R.E.M.
Automatic for the People (1992)

review by: Glenn Pfeifer
Date: 1/12/01

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

These immortal words from Chuck D. (Dickens, that is) really sum up the general consesus about REM, my personal "favorite" band. For anyone who grew up listening to college radio in the mid-80's, REM was God..or at the very least, Jesus. They embodied the up-tempo energy of the late 70's punk movement, but teamed it with intelligent, inspired lyrics (see Ramones review for the antithesis) and fresh chords... sounding like no other band of their time (save English Beat or XTC, but without those annoying Brit accents). From there we witnessed their growth into superstardom, following their adventurous musical changes as closely as my wife used to follow Melrose Place. And now, when the Armchair Reviewer man himself states that REM should "hang it up," it seems they still invite a double-edged sword of respect and revulsion.

I'm here right now to make a claim that REM was THE most important band of the 1990s...and "Out Of Time" & "Automatic" two of the most important discs of the 90s. Forget Pearl Jam. Forget Nirvana. Forget Smashing Pumpkins. Forget Janet Jackson even! When I play "Nevermind" (recently voted by VH1 as one of the top 10 most important albums of all time!!!???) today I hear a tired tale of angst (circa 1964 and Eric Burden's Animals) over simple guitar-crunching that could have been spun by The Sex Pistols in 1977 if they weren't so hell bent on political anarchy and heroin. I understand the Cobain as dead-hero thing.. I just don't buy into it. In contrast, when I play "Automatic" (or "Out Of Time"...in my mind, they are a double album of this period in REM's existence) I hear poetic images about an artist's personal struggles..struggles of grappling with increasing age, with lonliness, with dying parents, with nostalgia for a simpler time...even with Gen X angst in the opening tune "Drive."

Every song on this disc is beautiful (except for maybe Ignoreland... Stipe always seemed to get sidetracked when he got political). Nightswimming may be one of the most beautiful ballads ever penned! But the most lasting thing about REM (when they finally do hang it up) will be their unique ability to venture into musical styles not commercially palatable and make them their own. I must admit, I own every REM disc released in the U.S., and I enjoy the latest three (Monster, Adventures in Hi-Fi, and Up). But "Automatic For The People" is a hard act to follow and even my favorite band has yet to attain their early-mid 90s peak. Here's a vote for hoping that they keep trying. -gp

review by: Michael Walls
Date: 1/13/01

This isn't so much a review (or counter-review) of "Automatic For The People" as it is a rebuttal to the claim that this album is the best album out of all the R.E.M. albums to choose from.

I, too, am a huge R.E.M. fan and a true fan that began listening in college during the mid-80's. And maybe it's because it was the first R.E.M. album I ever heard, but my favorite, all time R.E.M. album is "Life's Rich Pageant". Followed closely by "Cronic Town" and (I know it's not really a cohesive collection of songs written for a specific album, but…) "Dead Letter Office".

When I think of R.E.M., I tend to think of them as almost two different bands. R.E.M. (pre-"Green" album) and R.E.M. (post-"Green" album). Starting in 1982, R.E.M. put out an album every year, then double-timed it in '86 by releasing 6 albums in the next three years. (I know, two of them, "Eponymous" and "Dead Letter Office", are considered greatest hits and b-sides, but still…)

After "Green" in 1988, it took three years to get "Out of Time". (I believe that might have been due to Bill Berry's aliments.) But, for some reason, they didn't sound the same. Many might say "that's what's so great about R.E.M." But what I mean is, they didn't sound like the reckless, sloppy, cutting edge, garage band that made them such a popular college band. All of a sudden, Michael Stipes' vocals started becoming more clear. Peter Buck starts playing more then three cords and actually disowns his guitar for a while to take up a mandolin. Mike Mills gets a really bad haircut and forgets to brush his teeth. And Bill Berry doesn't seem as interested in music since his close call with death. Overall, the entire band suddenly seemed like it wasn't having fun.

