With the help of your very knowledgeable guide I`ve decided to listen to everything by R.E.M once again, as they were always a band that I never really warmed to before, this guide has now gotten me to see them from a very different perspective, so here is my opinion on their albums:
Chronic Town (EP):A great intro to the band with its jangly and rather upbeat feel.
Murmur: Radio Free Europe was always a song that I liked from before, but could never quite get into the debut album before this recent listen and really appreciate it like so many people do. Its very different to "Chronic Town" as on the one hand the style of sound is there, but instead of building off the EP the group seem to go more into themselves, making the whole thing sound vague and impenatable at times but also with an air of mystique. Its this sound, that now makes this album for me a classic after countless previous listens.
Reckoning: Its here the group now go back to the initial sound of Chronic Town and build off this. It has a more upbeat and accessible sound than Murmur and its on this album that I really get to hear the sound of each individual memeber of the band in their full glory, in many ways this could be the definative album by the band, again a classsic album.
Fables of Reconstruction: I read this was a dividing album amongst R.E.M fans, what makes it interesting, is that they changed their recording habits for this album and went to the UK to record an album based around the history of the deep south! Strangely enough, this was an album that I liked from before. It has a very accomplished feel to it and also contains some very endearing songs, but despite all this brilliance, I`m still undecided weather its as great as the previous two releases or in fact it could be better!!! As you say its a very deep album that gives over to a lot of listens to try and find its true genius.
More updates as I dissect the R.E.M beast
