of Gautemala is almost like an impressionist painting the way it hints that something in Central America ain't right....but presents it in the most beautiful way. The first few times I heard the song, I kept hearing "the flowers cover everything"....what are they covering? Amanita?....what's that? What?....a very poisonous mushroom. The listener puts things together and then maybe does a little research and finds that many innocent Guatemalans died....was the US partly to blame? Why did they die? Then Buck's mournful guitar solo says more than any lyric could......such a great "political" song, but one may not realize it the first few times listening to it. Ignoreland rocks......musically. But yeah, lyrically it's like, "uh, yeah, Michael...we get it....Reagan came into office in 1980 and you think the US got duped and you hate Reagan's guts and you want all Republicans to have their balls cut off". He has a line in Ignoreland: "If they wasn't there we would have created them. Maybe, it's true,But I'm resentful all the same. Someone's got to take the blameI know that this is vitriol. No solution, spleen venting,But I feel better having screamed. Don't you?" Um, no, not really, Michael. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cousin Tupelo Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I would put Accelerate up there on top at this point in time, but I can appreciate that it's a minority view. That's partly because I saw three of the band members (Peter, Bill, and Scott) play several times over the last few years in small venues around Seattle, backing up Robyn Hitchcock as the Venus 3, so the sound and feel really connects with me. I tried to listen to Accelerate a few times after downloading it from iTunes but didn't connect. So I gave the disk to my wife and she played it for a while (when there wasn't something on NPR to listen to). Coming back from my kids soccer game I sat way in the back of our van to tease my daughter, but laid back and watched the clouds and listened to a few of the songs. In a few places it harkened back to Reckoning for me. So I had that going for me, which was nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 MurmurReckoningAutomatic for the People LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kalle Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 DocumentLife's RichAutomatic Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Garp Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own. The most potent toxin present in these mushrooms is alpha-amanitin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 MurmurReckoningFablesYup. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uncle wilco Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 MurmurReckoningFables me too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own. The most potent toxin present in these mushrooms is alpha-amanitin.That's one R.E.M. album I must have missed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 DocumentLife's RichYea, those too. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimtweedy1977 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 1.Reckoning2.Fables of the Reconstruction3.New Adventures In Hi-Fi4.Out of Time5.Reveal Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hardwood floor Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 MurmurReckoningFables that's the holy trinity how many bands have had a run like that almost up there with bee thousand, alien lanes & under the bushes under the stars almost Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Garp Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 That's one R.E.M. album I must have missed. I did not learn about them until my best friend visited Guatemala in the late 80s Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wheelco Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I'm such a Maverick, I'll say it's definitely New Adventures in Hi-Fi and I've got 'em all, folkies Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jesusetc84 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I'm such a Maverick, I'll say it's definitely New Adventures in Hi-Fi and I've got 'em all, folkies Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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