I, too, own all of R.E.M. albums. And I enjoyed "Out of Time", "Automatic For The People" and "Monster" when they first came out. But when I think about listening to an R.E.M. CD, my instinct is to reach for "Dead Letter Office" or "Life's Rich Pageant". (I can sing every word on "Life's Rich Pageant", even thought I can't understand any of them.)

I don't know if it's just nostalgia for those older albums, or the feeling that R.E.M. just isn't having fun anymore and has become more like a scolding parent, shaking a finger at me for not eating my vegetables.

review by: Glenn Pfeifer
Date: 3/16/01

ALL HAIL 2Walls.com!

You would be hard pressed to find more concise, passionate commentary on such a wide variety of music than you'll find here. This includes any music review "Chat Room" that I've seen/been on... including some sponsored by the big guys (Yahoo, etc.) Kudos to Michael W. for his hard work, and to all the great reviewers who make this site so entertaining. I love browsing 2Walls.com and listening to the new discs I find here.

This fact struck me when I was browsing this week and found that my REM review evoked some great rebuttal from both Michael W. and Webb M. Both of their "positions" were so accurate, I had to commend them. REM was entirely more fun in their pre-"Green" period....Superman is one of my favorite REM songs and when I feel the need to slam dance and air guitar my way around the living room, that is definitely the REM song I will choose. I suppose my choice of "Automatic" in particular - and post-Green records in general - are a reflection of my personal taste for the "lachrymose" which both Webb & Michael astutely point out. I prefer Stipe's more personal reflections on Agent Orange, childhood disease, lost faith, etc. than I do his edicts of "you don't really love that guy you make it with now do you?" So while this quartet from Athens may not get as "down & dirty" as they once did - they've displayed such artistic growth in a way that I wish some of my other favorite bands of the 80s (U2 for example) would have.

That being said, I must emphaticaly disagree with one point made - if REM's best work was behind them in the early 1990s, why was every A&R man and every radio format scrambling to find artists to fill their new "alternative" formats for most of the entire decade? For a band that you state had very little impact on music in the 1990s...they sure spawned an awful lot of imitators.

R.E.M.
Document (1987)

review by: Mike Webb
Date: 3/14/02

There's been a little debate here about REM, so I may as well join the fracas.

The Velvet Underground are one of the most influential and respected bands in rock & roll. But I'm not a big fan. I don't really like Lou Reed's singing, they don't rock in the way that I like a band to "rawk", and I get irritated listening to their music. But I'd vote them into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame just for writing the amazing "Rock & Roll", and because of their wide influence on the music that I love so much. And I pretty much feel the same about REM.

They don't suck by any means, and they're definitely one of the '80s most important bands (saying REM is one of the '90s most important bands is like saying the Rolling Stones were one of the '80s most important bands. Their best work was behind them both - don't kid yourself). But I'll always hear REM as a singles band (which is not a bad thing in my book). None of their albums are loaded with enough great songs, or have an overall theme that keeps my attention.

If I did have a favorite REM album - it would be Document. The first half is stupendous - highlighted by the opener, "Finest Worksong." The first half of this album blisters and soothes, rocks and drops you into melancholia, but the second half fizzles - none of the zest or energy stays and the album fades away.

So Michael W. is right - anything pre-"Green" is a pretty safe bet. You'll find a few great songs, lots of unintelligible lyrics (who ever said you have to understand what the singer is saying) and a screw you, we're gonna do it our way spirit. Post "Green" is the same story for just about every band in rock - we're the diamond that's been forged from the coal, and while we may be shiny-er and brighter, we'll never be able to get down and dirty like we used to.

review by: Michael Walls
Date: 3/16/01

Hey Webb - If REM is a "singles" band, then what does it matter if the "second half fizzles?"

Although not my favorite REM album, Document is a classic. Probably their most successful release. With three huge hits off this album (Finest Worksong, It's The End Of The World As We Know It, and The One I Love), this album doesn't need anything else. The rest of the album could be static.

But it's not. In fact, this album has one of my all time favorite REM "non-singles" on it. Exhuming McCarthy.

And, no, I don't know what it means.

