R.E.M. Albums Ranked From Worst to Best
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- This has been one of our most highly requested Listographies. Ever since covering the 80's in our Albums of the Year series people have been crying out for us to cover REM as a trio (Jason ranked their albums solo in the channel's infancy). So, today we're finally giving the people what they want.
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R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe who were students at the University of Georgia. Liner notes from some of the band's albums list attorney Bertis Downs and manager Jefferson Holt as non-musical members. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style; Stipe's distinctive vocal quality, unique stage presence, and obscure lyrics; Mills's melodic bass lines and backing vocals; and Berry's tight, economical drumming style. In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left the band in 1997, the band continued its career in the 2000s with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011 with members devoting time to solo projects after having sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music artists.
R.E.M. released its first single, "Radio Free Europe", in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone. It was followed by the Chronic Town EP in 1982, the band's first release on I.R.S. Records. In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album, Murmur, and built its reputation over the next few years through releases every year from 1984 to 1988: Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Lifes Rich Pageant, Document and Green, including an intermittent b-side compilation Dead Letter Office. Don Dixon and Mitch Easter produced their first two albums, Joe Boyd handled production on Fables of the Reconstruction and Don Gehman produced Life's Rich Pageant. Thereafter, R.E.M. settled on Scott Litt as producer for the next 10 years during the band's most successful period of their career. They also started co-producing their material and playing other instruments in the studio apart from the main ones they play. With constant touring, and the support of college radio following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit with the 1987 single "The One I Love". The group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988, and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide.
R.E.M.'s most commercially successful albums, Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992), put them in the vanguard of alternative rock just as it was becoming mainstream. Out of Time received seven nominations at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards, and lead single "Losing My Religion", was R.E.M.'s highest-charting and best-selling hit. Monster (1994) continued its run of success. The band began its first tour in six years to support the album; the tour was marred by medical emergencies suffered by three of the band members. In 1996, R.E.M. re-signed with Warner Bros. for a reported US$80 million, at the time the most expensive recording contract ever. The tour was productive and the band recorded the following album mostly during soundchecks. The resulting record, New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996), is hailed as the band's last great album and the members' favorite, growing in cult status over the years. Berry left the band the following year, and Stipe, Buck, and Mills continued as a musical trio, supplemented by studio and live musicians, such as multi-instrumentalists Scott McCaughey and Ken Stringfellow and drummers Joey Waronker and Bill Rieflin.
After the electronic experimental direction of Up (1998) that was commercially unsuccessful, Reveal (2001) was referred to as "a conscious return to their classic sound" which received general acclaim. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in its first year of eligibility and Berry reunited with the band for the ceremony. Looking for a change of sound after lukewarm reception for Around the Sun (2004), the band collaborated with co-producer Jacknife Lee on their last two studio albums-the well-received Accelerate (2008) and Collapse into Now (2011)-as well as their first live albums after decades of touring. R.E.M. disbanded amicably in September 2011, with former members having continued with various musical projects, and several live and archival albums have since been released.
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Let us know what you think of our lists, and tell us how you rank 'em down in the comments.
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Lifes Rich Pageant is my most satisfying REM listen. No obvious hits, but the album is so *EVEN*. No iconic anthems, but no clunkers either. Every song is a good song. And they all go together well. Silver medal? Document.
When I first heard this record, I thought it was pretty darn good, but it was never among my favorites. It's a bit brief, and they dusted off old songs like Just a Touch, What if We Give it Away, both written in 1981, plus Hyena, written in '83 or '84. But I've met a lot of people who thinks it's by far the best R.E.M. album. On my 1-15 list, it's about 5 or 6.
I don’t blame you. Lifes Rich Pageant is definitely the band’s most accessible I.R.S. album by far. Personally tho, there are (only) two clunkers on the album…oh yeah, you know it’s coming: the opening track and the closing track. I don’t care for Begin the Begin or Superman at all. But hey, I love the rest of the album. :)
@@jeffmaehre7150yeah, it’s my #6, just outside the top 5.
@@curly_wyn I love Begin the Begin and Superman. For me, Coyahoga is the clunker. Maybe it's something that happens at the molecular level.
I think it's definitely their best album, from the incredible opening riff of "Begin the begin" to the majestic 'Fall on me', 'Cuyahoga', 'I believe', 'Flowers of Guatemala', 'Swan swan H', etc. Great production, amazing songs. A couple of lesser tracks with "Hyena" and "Just a touch" but terrific overall. Even the two hidden tracks are great.
As a true REM fan, my top 10 list would be different every time I wrote it. Love all the albums differently.
Word
@@beerhe Great response. With REM, you need a top 20…I like a lot of their oddities, instrumentals too! Went from loving the GUITAR GOD rock of the 70’s -Page, Blackmore, Gibbons, Schenker, etc- to loving Buck’s simple jangly picking even more!
I'm generally a "whatever floats your boat" type when it comes to music but ranking New Adventures as their worst album is CRAZY TALK.
1. Green. A bold celebration of life, both positive and negative
2. Fables of the Reconstruction. It's dark as hell and packs a mighty emotional punch
3. Murmer. A quirky look at life, offbeat and has a nerdy charm. Unique.
4. Reckoning. Songs about longing and loss, superbly written and played
5. Automatic for the People. Myriad styles of music, excellent songwriting.
automatic for the people is such a beautiful album, one of the best album of all time
Up is an album to listen to at 2 am after a few cocktails. Every song is great and memorable
Definitely not memorable. Great YMMV. - Joe
My go to road trip album.
Enjoy their entire discography. Don't think they have a bad album. Some are just stronger than others.
15. Accelerate
14. Collapse Into Now
13. Around the Sun
12. Monster
*. Dead Letter Office
11. Fables of the Reconstruction
10. Green
9. Reckoning
8. Out of Time
7. Reveal
6. Up
5. Murmur
4. Lifes Rich Pageant
*. Chronic Town
3. Document
2. Automatic for the People
1. New Adventures in Hi-Fi
In my opinion, R.E.M. is the most consistently great band of all time.
That is lunacy. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic 13 of their albums are stellar, only 2 fall below that standard: one of which is good (Up); the other is mediocre (Around The Sun). No other band has put out as many great albums whilst putting out so few non great albums.
I’m not saying they’re the best band of all time (although they are definitely in the conversation). I am saying they’re the most consistent.
I even wrote a song about how much I love them… 🤷♂️ th-cam.com/video/eJIphsJKAt4/w-d-xo.html
I think you need to understand that music is subjective. Some of the bands you do lists on are a joke to me and I find it funny you feel they deem attention but Music is a very personal enjoyment and people appreciating musicians hard work is all good...up to a point. It's sad that X factor, Simon Cowell , and endless amounts of younger and younger kids singing A.I generated crap has led to the demise of music as we knew it. Their is no romance / cultural/political statements now just bland music fronted by good looking youngsters , who's exploitation only last 12 months tops. I'm glad I've lived through the times of the NME , Melody Maker, Rolling Stone and the great Biographies that let us learn about our favourite artists. Music is such a big part of my identity and it has been for so many since the birth of Rock & Roll. The way we dress, hairstyles , political leanings our culture was shaped by music in so many ways. I'm so glad we had bands like REM providing a soundtrack to our lives. @@TastesLikeMusic
@@TastesLikeMusic No, not understanding that other people have their preferences and opinions is lunacy.
I would agree with this, with the qualifier that they'd be second only to The Beatles in my estimation. Each and every one of R.E.M.'s albums has something to recommend it. Even the ones you hear panned a lot.
Dude new adventures in hifi is mindblowing
Plus is Stipes favorite
Really good record, I think it’s more of a grower though, an album you’ve gotta spend some time with to really get into. It is long but it’s a big statement from them and puts forth a lot of their different styles and ideas. I think it’s a good mix of Automatic+Monster.
The last one I really got into. I loved it at the time but I do think now that it's too long. With a bit of pruning it would be higher in people's lists.
One more thought: Mike Mills is one of the most underrated bass players of all time.
