I probably listen to an R.E.M. album every three or four days. That's probably been the way I've lived my life since I was 17 and I imagine I'll continue this was until the day I die. There are worse ways to be.
Green isn't my favourite album of theirs. When I come to Stand I feel a little like I do when you get to a Ringo song on a Beatles album. There was always an element of dumbness to the R.E.M. mix. If you're talking We Walk, I go along wholeheartedly. Later on I baulk slightly and think Michael might be reined in a tad. I Can Turn You Inside Out is somehow oppressive. Not an adjective you readily apply to many R.E.M. songs. It's not their thing. They're generaly rather warm,. This is alienating. But they were becoming a big band and that probablt wasn't always the easiest thing to go through. They became a different entity from now on.
But Green also has a layer of melancholy, of sadness that prevails and endures. Impresses. World Leader Pretend, which initially I didn't like because if its title, I now fid incredibly impressive. Orange Crush is immense, I sat alone in a living room in Nowich when my housemates, half of wonderful student band The Legendary Gazelles weren't in . Warching my band on Top of the Pops. Something I'd never thought would happen. Then they went on to become the biggest band in the world. Quite right too !
I've been listening to this while I write this. I should listen to it more. Not just the early stuff. R.E.M.'s greatest triumph was that they continued to be relevant. that's not something that applies to many bands.
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