ALBUM REACTION: R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant

[@AlexHaitz]

More R.E.M. Reactions: Chronic Town EP: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHOvZGZ8mcSoqac Murmur: kzbin.info/www/bejne/maiao2eXor6Nipo Reckoning: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5DMfKSHbdyCqNk Fables of the Reconstruction: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZibmJ57jb-cqaM Document: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bn6ZeaSFo72DbLs Green: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f56wnIyboJtsi8U Out of Time: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip6QppiEeNqoZtU Automatic for the People: kzbin.info/www/bejne/npCtpnutadqqj7M New Adventures in Hi-Fi: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4CYaqeZpNKKaM0 Fall On Me: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZicc2R8eqh7q7s Here I Am Again: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f56pnnmagJ6tqNE Nightswimming: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYaoiayKgM-VfM0 Tongue: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2XCqpiqe7Z5jtk

[@mattjohn4731]

Oh, snap. Alex, it's time for Dead Letter Office! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Letter_Office_(album) You could skip it, but it shows their vast influences and southern humor and drunkenness

[@jorgevial131]

My all time favorite. Melancholic, folk, beautiful.

[@the-baze]

Their best album.. because start to finish …. Like a fine book… my all time favourite.. even the title fits beautifully

[@brettscott8288]

I'd argue this is true as well. I grew up on this album as an LP and it definitely was a backdrop to my early life.❤

[@citehman]

I have typed and erased many analogies to breakfast cereals, drugs, and cars in trying to illustrate the journey of being an early REM fan. The morsels of goodness from this album, even 36 years later, are the expanse and growth of Michael's vocals, the mix of the serious and frivolous, and courage to work with a mainstream producer to harness their sound and focus. Songs like Begin the Begin, These Days, Cuyahoga and I Believe were next-level in the tour to support this album. What an amazing few years at this time with REM, early U2, The Smiths, Midnight Oil, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The English Beat, Psych Furs and on and on and on.

[@kevtruth]

My 2nd favorite to Murmur. They recorded it at John Mellencamp's s studio near Bloomington, Indiana. You thumbsed up all the songs I love on it.

[@kevtruth]

@@jeffmaehre7150 That is interesting. Stipe was the king of mumblers back then.

[@mojomusica.0169]

The original 1969 version of "Superman" by the Clique is worth a listen.

[@eboethrasher]

LRP is the pinnacle of early REM. Document is when they start to head into the bigger band they were to become. It is no coincidence that Document is the first album where they work with long-time production partner Scott Litt. He definitely helped shape their sound. Oh, I don't know if anyone else mentioned this, but "Just a Touch" is a song that predates Chronic Town, that was their style back then, riproaring party band club rock stomp. Hyena was written during the time that they were writing stuff for Reckoning, and they had been playing it live since then, and obviously it grew over time.

[@StonefieldJim4]

To my ears, their finest hour.

[@Gboz90]

What if We give it Away is a really underrated REM track and the closing note one of my favourite moments of the IRS years.

[@richardmose]

Thanks so much for your reaction to this album-it's so important and impactful to me. This cassette helped me get through basic training for the USAF in my late teens. It inspired me to be strong both physically and spiritually. It feeds my soul, and makes me stronger.

[@joeschmoe487]

My favorite REM record. Mid 80s american rock was formed by a reaction to British synth new wave which was thought of as sterile and cold and the straightjacket of hard-core. Bands like REM, the replacements, violent femmes, X, camper van beethoven stressed an organic, human, "real music." It came to be known as "college rock" (terrible name). By the late 80s it was starting to be thought of as too mild and mellow so bands like pixies, dinosaur jr, and sonic youth made it loud and heavy and "alt rock" was born.

[@Nimno74]

CVB don't get anywhere near enough credit. And The Mats' Paul Westerburg is one of the greatest songwriters in history.

[@eboethrasher]

I mean, it was mostly played on low wattage college radio stations, hence "left of the dial". That's why it was "college rock".

[@jeffmaehre7150]

But why does heavy equal alternative. I can assure you the term alternative was used for sure as early as 1984.

[@j.r.a.f.t.m.]

Great reaction Alex, it's funny how you mentioned the 'Friends' similarity as the producers of that show asked the band if they could use 'Shiny Happy People' as the theme instead of the infamous one they eventually got... As for 'Pageant' I think it's a very solid album definitely more direct, Stipe is way higher in the mix, I like to see this and 'Document' and bits of 'Green' as stadium alt rock.

[@joycehall4866]

My 2nd favorite Album. Fell in love with Fables and it will always be my favorite.

[@Nimno74]

I can't explain why, maybe it was time and place when I first heard it, but this is still my favorite album. It kind of is the bridge between their early jangle style and the more rock stuff on Document.

[@mattjohn4731]

Peter Buck said he got the album title from the 1964 comedy film A Shot In The Dark. Starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. I got this from wikipedia. And the bison signify an environmental theme. And the big eyebrows part is (drummer) Bill Berry. So it also signifies Buffalo Bill

[@AlexHaitz]

The best Pink Panther sequel, by far.