I'm relistening to the albums I own, and I become more and more convinced that he is the difference maker for this band. Sometimes it feels like he gets more attention for his harmonizing and his backup vocals (wouldn't be unjustified, they are one of the band's hallmarks and are sublime) than he does for his bass playing. But he plays such great bass lines. Absolutely essential.
Absolutely. Melodic without being over the top.
Yes.
Add to that legendary backup vocals like It’s the End of the World and Fall on Me, and his keyboard work and composing such as Nightswimming.
I agree
When I saw them on Letterman, “Radio Free Europe,” I was amazed by that bass line. And he’s jumping all over the place while he plays. I wished they had focused on him a little more. And I loved this garage band-looking group was so awesome. Never understood anything Stipe sang except the title words.
Jason cracks me up. No idea where he will go. "Yeah I've got Exile On Main Street last. At my number three definitely Steel Wheels. Between A Rock and A Hard Place the best single since Angie."
Lol
REM, U2 and Madonna are all similar for me in that I’m a diehard fan of their 90’s output and just a casual fan of everything else. I like them all for their 80’s singles and post-2000 live shows.
1. New Adventures
2. Out of Time
3. Monster
4. Up
5. Automatic for the People
6. Document
7. Life’s Rich Pageant
8. Murmur
9. Fables
10. Reckoning
11. Green
12. Reveal
13. Collapse into Now
14. Around the Sun
15. Accelerate
been blinking at my "Green" record sleeve for about 5 minutes now and I can start seeing the green spots when I close my eyes!
Also if you tilt it in the light there is an embossed 4 over the R. That always made me think that they were speaking to us in some kind of code and there was some secret hidden message
@@scottmcrae3355 stipe explained it that when he used a typewritter machine to write the names of the songs he by mistake typed "R" instead of "4" ( the are close on the the keyboad),and he liked it and leave it this way.
on the back u can see the songs and their numbers and its written: "R. Stand", instead of: "4. Stand"
My personal favourite R.E.M album is UP. I can't wait to purchase the 25th anniverary album. ❤
15. Around the Sun
14. Up
13. Accelerate
12. Reveal
11. Collapse into Now
10. New Adventures in Hi Fi
9. Monster
8. Reckoning
7. Document
6. Fables of the Reconstruction
5. Out of Time
4. Murmur
3. Green
2. Lifes Rich Pageant
1. Automatic for the People
1. Document
2. Automatic For The People
3. Fables of the Reconstruction
4. Murmur
5. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
6. Life's Rich Pageant
7. Reckoning
8. Green
9. Out Of Time
10. Monster
1. Automatic For the People
2. Reckoning
3. Green
4. Lifes Rich Pageant
5. Out of Time
6. Document
7. Murmur
8. Monster
R.E.M. albums ranking:
1. Reckoning
2. Murmur
3. Lifes Rich Pageant
4. Fables of the Reconstruction
5. Document
6. Green
7. Automatic For the People
8. New Adventures in Hi-Fi
9. Out of Time
10. Monster
11. Collapse into Now
12. Accelerate
13. Reveal
14. Up
15. Around the Sun
As a big REM fan for over 35 years this was very difficult. I could have put any of the first 4 albums at #1. While I definitely come back to the IRS albums most often I can find good things in all of their albums. I appreciate your guys’ lists
and enjoyed your commentary. Cheers! / Matt
If including EPs and B-side records, Chronic Town definitely in the top 5 and Dead Letter Office in the top 10.
That's a solid ranking. I think Automatic deserves to be a couple spots higher but I totally get why people who were fans from the beginning don't think it's as good as their early stuff.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 dude, always love your comments. But please please please continue the full five guesses on aoty. It's a highlight of our week. We literally text each other to see if you've posted them yet
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Yeah I really liked Automatic when it came out but for me it hasn't held up over time as much as their early stuff. That being said, Nightswimming and Find The River are sublime and possibly the two best closing tracks on any album.
@@ryankramzer1256 I guess I can try. It's just that we're getting into the years I don't know as well... heck, I don't know for sure what my top 5 is gonna be in any given year from now on so I figured trying to predict your guys' top 5 would be prohibitively difficult. I'll go back to trying to predict all 5 if you want... but get ready for some 0/15 scores.
Hard core REM fans rank NAIHF in their top 5. Pretty much says it all.
I'm an REM fan, and my rankings have changed over the years, my ranking would be:
1 Lifes Rich Pageant
2 Document
3 Murmur
4 New Adventures In Hi-Fi
5 Out Of Time
6 Automatic For The People
7 Monster
8 Green
9 Fables Of The Reconstruction
10 Reckoning
11 Up
12 Collapse Into Now
13 Accelerate
14 Reveal
15 Around The Sun
Hot take for Jason: R. E. M. is what Counting Crows always dreamt to be but only once were remotely close to be
@@johnmurphy9385 I think he knows that. Just trying to stir the guys up because they're all massive counting crows fans.
@@droquet6961 exactly. No disrespect meant. I wouldn't be so assertive when it comes to good or bad taste, particularly with well-informed guys that know their stuff. I also like R. E. M. clearly much more than Counting Crows, but I don't think that necessarily has to be the case for everyone
@@frangarcia7774 yeah I hate counting crows haha. Still watch these guys regardless.
Ew, dude. There’s literally zero chance I would have ever liked Pavement. I would have thought REM was horribly pretentious. Now Kram and Jason, sure. No chance for me. - Joe
I don’t think I’d make any assumptions because of one Listography.... REM isn’t even in my top 100 artists. Pavement is my least favorite band of all time and from 12-15 I mostly listened to Weird Al Yankovic. My current taste in music is pretty much the same as it has been for 20 years or so. I also disliked all the modern bands that Kram and Jason were into when we were hanging out back in the day. So if I was born say... 10 years earlier I’m guessing I would be mostly into metal? I’m more of a contrarian than anything, so if Kram and Jason were really into REM I probably would end up hating them. - Joe
Nice to see the appreciation for Fables. It was my first REM album and saw them in concert before they got big.
Automatic for the People - one of the best albums ever. New Adventures in Hi-Fi has grown on me over time to finally eclipse Out of Time - tho' both are great albums. New Test Leper, E-Bow The Letter, Bittersweet Me, Be Mine, Binky the Doormat, So Fast, So Numb, and Electrolite - all great tracks. Around the Sun the only real duffer in their catalogue - although it does have one of their best songs - Leaving New York
1. Automatic for the People
2. New Adventures in Hi-FI
3. Out Of Time
4. Reveal
5. Up
6. Murmur
7. Green
8. Monster
9. Document
10. Collapse Into Now
11. Lifes Rich Pageant
12. Reckoning
13. Accelerate
14. Fables of the Reconstruction
15. Around the Sun
Wow "New Adventures in Hi Fi" is my favorite album by this marvellous band.
Yeah totally agree. I would put it in top 3-5 range for me. First few listens I didn’t appreciate it but it took a few years and more listens but it’s fantastic. Might climb even more in the future but would never knock off my number one, Murmur
Explain.
@@johnkammerle1822 Actually, Stipe’s favorite R.E.M. album was Reveal.
It's my number 2 behind Automatic. Loved it. Shocked to see it so low.
Two comments stood out for me- the one about Reveal and Up being like companion albums, which I've always believed, and the one about Document being the album where they started to sound like the REM that people most associate with REM. In Document, Michael sounds strong and positive- like he has something to say and he wants the world to hear it.
Your approach to songs and albums is refreshing and it’s nice to see that you are not falling for the usual mainstream music press nonsense and snobbery. The comments about Out of time reflect this well.
Adventure in high fi is underrated as hell
Agreed. Loved it at the time (25 years ago?!") and still love it now. The post Up albums are the only ones I can take or leave these days. I love all the rest of their stuff.
Long-time REM fan, they were the first band I ever saw live (Green tour 1989). I skew heavily towards the IRS years, so here's my 15...
1. Fables Of The Reconstruction
2. Murmur
3. Green
4. Document
5. Reckoning
6. Life's Rich Pageant
7. Automatic For The People
8. Out Of Time
9. Monster
10. Collapse Into Now
11. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
12. Up
13. Reveal
14. Accelerate
15. Around The Sun
In 1992 Automatic For The People was the first album I recognized as a “classic” right after I listened to it.
