| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Contents | ||
Their debut EP, Chronic Town ( 1982), illustrated R.E.M.'s signature musical style: jangling guitars, chords played in arpeggio, murmured vocals, and lyrics that completely avoid the standard topics of popular music - love and relationships. Their debut album, Murmur ( 1983), is held to be one of the best records of the 1980s. The album is stylistically unified. The jangling guitars, so prominent on Chronic Town, are used more sparingly. The melody is found in the bass notes, and the lyrics are practically indecipherable. The songs on the album blend together, creating a mood that evokes the greyness of a late autumn day. Yet the album ends on hopeful notes. Arpeggio and jangling guitars return in "Sitting Still", and "Shaking Through", where Michael Stipe asserts that indeed, 'Honor marches on'.
R.E.M.'s second album, ReckoningReckoning is the second LP released by the band R. It was released in 1984 by indie label IRS Records. The album explores a number of different musical styles. Song topics include cold weather, a fairy tale in which a child drowns, a flood, superficiality ( 1984This page is about the year 1984. For other uses of 1984, see 1984 (disambiguation). 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday (link shows calendar). Events January January 1 Brunei becomes a fully independent state January 1 AT&T is broken up into 22 indepe), explored a number of different musical styles. Song topics include cold weather, a fairy tale in which a child drowns, a flood, superficiality, and separation. Yet the jangling guitars and beautiful melodies hide the dark lyrics. The final song, "Little America", is written about rural America, and the song is a prelude to the Southern themes on the subsequent album.
Fables of the ReconstructionFables of the Reconstruction was the third album released by the band R. It was released in 1985. Despite the critical acclaim received by the band after their initial two albums, Murmur and Reckoning, R. decided to make noticeable changes to their style ( 19851985 is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January events January 1 Creation of the Internet's Domain Name System. January 17 British Telecom annouces they are going to abolish the famous red telephone boxes. January 23 A debate in the House of Lor) explores the mythology of the southern United States. A celebration of an eccentric individual is the subject of no less than four songs on the album ("Maps and Legends", "Life and How to Live It", "Old Man Kensey", "Wendell Gee"). "Driver 8" is a song about the scenery surrounding railroad tracks. Trains are a frequent topic of Southern music; they epitomize the freedom and promise of an escape from one's home environment. The source of the title of "Can't Get There from Here" is a curious phrase heard when asking directions in a rural area. " Kohoutek" is about a comet, and is perhaps the first song by R.E.M. about a romantic relationship. By the time this album was released, R.E.M. was already well-known and critically acclaimed, and the video for "Can't Get There from Here" was played frequently on MTV. R.E.M. practically defined college rockIn the USA, college rock was a term used to describe 1980s alternative rock bands which combined the experimentation of post punk and new wave with a more melodic pop style. So named because it was primarily played on college radio stations, college rock by this time.
The next album, Lifes Rich PageantLifes Rich Pageant is a 1986 album by R. It takes its name from a quote from a Pink Panther movie; "You'll catch your death of cold!" "Yes, I probably will. But that's all part of life's rich pageant, you know. One of Michael Stipe's favorite R. songs, "F (sic) ( 19861986 is a common year starting on Wednesday. Events January January 1 Spain and Portugal enter the European Community January 1 Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands and is separated from the Netherlands Antilles. January 9 After losing a pa), takes its name from a Pink Panther movie ("You'll catch your death of cold!" "Yes, I probably will. But that's all part of life's rich pageant, you know."). The songs are upbeat, the tempo is fast; this is a fairly hard-rocking album. One of Michael Stipe's favorite R.E.M. songs is found here ("Fall on Me"). The lyrics were becoming both more intelligible and more direct, with political themes appearing more explicitly ("Begin the Begin", "Flowers of Guatemala", "Hyena"). "Cuyahoga" is about the river in Ohio that caught fire due to pollution. Ironically, the 'hit' from the album ("Superman") was a cover song. In many ways, this album marked the end of the first period in the band's history.
Document ( 1987) was their last album for the indie record label I.R.S., and provided their first major hit with "The One I Love", which reached No. 9 on the American pop charts. The popularity of this song of grim satisfaction over the death of an unhappy relationship was due mainly, however, to its misinterpretation as a love song. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" recalls the rapid-fire lyrical style of Bob Dylan's " Subterranean Homesick Blues" and can be described as pre-apocalyptic.
Dead Letter Office ( 1987) was a collection of B-sides and outtakes. Highlights include three Velvet Underground covers, an Aerosmith cover, an uncommissioned commercial for a barbecue restaurant in Athens, and a boozy version of "King of the Road". The CD also has the EP Chronic Town at the end. The album is described in the liner notes as "A little bit of uh-huh and a whole lot of oh-yeah".
The band's early years are summarised in the compilation Eponymous, released in 1988. The compilation contains several alternative versions and mixes of songs.