I'm convinced that this song was a leftover from Life's Rich Pageant. With a popish rhythm and melody, a quirky chorus, a raucous guitar bridge, and some catchy and slightly unintelligible lyrics - this song definitely would have fit in. But because of it's political nature (of which I haven't the foggiest idea of what he's talking about) it probably didn't make the cut. But it fits right in with Document's political undertones. It's also a great reason to own this CD.

I concede. The last four songs, bite. But that's not really the "second half." It's more like…the "last third."

R.E.M.
Life's Rich Pageant (1986)

review by: Michael Walls
Date: 1/14/02

In my review (or non-review) of Automatic for the People I indicated that my favorite all-time R.E.M. album was Life's Rich Pageant. I had always believed this to be true, but after reflecting, was afraid that I might have hastily spat out that claim. So, realizing that I hadn't really listened to it in a while, I dusted it off and drove to work one morning listening to it.

I was right. Now, without hesitation, I can firmly claim that Life's Rich Pageant is undoubtedly the greatest R.E.M. album ever produced. (Well, I like it the best, so I'll leave it at that.)

In my Automatic for the People review, I mentioned that I believed that there were two eras to R.E.M., with the Green album being the dividing point. I'd like to speak to some of the post-Green R.E.M. fans (Out of Time, Automatic, Monster, and beyond), who might not be familiar with the pre-Green R.E.M. era; younger fans who think that R.E.M.'s greatest moments lie with Shiny Happy People, or Losing My Religion, or Man on the Moon.

Goodness gracious kids! Please! For the good of music and the sake of R.E.M.'s historic hard work, please get this album or even Eponymous (greatest hits) to find out that R.E.M. wasn't always this serious, political, sometimes depressing, godfathers-of-college-radio, old pop crooners. (Yes, they were always political. But at least in the old days you couldn't understand them.)

Life's Rich Pageant is a demonstration of pure adolescent, garage band fun. Hey, they might be trying to change the world, but I can't understand them and don't really care. This is music that just rocks and kicks and makes you run around in circles, playing air guitar and drums. Believe it or not, youngsters, but R.E.M. use to have mosh pits at their concerts. People use to slam dance to R.E.M. music.

I enjoy every song on this album. "Begin the Begin" and "These Days" are just great rock songs, and "Just a Touch" is an all out slamming song. "Fall on Me", "What if We Give it Away", "I Believe" and "Superman" are classic R.E.M. songs and probably the style template for their later hits.

"Superman" isn't even listed on the album (at least my album) and is one of two hidden tracks. Actually, the whole CD is screwed up. The listing on the back is completely wrong and a great song called "Underneath the Bunker", which isn't listed, appears in the middle of the album.

You know, I say they were a garage band. But the truth of the matter is, they we're not your typical garage band. They don't sing songs about cars or girls or New Jersey or anything. To be honest, back then, I didn't know what the hell they were singing about. I still don't. But it seemed important and that's what made it so cool to like them, to act like you got it. They made you look like you were into sophisticated music.

"Answer me a question, I can't itemized….
I can't think clearly, to reach for reason….
It's not fair…
I can't even rhyme…
Begin the begin."

Heavy man. But what does it mean? No clue. But, dude, it rocks!

review by: Alexander Washburn
Date: 3/29/01

I like to throw myself into debates - especially old debates that I just read about.

First of all, Out of Time is not all that bad of a record. I happen to think that "Low" is a great song and so is "Half a World Away." That being said, I do agree with what has been said, that anything post-Green is a little shaky.

Life's Rich is running a close second behind Murmur in the REM category for favorite record. If you can understand what Stipe is saying, you hear very thoughtful words about stepping up to the plate and voicing your opinion about the way the world is run. Stipe even advocates for "starting our own country up," and he tells us regardless of our age, we can make a difference in "These Days." "Fall on Me" is a great song about protecting our mother Earth, I think.

Superman is also unlisted on my CD and I do have that odd order of songs on the back of the CD. But hearing "Superman" at what you thought was the end of the record is a treat.