With Kram on the later albums, Jason on Document, and Joe on Automatic for the People.
1. Automatic for the People 4.5/5
2. Lifes Rich Pageant 4/5
3. Reckoning 4/5
4. Murmur 4/5
5. Green 4/5
6. Out of Time 4/5
7. Fables of the Reconstruction 4/5
8. Document 3.5/5
9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi 3.5/5
10. Up 3/5
11. Monster 3/5
12. Collapse Into Now 3/5
13. Reveal 3/5
14. Accelerate 2.5/5
15. Around the Sun 2.5/5
How can you put Up above Monster
@@TheAdArchive If anything, my opinion of Up has grown since this! Think I prefer it over the grungier sound they have going on on Monster.
Massive R.E.M. obsessive here. This is my list:
1. Automatic for the People
2. Monster
3. New Adventures in Hi-Fi
4. Out of Time
5. Up
6. Green
7. Murmur
8. Reckoning
9. Fables of the Reconstruction
10. Collapse into Now
11. Lifes Rich Pageant
12. Reveal
13. Document
14. Accelerate
15. Around the Sun
@@SonicVisionX 😆🤦it's all about opinions brothooor. What would your list look like?
You're good bro. List is a little odd though 😂
Just a great band who’s catalog overall is pretty special. The top spots is ever changing for me. Love seeing Fables up high on all your lists.
I always felt that I was growing up and evolving as they were as a band. As I changed they changed.
🤘🤘🤘👏👏👏
I love pretty much all their albums, but if I had to rank them.
15. Around The Sun
14. Reveal
13. Reckoning
12. Up
11. Fables Of The Reconstruction
10. Monster
9. Life's Rich Pageant
8. Murmur
7. Accelerate
6. Out Of Time
5. Green
4. Collapse Into Now
3. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
2. Document
1. Automatic For The People
¡Igual el Automatic for The people es mi favorito!
63 years old and been a fan since first hearing them while in college in 1981 or so. For me, their albums up to Green are the best. Saw them live 9 times. Their early shows when Michael danced a lot, with kind of dark stage and simple lighting were the best. Life’s Rich Pageant is my favorite. Saw them in heavy rain outdoors do a killer performance of These Days that is still the most dynamic and exciting song performed by any band I saw live and I went to a lot of concerts from 1974 until now. I first-day bought and liked all of their albums, but the first 3-4 albums were the best in my opinion.
Up is okay, but New Adventures is one of the most underrated albums of the decade.
New adventures is #2 for me
Me too, top 3-4 for me
It’s number 3 for me. I think it’s one of the best albums of the 1990s, not just by R.E.M. but by anyone.
My number 2 as well after Life’s Rich Pageant
NAIHF is R.E.M. at the absolute peak of their powers. Fourteen tracks, and not one dud, despite the widely-ranging variety of styles. ATFP is the only thing in their catalogue that comes even close.
R.E.M. was the first band that I ever became truly obsessed with. In the pre-internet their music and imagery seemed so mysterious to this young teen and I read and listened to and watched everything that I could get my hands on.I am very much an IRS era “snob” but do love pretty much everything up until and including Automatic, do like monster and Hi-Fi a lot and really dislike Up. So much so that I stopped paying attention therefore don’t really have much of an opinion on the Berry-free years. Perhaps I should finally give those albums a chance. My absolute favourite is always changing but right now I am really feeling Fables of the Reconstruction of the....must be the seasonal depression talking.
REM was defiantly a good counter balance in the mid 80s, to what else was going on at the time, also Husker Du deserves more props for bringing alternative rock to the forefront.
Superb gents. Enjoyed hearing your perspectives on my favourite band's albums.
Your criticisims are all balanced and credible.
This is how I rank the eight I own:
1. Document
2. Fables of the Reconstruction
3. Out of Time
4. Murmur
5. Reckoning
6. Automatic for the People
7. Life's Rich Pageant
8. Monster
Looks like you need to buy Green...😎
@@mrp4242 I'm sure I can find a copy in the dollar bin : )
You have so much awesome music left to discover. I'm jealous! Start with New Adventures in Hi-Fi (these guys are clearly deaf), followed by Accelerate. That's my opinion though, ask 100 REM fans, you'll get 100 different answers.
How does Automatic stack up in your ranking dude? [:] (
@@Jiv_Ing57819 if that was addressed to me, then top five definitely. Could be as high as number two on any given day, but New Adventures in Hi-Fi will always be their peak of peaks for me.
Never seen Jason look so pleased with himself as when he informs the boys that both of their #15s are in his top 5. lol
But he puts murmur near last? Murmur has some great songs I’ve heard n rolling stone voted it one of the albums of the year so it must be pretty good? [:] 0
n the other guy didn’t like star me kitten, that’s an incredible WTF song [:] 0
@@Jiv_Ing57819
This is what I find a bit irritating about Jason. He comes off as an elitist most of the time and I feel like some of his controversal placement of albums are done for no other reason than to stir the waters and create controversy. Kramzer is a mixed bag for me because he sometimes shows his bias when ranking a band he personally likes or dislikes. I trust Joe's opinion on these rankings because he actually tries to keep an open mind and form an opinion based purely on the merits of the music as opposed to his personal views on the band.
@@Jiv_Ing57819 "what people who have no clue about R.E.M. think about R.E.M.
Drive is one of my favourite songs by anyone. Awesome, especially at the 2 minute mark when the electric guitars come in. My only fault with Automatic is it could've done with more 'heavy' moments like this, amongst the more sombre stuff.
The recent remix of Monster by Scott Litt is interesting, the vocals are much clearer and upfront and it's not as grungy but I think they made the right decision by not deciding on it as the released version is appropriately dirty sounding which is what they were going for at the time.
1. Automatic for the people - this may have the most stunning of stunners..."Sweetness Follows," "Nightswimming" and "Find The River." Not to mention "Drive" and "Everybody Hurts." And...
2. Lifes Rich Pageant - probably the album that made me fall in love with them in the first place
3. Reckoning - the top 3 albums are my favorite and which is my ACTUAL favorite at the time I'm asked will change on any given day
4. Murmur
5. Document
6. Green - the first half of this album is a lot better than the 2nd half of this album
7. Out of Time - this is so good for a #7 album
8. Fables Of The Reconstruction - the top 8 are on one level...4 star albums and above...they drop off significantly from here
9. Up - I think half of this album is incredible, especially "At My Most Beautiful," but half of it, not so much
10. New Adventures In Hi-Fi - always loved the song "Be Mine"...the album is just TOO LONG, but there's a good album hiding in there somewhere
11. Accelerate
12. Reveal
13. Collapse Into Now
14. Around The Sun
15. Monster - one of the biggest disappointments in my music listening life. Still, I have always loved the song "Star 69."
Pretty much agree with this completely. I'd switch Murmur and Reckoning and Monster I would move up a couple spots. That's it I think.
Dude knows his REM.
My list would be similar, except I put Life’s Rich Pageant, Reckconing and Murmur a bit lower, but in that order, and Green and Document higher in reverse order.I suppose Green is to me that Life’s Rich Pageant is to you.
I don't know about Green, hasn't held up that well in my opinion. The album has no flow and several of the songs never did much for me. Pop song 89 is a complete throwaway, maybe their weakest opener. Green has the hits and a few deep cuts certainly but for an album that went double platinum it's a little spotty to me, but I feel the same way about Out Of Time.
@@mck7646 "Pop Song '89" is actually my favorite song on the album and, I believe, one of my top 10 favorites. That's the thing with REM: with so much great material released, every fan has its favorite songs and favorite albums and no two fans would have the same two lists.
Yeah, I’m tempted to put Monster at the bottom of my list too. Bang and Blame and I Took Your Name are unnerving and uncomfortable and creepy as hell; I Don’t Sleep, I Dream is terrible; Let Me In is terrible. What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?, Crush With Eyeliner and Strange Currencies are the only good songs on it.
