Essential Listening: R.E.M.

Those that have read my blog with as much regularity as my sparse updates can allow should already be well aware of my love of Athens-based indy group R.E.M. and their varied back catalog. I find it interesting that whilst most people I talk to can name one or two R.E.M. songs (usually "It's the End of the Word As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and "Everybody Hurts") there are few that readily admit to being fans. I think this can be put down to one of the major things that attracts me to R.E.M. as a group; their diversity. When pushed, I would categorize R.E.M. as "Indy Pop", but this is only due to the fact that this is the broadest genre that seems to fit them. Over the course of their career, R.E.M. have dabbled in various flavors of Pop, Rock and even Folk, Bluegrass and Country. R.E.M. have never been beholden to what people expect of them (for the most part) and have always done what they felt like doing and this can be off-putting to the non-pretentious art student crowd. That aside, R.E.M. are still brilliant, even their charting Pop hits are far more intricate and cerebral than most Pop songs, which is probably a reason for their continued success. 

So the thing with R.E.M. is, every R.E.M. fan has a different take on the band. There are Pop R.E.M. fans, IRS era R.E.M. fans and a great many other varieties of people who will talk your ear off about how awesome R.E.M. are. Given that, here's the deal; this is MY pick of R.E.M., this is the stuff I like. If you like something different, great, but this is the R.E.M. that does it for me. I recommend that you listen to way more R.E.M. than just the three albums here to really get an idea what the band is like, however, I still think these are a good place to start. 

Automatic for the People (1992)

Ok, so I like the "Mainstream" R.E.M. album, why do I like it? Because it's good damn it. This is the R.E.M. album that seems to be the most common to own, even though I wasn't really into music when this came out (I was in Primary School), I still remember it being all over the radio despite its downbeat mood. Riding on the back of the Grunge movement, R.E.M. became really big for a little bit in the '90s as people began to realize that they were all depressed before it was cool. I love this song, it's beautiful and a perfect example of R.E.M.'s mastery of slower and less "poppy" songs. 

Green (1988)

This song is about the Vietnam War. For some reason people can never figure that out, despite the fact that Michael Stipe has repeatedly said as much in interviews. Anyway, Green is one of the albums (and R.E.M. one of the bands) that music historians reference as a big inspiration for the Seattle Grunge Movement that gave us Nirvana. If that still isn't enough reason for you to check out this album, it also features some of R.E.M.'s best pop work with songs like "Stand", which remains one of my favorite pop songs of all time. 

Around the Sun (2004) 

Yeah, ok, so I've put this exact video in one of my reviews before (a no-prize for the first to say which one) but this song is that good. Around the Sun is not the last good R.E.M. album released before they split up, but it does serve as an excellent example of how the band maintained their skill over an extended career. R.E.M. were just as good more than a decade after their big hit album, if not better. Around the Sun is probably the R.E.M. album I'll listen to most often, the progression of songs and overall flow of the album is excellent and R.E.M. have never been tighter. Maybe it's not the "best" R.E.M. album, or the most "artistic", but Around the Sun remains one of my personal favorites in the genre of Pop. 

R.E.M. are a brilliant band and if you're only listening to "Losing My Religion" you're missing out. Check out some more R.E.M. and you'll be hearing one of the greatest bands in history. 

Hat Guy - Stand in the place where you live. 

Next Time: Something to do with rap... I've been listening to a lot of Rap recently...