[@annefrankenberry7914]

The opening guitar of Swan Swan H sounds a lot like the opening of Lennon's Working Class Hero

[@californiahummus]

This was the first REM album I heard so it will always be my favorite. I feel like they just let loose on these songs which you don't hear on later albums.

[@Songwritersbehindthecurtain]

ALBUM (Lat. albus, white), in ancient Rome, a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees, edicts and other public notices were inscribed in black. The Annales Maximi of the Pontifex Maximus, the annual edicts of the praetor, the lists of Roman and municipal senators (decuriones) and jurors (album indicum) were exhibited in this manner. In medieval and modern times album denotes a book of blank pages in which verses, autographs, sketches, photographs and the like are collected. It is also applied to the official list of matriculated students in a university, and to the roll in which a bishop inscribes the names of his clergy. In law, the word is the equivalent of mailles blanches, for rent paid in silver (“white”) money.

[@edwardlosty549]

During these IRS albums they were in a rapid turnover cycle of Record Album - Tour - Record Album. How many bands churn out an album a year these days? They couldn’t afford to take their time yet, the songs were written on tour and the louder ones were live crowd pleasers. It results in some sameness, but also I like the urgency and rawness too.

[@CSmith6887]

Uh oh, doesn’t like political music and Document is up next 😬

[@boognish94]

Yeah I have a feeling Document will be a struggle for him.

[@AlexHaitz]

I wouldn't say "doesn't like", rather "the political angle is never a benefit or plus for me".

[@edwardlosty549]

Definitely more overt. For something like Flowers of Guatemala you had to seek out the meaning. With a song called Exhuming McCarthy you know what you’re getting.

[@mattjohn4731]

@@AlexHaitz In my opinion, the most urgent topics are often political. So there are infinite political angles, that lyrics have taken in general. In my opinion

[@shannoncaskey5294]

Cuyahoga…cuy like guy. A (soft a) hoga, like yoga. They say it wrong too 😂

[@thoru4367]

This band sounds like The Replacements

[@mattjohn4731]

Chill, Stipe! Lol, awesome. Just A Touch has got to be one of the Stipiest jams 😝

[@jeffmaehre7150]

The name of the river is pronounced Ky-a-hoga. In the song, Stipe pronounces it "coy-ahoga" and went on record in the 2000s saying he knows he pronounced it wrong, and then started pronouncing it right in live performances.

[@Songwritersbehindthecurtain]

Can tracks can also be called chapter like chapters in a book jonathan like example track 1 chapter 1?

[@jeffmaehre7150]

I don't understand this idea that "college rock" and "alt rock" are somehow two different things.

[@khalidmusadaq2080]

Man I'm not sure if you will but really hope you make it to Automatic for the People.

[@AlexHaitz]

I certainly will! That's my next most anticipated REM album.

[@khalidmusadaq2080]

@@AlexHaitz That album (though not my favorite R.E.M. album, that would be Reckoning) embodies R.E.M. as a band. It's like what all those IRS and Warner releases were eventually building up to.

[@Songwritersbehindthecurtain]

In your opinion why are album 💿 are viewed as one big story? And why are album 💿 are viewed as one big story? IAMLXGEND 8 months ago It is a cohesive collection of songs used to tell a bigger theme or project an overall vibe. Think of an album as a book. And your songs as chapters. Every book has chapters. Every album has songs. Each chapter is different. Each song is different. But the collection of chapters (the collection of songs) is what tells the full story of the book (of the album). Every song has a story. Some albums are just a collection of songs without the intention of telling the bigger story. Some albums are designed to tell a bigger story. Sequencing might be only about the way the music flows, but if the album tells a story than sequencing can do that too. Nathan Eswine 5 months ago I think artists try to sequence their albums in a way they feel best captures the journey they want a listener to go through. Nowadays, this isn’t as popular... kind of feels like some artists just try to pack single after single back to back for 10-12 songs. But at it’s core, album sequencing can help drive home the main theme of the album. Similar to the chapters of a book 👊🏻. To me, it does still count as one whole story, even if there’s no segue between tracks. I think it’s just an artistic choice to use segues. I think even if the songs start and stop on their own, they can still point back to the big theme of the album 👍. Usually the songs on an album are the result of an artist’s creations during a season of life. This means the songs can all speak to a similar set of themes, ideas and topics. So the aim of an album name is to try and sum up the big story/concept that all the songs pull from when they were written. It’s not always like these, especially today. But traditionally, an album is like a “book” with the songs inside being like “chapters.” Fun stuff! (I think 🤓) .

[@boognish94]

Document is very political and since you said you don't like their political songs I'm just giving you a heads up. Hopefully you can get through it and set aside the political nature in the content of the songs.

[@AlexHaitz]

I don't really care about political aspects of lyrics, so long as the songwriting and composition is good. There are plenty of songs with political messaging that I enjoy even if I don't really care about the lyrical content.

[@sieben8724]

You should react to Tienaté by Nu Genea

[@edvonblue]

Too bad the production on this - especially the drums - was so 1980s