One. Life‘s rich pageant
Two. Document
Three. Fables of the reconstruction
Four. Reckoning
Five. Murmur
Six. Green
Seven. Automatic for the people
Eight. Monster
Nine. Out of time
Ten. New adventures
1. Automatic For The People
2. Out Of Time
3. Collapse Into Now
4. Reckoning
5. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
6. Reveal
7. Document
8. Monster
9. Murmur
10. Around The Sun
11. Accelerate
12. Fables Of The Reconstruction
13. Life's Rich Pageant
14. Up
15. Green
A list of songs would be wildly different though. Supernatural Superserious is a certainty for top 10/20 at least, and Up has a number of really great tunes
★1/2 15Around ★★1/2 14Collapse ★★★ 13Accelerate ★★★1/2 12Reveal 11Monster ★★★★ 10OutOfTime 9Up ★★★★1/2 8Document 7Green 6NewAdventures ★★★★★ 5Reckoning 4Fables 3Murmur 2Lifes 1Automatic
Mine at the moment would probably be:
1. Murmur
2. Reckoning
3. Automatic For The People
4. Lifes Rich Pageant
5. Up
6. Out Of Time
7. Document
8. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
9. Green
10. Accelerate
11. Fables Of The Reconstruction
12. Reveal
13. Collapse Into Now
14. Monster
15. Around The Sun
Since I’m a huge fanboy and they’re in my top 5 favorite bands, probably up to 11 or 12 on this ranking is at least 4 stars for me, the next couple are 3-1/2 and the too dull and adult contemporary Around The Sun is low 3/high 2-1/2. I’ve mentioned before that Automatic and Pageant were probably the biggest growers throughout my fandom (I could probably concede they’re the two best albums songwriting-wise - I’m just still enough under the spell of the mysterious Murmur and Reckoning), while Green used to be much higher in the early days I was getting into them but not as much in recent years (although it’s plenty good). Maybe I’m also a bit biased towards New Adventures since it was their first new release to come out after I became obsessed (although I don’t hold the same warm feelings for Monster, maybe because I don’t feel like that overly tremeloed glam rock sound is their forte, and feel like New Adventures is a more natural sounding cross between that album and Automatic). I do admit to yelling out “oh, come on” when Joe put Up last, but knowing his overall tastes I can kind of understand it. 😜
Figuring out top 10 favorite songs for me is going to be even harder than ranking the albums, though I will have to admit “Losing My Religion” has to be up there in the top 3 at least. It probably sounds the best when listening to all their albums consecutively, as I’ve done a few times.
I enjoy each and every R.E.M. LP in its distinctive way. Every R.E.M. album is at least good, if approached in the spirit of trying to understand what the band was striving to do at the time. Deriving the maximum amount of enjoyment possible from an album hinges on listening without prejudice, or without preconception of what an album "should" sound like.
When I approach a work of art like an album with the intention of deriving enjoyment from it, I prefer to chuck expectations at the door to the extent that it's possible, so that I go in with little in the way of expectations. Or even better, with no expectations at all.
In other words, I prefer to try to listen without prejudice, as George Michael once famously titled an album. I like to surrender myself to the experience of participating in a journey that takes me where the artist wants to lead me.
I find, pretty often, that this is something that fans of this particular band - or people who've liked a few of their albums, and wonder why their other ones don't sound the same - are unable or unwilling to do. The biggest part of the appeal of R.E.M, for me, may be that they never wanted to stand still. The same can be said for The Beatles.
We can't all like the same things (of course). And that's probably as it should be.
Thanks for shouting out Suspicion on Up, a truly slept-on deep cut, not a famous-for-not-being-famous deep cut like Country Feedback.
R.E.M. get kinda sexy on that one. ;-)
@@179rich I love the tremolo guitar solo, it's like a storm cloud that descends on the song.
@@DeflatingAtheism best slow motion guitar solo ever!
1. Murmur (5/5)
2. Automatic for the People (5/5)
3. Document (5/5)
4. Reckoning (4.5/5)
5. Life's Rich Pageant (4.5/5)
6. Fables of the Reconstruction (4/5)
7. Green (4/5)
8. Out of Time (4/5)
9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi (3.5/5)
10. Monster (3.5/5)
11. Reveal (3.5/5)
12. Up (3.5/5)
13. Collapse Into Now (3/5)
14. Accelerate (3/5)
15. Around the Sun (1.5/5)
I'd echo the sentiment that REM are one of the most consistent bands in rock history. They'll definitely be in my "top 100 greatest artists," although probably in the bottom half. They're true legends when it comes to albums, not as much for singles.
1 Automatic
2 Perhaps Murmur or monster, gets harder 2 compare cause don’t have early albums
3 Green
4 Out of time
5 and I feel fine: best of the irs years compilation! : -D
6 Later day tracks off rem best of 88-2004, just I wouldn’t know if some of the albums would be full of good songs as a whole
Haven’t fully heard murmur but don’t know if I’d put it ahead of Austomatic dude, automatic is really good, strong album, it can really help at hard times, maybe murmur is really good, I do like a couple songs that could be off there like perfect circle, radio free Europe, some of the songs I’ve heard off the first two albums are very good songs like 7 Chinese bros n South central rain ,: 0
I’ve heard document is very good ,: 0
I commented back then to Jason's list and provided my top 10 REM choices. I have not changed my mind, so the old ranking is still valid - the band was history by that day, so my assessment was solid for me.
Doesn't hurt to repost it.
@@179rich Repost from original REM Listography Jul 31, 2019
" I was 24 when REM debut was released and a record collector for 15 years by then. I already had a VERY large collection by that time and of course some ideas about music and what I liked and what not. But I was always open for new experience. Murmur immediately clicked for me and I was sure this was a band worth watching. You rate the albums quite differently when you witness a band evolve and grow (and go down again). There was a constant line upwards for REM until Automatic, a bit of stagnation afterwards and then a fade out...Some albums have aged better than others. The late ones have not aged that well in my opinion. That said, I just made a top 10 because the ones not on my list are those that I rarely ever go back to. Anyway, they were a great band and have influenced and defined two decades of music - few bands can claim that.
10. Around the Sun
9. Lifes Rich Pageant
8. Monster
7. Reckoning
6. New Adventures in HiFi
5. Green
4. Out of Time
3. Document
2. Murmur
1. Automatic for the People
@@roxannewalsh thanks for reposting (and thanks for requesting, Rich Latta). It is difficult to explain how different and revolutionary REM's early work was, from the mumbled lyrics to the arpeggiated Rickenbacker to the packaging, which lent the band a sense of mystery and really built on a Southern gothic aesthetic. This band was doing what they were doing well before the Smiths, and while people compared them to the Byrds, largely because both guitarists played Rickenbackers, REM was part of a whole new ballgame. They were one of a growing group of young bands who were putting their own spin on rock music but were almost completely shut out of commercial radio and heavy MTV rotation until that latter half of the 80s. Those first three albums were so idiosyncratic, so different, but inspired so many copycats that I think it is difficult to appreciate them fully if you come to them a few decades afterwards and have heard so many others crib from their sound. I think the guys did a pretty good job ranking them.
@@burmajones803 Well spoken. If you come from an age where nearly every band has a bit of REM (or Velvet Underground or some other highly influential band) it is hard to imagine how different and new this stuff was for the contemporaries. Great that you also mention the cover art and everything else that surrounded them - this is where I also see the comparison with the Smiths with their covers or their many non-album tracks that were part of the picture. Today everything is "indi-something", so much that the term has become meaningless. It meant something at a time however.
I'm a jangle college REM fan, Reckoning is my favorite.
Good to see the original true believers are still around.
My favourite REM album by far, although ‘Murmur’ is great as well 👍🏻
The jangle sound is good, love 12 string ,: 0
Yeh mine too it's their most beautiful
Absolutely...Murmur is one of my greatest albums of all time....38 years later I can still listen from start to finish.
I absolutely loved Up and Monster
I was in high school when Chronic Town came out and college during the IRS years. Followed them on their tour dates in Texas and even bought some beers for Mike Mills and Bill Berry. Definitely suffer from the “my band” attitude, college rock snobbiest and I had an irrational issue with them getting played on radio. I loved/love Murmur and Reckoning the most, but recall listening to Life’s Rich Pageant thinking it was the first album I loved on first listening from that entire era. In general, I think you guys did a great job with this one. Appreciate and agree with your wrap up assessments. Jason, you kill me with your assessment of Murmur. You are the enigma of this one. ;)
1. Out of Time
2. Green
3. Document
4. Lifes Rich Pageant
5. Up
6. Monster
7. Automatic For the People
8. Fables of the Reconstruction
9. Murmur
10. Reckoning
..........................
Out of Time has a lot of nostalgia for me which undoubtedly colours my perception.
Out of time while hard 2 listen at first sounds classic and is a unique interesting listen. Lost my copy unfortunately n they don’t sell it much anymore but one thing is sure if the album has losing religion, shiny happy people, endgame, near wild heaven, country feedback, low it’s sure to be something of an album, I think they were finding their feet in a new way and it sounds like an exciting promising period.
I mean, I love you guys - but this list made me wince! New Adventures and Murmur getting MURDERED out there. I'd like to politely correct your list:
These ten records are untouchable.
1. Automatic (completely beautiful and haunting front to back)
2. Murmur (unbelievable quality straight outta the gate...almost never matched)
3. New Adventures in HIFI (contains all time greats - Ebow, Leave, Be Mine, Electrolite - and I love how dark it is...)
4. Life's Rich Pageant (kicks ass all the way through but finds beauty as well)
5. Out of Time (yes, messy, and widescreen in its scope - but sounds timeless)
6. Green (Their most underrated record)
7. Up (My first REM album so holds a place in my heart)
8. Document (Reaching for the mainstream and hitting the bullseye - slightly weaker back half)
9. Monster (they went for sounding like everyone else, and ended up sounding like nothing else...)
10. Reckoning (Murmur part.2 - the slightly less good sequel)
These records are good.
11. Fables (peak mumble-rock - but lovely in places)
12. Accelerate (half a great album)
13. Collapse (another half great album)
14. Reveal (Up's much less interesting brother)
This record is boring.
15. Around the Sun (zzzzzzzzzz)
Automatic twins at least. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic Small mercies!
REM Studio Albums Ranked by 40 People
============================================
15. Around the Sun: average rank=14.306, average star rating=2.3
14. Accelerate: average rank=12.198, average star rating=2.8
13. Collapse Into Now: average rank=11.410, average star rating=3.1
12. Reveal: average rank=10.680, average star rating=3.3
11. Up: average rank=10.106, average star rating=3.3
10. Monster: average rank=9.312, average star rating=3.3
9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi: average rank=8.907, average star rating=3.1
8. Fables of the Reconstruction: average rank=7.190, average star rating=4.1
7. Out of Time: average rank=6.345, average star rating=3.9
6. Reckoning: average rank=6.110, average star rating=3.9
5. Green: average rank=5.473, average star rating=4.5
4. Document: average rank=5.121, average star rating=4.3
3. Lifes Rich Pageant: average rank=4.742, average star rating=4.3
2. Murmur: average rank=3.932, average star rating=4.3
1. Automatic for the People: average rank=3.307, average star rating=4.6
Statistical Analysis
============================================
Most underrated albums: Accelerate: 1.802, Collapse Into Now: 1.590, Reveal: 1.320
Most overrated albums: Automatic for the People: -2.307, Murmur: -1.932, Lifes Rich Pageant: -1.742
Most fairly-ranked albums: New Adventures in Hi-Fi: 0.093, Reckoning: 0.110, Green: 0.473
Most controversial albums: Up: 15.096, New Adventures in Hi-Fi: 14.120, Fables of the Reconstruction: 12.036
Least controversial albums: Around the Sun: 1.590, Accelerate: 3.804, Murmur: 6.839
Most negative dissent: Automatic for the People at 2.000/3.307 (lowest median-to-mean)
Most positive dissent: Reveal at 12.000/10.680 (highest median-to-mean)
(* underrated = receives a higher average rank than its final rank, fair = average rank pretty close to final rank, controversial = a lot of variation in how people rank it)
(* positive dissent = people giving higher rankings feel more strongly than those giving lower ones)
(** note: an album can still be non-controversial if everyone agrees that it's bad)
The Critics
============================================
Most underrated by critics: Out of Time, 2.5 vs 3.9 from fans
Most overrated by critics: Accelerate, 4.0 vs 2.8 from fans
Most critic/fan consensus: Fables of the Reconstruction
Overall critic rating vs fan rating of REM: 3.7 / 3.7
Ranked list from critics: 15. Around the Sun, 14. Out of Time, 13. Up, 12. Monster, 11. Reveal, 10. Green, 9. Collapse Into Now, 8. Fables of the Reconstruction, 7. New Adventures in Hi-Fi, 6. Accelerate, 5. Lifes Rich Pageant, 4. Document, 3. Murmur, 2. Reckoning, 1. Automatic for the People
Phases of REM ranked:
============================================
* 80s REM (from Murmur to Green): average of 5.428 (4.2 stars) across 6 albums: Fables of the Reconstruction, Reckoning, Green, Document, Lifes Rich Pageant, Murmur
* 90s REM (from Out of Time to Around the Sun): average of 8.995 (3.4 stars) across 7 albums: Around the Sun, Reveal, Up, Monster, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Out of Time, Automatic for the People
* 2000s REM (from Accelerate to Collapse Into Now): average of 11.804 (3.0 stars) across 2 albums: Accelerate, Collapse Into Now
Most popular phase: 80s REM
Fans of Interest
============================================
Key fan scores (lower is more stereotypical): Kramzer: 9.546, Joe: 10.231, The Critics: 12.969, Jason: 16.315
Most stereotypical REM fan: Kramzer
Least stereotypical REM fan: Jason
Fans Clusters (K-Means Clustering)
============================================
Most fans best fit one of the following. Select one of these top 5 / bottom 3 lists. * = not shared across all lists.
Cluster 1 (9 fans): Automatic for the People, Up *, Green *, Out of Time *, Lifes Rich Pageant *... Reckoning *, Accelerate *, Around the Sun
Cluster 2 (13 fans): Automatic for the People, Document *, Green *, Murmur *, Out of Time *... Accelerate *, Up *, Around the Sun
Cluster 3 (19 fans): Murmur *, Lifes Rich Pageant *, Reckoning *, Automatic for the People, Document *... Reveal *, Collapse Into Now *, Around the Sun
Methodology: User lists and host lists (including star ratings, where provided) are pasted into text file,
which is then processed and analyzed by Python script. Text file also includes info about artist and
album names. Critic star ratings come from Allmusic.com.
Nadie a pedido mi opinión, pero aqui está mi lista de mis álbumes. De mi favorito al menos:
1) Automatic for the people.
2) Green
3) Monster
4) New adventures in hi fi
5) Lifes Rich Pageant
6) Document
7) Out of time
8) Murmur
9) Fables of the reconstruction
10) Accelerate
11) Up
12) Reveal
13) Around the sun
14) Reckoning
15) Collapse in the now
New Adventures and Dog Man Star are the most underrated albums of the 90's for me.
Thanks all for this video loved it!
Not hard for me to work out my number 1 as Automatic is my favourite album of all time. As a piece it's more like a symphony thanks a rock/pop/alternative album. I love that "I just got it today!" comment
And it was going so well til..... Murmur.....Jason noooooooo!!!😭😭😭😭 You must have just had a moment there....I forgive you....Murmur is timeless beauty....tut tut tut
totally agree
Thanks to Jason for encouraging me to give Collapse into Now another listen. Really great album, really underrated, lots of great songs. Probably their most cohesive work thematically since Automatic for the People.
Huge R.E.M. fan here. Not sure what my exact order would be, but their first 5 releases are far superior than the others. Diminishing returns after that. "Stand" and "Shiny Happy People" are complete garbage, and are why most rock fans who aren't real fans of theirs lump them in the category of "lame". If all they heard was that shit, they'd be right. First 5 albums would be my numbers 1-5 and that order changes often. All of them I'd consider absolute favorites. "Green" would be 6, "Automatic" would be 7, "Monster" 8, "Out of Time" 9. I stopped paying attention after Monster until "Accelerate", which I think is good not great.
Accelerate is the best post 2000 REM album. As with Monster (Apart from Kramzer) it’s ranked too low. 14th best? Ridiculous
Murmur is my favorite, great record. I can still crank Monster and have a decent time with it. It was pretty rockin and not super poppy so that I like. Just never connected with Pop song 89, or Stand, or Shiny happy people, even Losing my religion wouldn't rank highly with me. Green, Out of time, and Automatic I have mixed feelings on. These records suffer with the flow. Some songs I really like but others leave me kinda confused or bored. Automatic in particular was hailed as their masterwork and I just don't know about that when looking at the track list. Can't figure it out sometimes.
R.E.M. is one of my favourite bands ever, so my bottom is a very decent album for me.
1. Automatic For The People (10/10)
2. Green (10/10)
3. Murmur (9,5/10)
4. Document (9,5/10)
5. Lifes Rich Pageant (9/10)
6. Out Of Time (8/10)
7. Reckoning (8/10)
8. Up (7,5/10)
9. Reveal (7,5/10)
10. Collapse Into Now (7/19)
11. New Adventures In Hi-Fi (6,5/10)
12. Around The Sun (6,5/10)
13. Fables Of The Reconstruction (6/10)
14. Monster (6/10)
15. Accelerate(5,5/10)
Greetings from Canary Islands.
Solid ordering here
@@mrp4242 Disagree. Monster is way too low
I can't take these guys tastes serious since one of them ranked A New Morning as Suede's best album.
I’m a guitar player, that’s my big appeal with REM, I want to play so many of their songs, loud.
I absolutely love REM, they are a top 3 favorite of mine so I think everything they've ever done is terrific. I appreciate the work you gentlemen put into this list, I certainty don't agree with everything but you all give an interesting perspective on their music (and all music for your channel) and do a great job.
1. Automatic For the People - a true masterpiece, songs of love and loss, transcendent of the human spirit
2. Out of Time - its diversity is its strength to me, so many different styles, all wonderfully covered
3. Green - The color of money, naivety, and the environment; all pressing matter for their big label debut.
4. New Adventures in Hi-Fi - I agree 65 minutes in a bit overlong but some of these songs are pure gold
5. Up- Jason called it outer space cocktail lunge music, and I think that’s perfect. Sorry Joe!
6. Document- Sounds great, thanks Scott Litt!
7. Murmur- A brilliant debut, if they broke up after this their name would still go down in history.
8. Lifes Rich Pageant- A great record, dropped lower due to a few goofy throwaway tracks.
9. Fables of the Reconstruction- Southern Gothic, dark and brooding
10. Monster - Yes, their “big dumb rock record” but it’s fun
11. Around the Sun - Underrated but I agree the Q-Tip cameo is cringe worthy
12. Reveal - Bright and sunny record, which isn’t necessarily their forte
13. Reckoning - A slight stumble after a brilliant debut, the mix doesn’t sound great to my ears
14. Accelerate- Short (35 minutes) with a few throwaway tracks
15. Collapse Into Now- Too many guests, too many middle of the road tracks, they knew it was the end for them so they through everything but the kitchen sink into it.
What you do is great guys. Keep it up. I usually do not agree with your rankings and from what i see in the comments you stir the waters with your choices, (and this is what makes your rankings great)but I think that what may cause this huge division between your choices and fans, and not only with REM, is that on some cases you are forced to mass listen and at the same time rank albums in a very short period of time. Some albums are revealing their strengths and charm after repeated spins, and with a different state of mind (not one that tries to compare and rank things) Also, some works carry the distinctive aroma of an era which unfortunately we, the younger ones, can't actually get, since we weren't around back then. Of course many will say that this way we can be more objective, but this is also a folly, since ranking music, is pretty much like music categories. They are only there to serve a purpose that has little to do with the actual music. I like ranking things, and I see the fun in doing it, but i don't get too serious about it, because music is supposed to be fun and ranking a bit extra fun on top. Of course having three people listing their favourites has merits, most importantly acting as a buyers' guide. Top 5 records from combined lists can be a good solid place to start. On topic - REM are a bit hard to rank, unlike bands like Dire straits that only have 6 albums- which are all equally great, or black sabbath that their top 10 contains at least 5 common ones from all three. I am not a huge REM fan, although I have all their albums. Still the ones that I had the spare time and free mind to listen at their time of release, (my late teens) I call my favourite. And somehow I feel that I am probably mistaken because I didn't give the same equal chances to all their albums, previous ones (because I was too young) or later ones (because I had other issues on my mind). Anyway, keep it up, you are a great company while I work. Ann afterthought would be to revisit some bands after 2-3 years of listening to their albums and create a new ranking, compare it with the previous one and see how it goes.
Great video. REM were a hugely important band for me growing up.
Very pleased to see Up getting some praise - I think it's hugely underrated. Suspicion, You're In The Air, At My Most Beautiful, The Apologist being big favourites of mine from that album. Their last significant artistic development I would say.
RE: New Adventures... wasn't some of that recorded at soundchecks on the Monster tour? For me, those songs are inferior, sound sonically different and are the reason for the album not flowing.
Fables... is a difficult one for me. I've never been able to get past the murky mix and it doesn't have the vitality of the first 2 albums.
A couple of their later albums didn't work for me, but those aside, I think they have a wonderful catalogue and Michael Stipe is one of the best and most distinctive singers in rock.
Reconstruction of the fables.
R.E.M. are one of my favourite bands. Here's my list:
1- Lifes Rich Pageant
2 - Murmur
3 - Reckoning
4 - Fables Of The Reconstruction
5 - Green
6 - New Adventures In Hi-Fi
7 - Document
8 - Out Of Time
9 - Automatic for The People
10 - Accelerate
11 - Monster
12 - Reveal
13 - Up
14 - Collapse Into Now
15 - Around The Sun
This is close to my list.
I know there’s gonna be tons of Monster bashing here but that’s easily top 5 for me. 😜
The crowd of REM fans I grew up with definitely saw Monster as a disappointment when it was released. But that's the great thing about art, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
I don't understand the Monster dislike. It's a killer album.
I’ve always loved as well!
Easily I agree
It's their second best (following Document), by a miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile! Truth be told, Document + Monster are REM's ONLY rockin' albums. Which makes them the band's best by default.
15. Around The Sun
14. Collapse Into Now
13. Up
12. New Adventures In H-Fi
11. Out Of Time
10. Accelerate
9. Reveal
8. Automatic For The People
7. Document
6. Monster (Jason Star 69 is great)
5. Green
4. Fables Of The Reconstruction
3. Life's Rich Pageant
2. Reckoning
1. Murmur
My favorite R.E.M. album is their first eight albums. I have ranked them 10 times and got 10 different answers. I guess it just comes down to my mood that day. The EP Chronic Town is outstanding as well. I am of the opinion that Monster and New Adventures aren’t quite as good and would rank at 9 and 10 but they still have sone great moments. The albums after Bill left are clearly the worst of their catalog in my opinion.
I am from Scotland, almost 70 years old and have been collecting music all that time. I love you guys, it is definitely better with three different personalities. I have no problem with other peoples opinions, I collected music over the years so got to listen in sequence which obviously affects my opinionsI am impressed with your musical knowledge in the short amount of time you have been collecting. Joe listen to Joe Strummer’s greatest hits cd, you might change your mind about him. Keep on Chongjin.
Chooglin
@@jameshunter3177 Chongjin. Wasn't he a Chinese dictator?? 🤣
Probably with Kramzer in that it’s about a top 30-ish band for me. I thought I had them all but obviously not... so only the 14 I know
1. Automatic for the people
2. Out of time
3. Murmur
4. Document
5. Reckoning
6. Life’s rich pageant
7. New adventures in HiFi
8. Reconstruction of the Fables
9. Green
10. Reveal
11. Monster
12. Up
13. Accelerate
14. Around the sun
Those people who don’t have Murmur at, or near, the top of their lists need to put the headphones on and listen to all the layers of sound and interesting arrangements and that amazing songwriting. It’s like Dark Side, Aja or Abbey Road. Especially if you can get your hands on the Mobile Fidelity vinyl pressing of the album. An audiophile wet dream. One of the best albums ever made by any artist. And done with such confidence by the band for a first album (with Easter and Dixon).
Just call us out by name next time, jeez. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic haha, actually was reading other comments before posting. Just listened to MoFi pressing last night too
Murmur is definitely my favorite R.E.M. album. It will always have the biggest impact on me. :)
I agree that Murmur has multiple sonic levels that reward the careful listener. It is certainly my #1 REM album.
But, perhaps worse than the underrating of Murmur is the collective #1 ranking of the amazingly mediocre Green.
Good ordering. A great band with ‘Automatic’ indeed the peak - perfect southern gothic alt country them:) Footnote: Stipe has repeatedly listed BDP as one of his favourite bands and ‘Blupribt’ as his fave rap album thus the KRS one appearance on ‘Radio Song’. I like it very much as it capture hip hop ascendancy at becoming THE sound of modern music and both singers are lamenting what they are hearing - witty.
Document: "Everything sounds really important like you have to hear what they say on this album". Well said, and after all isn't that what matters most in a rock record?
R.E.M. was "my" band through most of the '80s and early '90s, up to and including "Automatic For The People". I got off the bus when "Monster" reared its ugly head, and never bought another R.E.M. LP. It's entirely possible that if I were to give "Monster" a chance today, though, my opinion might reverse itself.
"Green" was a lesser disappointment for me when it came out, but encountering all the love for it here, I decided to listen to it again this week, with fresh ears and hindsight. It's pretty good, really. I like the variety, and the power pop is all well done, and extremely catchy ear candy. And I don't get the hate for "Stand" in a lot of quarters at all, including here. There are certainly worse and by far more insipid pop songs out there.
The songs on "Green" that are clearly intended to be serious works of art impress me with that intent, and accomplish what they set out to do. The one misfire, for my money, is "The Wrong Child", which ought to be heartbreaking and poignant in its beauty, but misses the mark for me somehow, with an arrangement and mix that are both muddy and murky. It's also somewhat weirdly sung by Stipe. Too bad, because it could've been a powerful song.
Reckoning! Super great early 80s jangly pop/rock album - great songs and melodies - every music fan should have this record in their collection
Great record. It's a good companion album to Murmur. Different sounding but still very complementary. People sometimes forget how good these early songs are. Still sound fresh and classic at the same time. And to be doing that in 83-84, amazing stuff.
I only enjoyed Automatic for the people, which it could be one of 20 best albums of the decade IMO, of the rest of the discography nothing caught my attention. By the other hand, people use to be so critical to Monster, and I think it is a good album.
Monster is definately one of those 90s albums that gotten better with age in my opinion. See also; In It For The Money by Supergrass (a similar sort of "glam" type album to Monster in many ways) and Dog Man Star by Suede (like a cross between Ziggy Stardust era Bowie and Scott Walker).
Monster isa good album.
@@raithrover1976 good taste.
Really warming to your videos and respect the knowledge you all have on the depth of music covered by the channel.
1. Life's Rich Pageant 2. Reckoning 3. Document 4. Murmur 5. Automatic 6. Green 7. Fables 8. Out of Time 9 Monster 10. HiFi
01. Green
02. Automatic For The People
03. Document
04. Murmer
05. Life's Rich Pageant
06. Reckoning
07. Out Of Time
08. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
09. Fables Of The Reconstruction
10. Monster
Never dived into their post Berry stuff.
New adventures is definitely my favorite.... can't wait for a expanded vinyl release
Looking forward to that as well! Love the record - underrated.
100% NAiHF is easily their best. The band even agrees it’s them at their peak.
By the way, the reason Document sounds so political is that it was released in the second last year of Ronald Reagan’s term in office where he was reportedly considering a nuclear first strike at the USSR and was supporting death squads in El Salvador and trying to overthrow the Nicaraguan government etc. I saw them live in 1987 in Vancouver just after the album was released and just weeks after the stock market crash... and they opened the evening with Its The End Of The World and the audience went wild. Someone said that Life’s Rich Pageant had no memorable songs, but Fall On Me has to be in their top ten songs of all time. Song construction is great but what elevates it is Mills vocal on the chorus where the three part harmony gives chills, almost reminiscent of The Band’s best work. Also New Adventures is packed full of great songs, all very different but cohesive, and punchy full production with varying dynamics and energy without being a unrelenting wall of sound like Monster which just wears you down with no dynamic range. Fables was described by some critics in 1985 as their Faulkner album and they agreed. It is, and that’s good....underrated.
My attempt to rank them all. There is no other act with this many albums that I have all owned:
15 Around the Sun
14 Up
13 New Adventure in Hi-Fi
12 Reveal
11 Collapse into Now
10 Accelerate
9 Monster
8 Out of Time
7 Fables of the Reconstruction
6 Reckoning
5 Murmur
4 Life's Rich Pageant
3 Document
2 Green
1 Automatic for the People
1 and 2 are extremely close and in my top 20 or so albums of all time.
This list is very VERY similar to mine. The only slight difference is I would probably have Out Of Time above Reckoning and Fables.
I am with Kram on this one, his list would be closest to mine. The later records after Bill Berry left just didn’t do much for me. Document would be number 1 for me as well, something coalesced with that record.
Fantastic videos guys, enjoying every bit of them
Believe this is the first listography you guys have done, where I’m overtly familiar with all of the records. It helps that I’ve been a fan for 30 plus years .. Having said that, nobody is gonna agree with my list. But that’s why we all have our own opinions for, so we can disagree lol
1) Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
2) Out of Time (1991)
3) Murmur (1983)
4) Reckoning (1984)
5) Monster (1994)
6) Life’s Rich Pageant (1986)
7) Automatic for the People (1992)
8) Up (1998)
9) New Adventures in Hi Fi (1996)
10) Green (1988)
11) Around the Sun (2004)
12) Document (1987)
13) Collapse Into Now (2011)
14) Reveal (2001)
15) Accelerate (2008)
Yes! Fables is still my favorite as well!
@@ttmilbr Always! 😃
1.Fables of the Reconstruction-"good advices"is my favorite REM song. Outside of "auctioneer",they're all great
2.Reckoning-rocks a little harder than Murmur. love "pretty persuasion"
3.Murmur-so consistent,brooding and strange. "moral kiosk" "9-9" "pilgrimage" are highlights
4.New Adventures in HiFi-A no nonsense road album,this rocks. "ebow the letter',"wake up bomb" "electrolyte" are highlights
5.Document-maybe they're most explosive opener with "finest worksong"
6.Lifes Rich Pageant-This felt a little flat to me after Fables,but still with great songs like 'begin the begin","fall on me"and the cover "superman"
7.Out of Time-yes it is disjointed,but the highlights are just too good
8.Automatic for the People-Like Jason,I don't like "drive",and I find "everybody hurts"real cloying. I do love "man on the moon" "ignoreland""the sidewinder sleeps tomight" and "nightswimming"
9.Monster-some great rockers but a little inconsistent
10.Green-This seemed like a bit of a sellout at the time,a little too lightweight for REM. Didn't really care much for the non hits either
R.E.M. is my all time favourite band and I still listen to them almost weekly (which is much less than I used to.) It's really hard to rank their albums and I like them all, but there's a clear drop in songwriting quality and passion after Berry's departure even though I have grown to appreciate e.g. Up more in recent years.
1. Murmur 5/5
2. Automatic for the People 5/5
3. Fables of the Reconstruction 5/5
4. Document 4.5/5
5. Lifes Rich Pageant 4.5/5
6. Green 4.5/5
7. Reckoning 4/5
8. Out of Time 4/5
9. New Adventures in Hi-fi 4/5
10. Up 4/5
11. Monster 3.5/5
12. Accelerate 3.5/5
13. Collapse into Now 3.5/5
14. Reveal 3/5
15. Around the Sun 3/5
So true. Berry was the secret weapon.
It's almost a shame that one of you didn't have access to the DVD-Audio high-res / 5.1 surround mixed discs for this review. I have a couple of the R.E.M. titles in their catalog in this format (Green and Automatic for the People -- the latter being my personal #1). R.E.M.'s multilayered song-smithing absolutely shines when it is pulled apart a little bit. All the instrumentation declutters and immediately becomes less "smeared" through just a two-channel presentation. It might not be the "reference standard" way to listen but it certainly makes one appreciate all the musical parts that disappear into a stereo downmix.
The other thing that immediately struck me from the DVD-Audio format is the presentation of LYRICS. Like ... Find the River looks like the most unsingable shambolic prose when presented to you matter-of-factly in written form...and then Stipe just lifts every verse into heartbreakingly beautiful song, and the final blow in one of the best two-song denouements of all time.
Are you guys sure it isn't Reconstruction of the Fables? I think the album packaging played around with that possibility. More of R.E.M.'s syntactical games.
My CD box has Fables of the Reconstruction on one side and Reconstruction of the Fables on the other edge. The CD itself has Fables...
My LP has both again - one on each side the vinyl record.
@@toonhkuitjes6382 Precisely.
Another enjoyable video from you guys. Jason, I found it odd that you'd write off "Out Of Time" as a weaker album here on grounds that a lot of the songs have little in common, and therefore don't belong together. (A statement with which I'd disagree.) And yet, this is precisely the main appeal of The Beatles' "White Album", which you listed as #1 in your video that ranks Beatles albums. (It's my #1 too, for that very reason.)
Okay, guys, I was expecting this video to leave me in as much apoplexy as the Genesis debacle, but I only had to roll my eyes a few times. Joe and Kram's lists were almost acceptable.
To me, just like Genesis, R.E.M. are essentially two different bands with a transition period. Genesis's transition happens over five albums (TOTT to Abacab), while R.E.M.'s is over three albums (LRP to Green). The original R.E.M. are artists, firmly rooted in the American post-punk/college rock/proto-alt. community, and producing aesthetically important and resonant music, successors and peers to Wire, Joy Division, Gang of Four, et al. They basically take post-punk and American southernize it, and Stipe's emo baritone shyness on the early albums is enormously influential. The later R.E.M. (Green onward) are goofballs who do some interesting pop stuff once in a while, but are absolutely not heavy hitters. I agree with Joe, with respect to that later period and the critics. Later R.E.M. is my most cavernous divergence from canonical criticism. I think it's a major Emperor's New Clothes schtick. Their evolution is like watching Radiohead turn into late-period Coldplay. No kidding. That is absolutely how I see it. Or, as I've said elsewhere online, "It's like restoring the Sistine Chapel ceiling and finding Flintstones cartoons underneath." A large part of it has to do with Michael Stipe's transition from artistic indie icon to braying donkey clown, although Peter Buck's desire to "rock with the best of them" doesn't help.
I have not heard their final three albums - too much other good music to explore and listen to out there - but I might do so now based on you all's commentary. Ranking the other 13 (yes, 13)...
13. Up
12. Reveal
11. Monster
10. New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
9. Green. What you all consider true of Out of Time I would apply to Green. They do this pop silliness thing (which was arguably something that was good for them at this point, but not what I listen to R.E.M. for at all) for three of the first four songs, and then get all serious and bad. I can't relate to any of you all's take on this album. I like the three mandolin tracks (especially the first two) and that's it.
8. Out of Time. I like the production and arrangements of many of these songs, but the open production unfortunately over-exposes Stipe's horrific braying. Too lyrically and musically facile. And 100% with Jason on the KRS-One cameo.
7. Automatic for the People. I love the sound of this record, but I think the songwriting is terrible. "Nightswimming/Deserves a quiet night/I turned up the radio..." You'll never be able to un-hear that (You're welcome!). To me, the only keepers are "Drive" (worst song on the album? on what freaking planet?) and "Man on the Moon." Stipe brays away. I know that "Everybody Hurts" is deeply important to a lot of people, and I absolutely try to be a man of care and compassion, but I think that's just ridiculous. I consider it an uproariously hilarious parody (or, far more probably, an artistic and pecuniary cash-in rip-off) of "Bridge over Troubled Water," and I think it's hysterical that the band and so many of their listeners took it seriously. So dynamically abominable.
6. Document. This was so baffling and disappointing when it first came out, but there's a lot that still sticks - "The One I Love," much maligned by people who generally agree with me on R.E.M.'s arc, is actually a fantastic Neil Young tribute and a very solid pop-rock song which did nothing to hurt their legacy up to that point. "King of Birds" is a gem, and "Disturbance at the Heron House," "Exhuming McCarthy," and "Fireplace" are decent. But this is the beginning of the deep slide.
5. reckoning. I don't think it's darker than Murmur at all. They cleaned off a lot of the murk and were definitely more accessible. Lost a great deal of the production and arrangement magic, unfortunately. "So. Central Rain," "Pretty Persuasion," and "Time after Time (annelise)" are a great trifecta (the first and third featuring 12-string guitar, Joe, which is why they're hyper-jangly). This low due largely to "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville." I like some country, like early Emmylou Harris, but that tune is dry-as-dust boring. I like "Second Guessing" and "Little America," but they're pretty lightweight.
4. Lifes Rich Pageant. The beginning of the transition, but much like Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering, showed that they could have evolved without turning into crap. "Fall on Me" and "The Flowers of Guatemala" are the standouts on this very strong album that doesn't hit the highs of its predecessors, but is rock solid from beginning to end.
3. Fables of the Reconstruction. Stunned that Joe was the only one to mention "Driver 8," which most fans-from-the-beginning would consider to be a top-fiver. They were indeed doing something really special here. Two thirds CCR, one third Wire, while being 100% themselves. I think they're still plenty jangly here, except for the feedback at the close of "Gravity."
2. chronic town ep. Yes, it's just an ep. It's also the absolute best version of R.E.M., five masterpiece cuts with a magnificent indie idiom that blended their early live sound with great Mitch Easter neo-psychedelia (e.g. the electric sitar on "Gardening at Night"). If they had stretched this to lp length with five more just-as-good songs, it would be head-and-shoulders their best, and I say that as someone who has Murmur in my top five of all time.
1. Murmur. Dang. Y'all couldn't even be bothered to spell it right. "They improved as songwriters after this..." BWAH-HAH-HAH that someone would actually think that. Absurd. A magical idiom with ten borderline-to-masterpiece songs (the first ten), with two very good ones to close the album.
How do you feel about dead letter office
I totally agree with you on Murmur. The idea their songwriting got better *after* Murmur is a head scratcher for me. I think more highly than you do of their albums from Green thru Hi-Fi but I agree they're not quite on the same level as the first 5 (with the exception of Automatic, which I think is classic.)
It kind of sounds like you hate REM after reading this. - Joe
@@ryankramzer1256 It's essential because, afaik, it's the only way to own chronic town on CD! It was the second CD I ever purchased back in 1987 for that very reason. Most of the original tracks are not that good/essential, but I do really like the Velvets covers, especially "Femme Fatale."
@@TastesLikeMusic As I said, they're like Genesis. Two different bands. I think Genesis stays pretty good far longer than R.E.M. does. The original R.E.M., from chronic town to Lifes Rich Pageant, are absolutely in my top ten of artists. Look again at my analogy of transitioning from being Radiohead to being late-period Coldplay. How would you feel if one of your very favorite artists did that and passed it off as following their artistic muse?
1. Reckoning
2. LRP
3. Murmur
4. Fables
5. Chronic Town
6. Dead Letter Office
7.I don't care about the rest, but really like Texarkana.
Joe seeing the light a bit has made me very happy.
Don't understand why "Around The Sun" gets so little love, really. It's no "Automatic" or "Lifes Rich Pageant", but I can play it and replay it and enjoy it. It's just R.E.M. trying to be something different this time around, which they kinda did with each new album. There are two weak tracks, but this happened on most of the albums after "New Adventures", probably to satisfy some questionable notion that more tracks were needed since CDs could hold more music. There are more than a few catchy compositions on "Around The Sun".
Merece más apoyo tu comentario. Concuerdo totalmente.
Monster!................ My No 1.