1. Lifes Rich Paegant (1986)-R.E.M.-I.R.S. Records
Everybody loved Murmur and Reckoning and scratched their head at the disappointing Fables of the Reconstruction album that followed their first two masterpieces. This album marked a turning point where R.E.M. put together a great album where people actually began to understand just what the hell Michael Stipe was singing.
Driver 8 and Can't Get There From Here put R.E.M. on my radar screen then I worked backwards to hear the undecipherable lyrics of Murmur and Reckoning. Sure the first two albums are amazing but sometimes music can paint the image of where you were or what you were like or can just hook you into an amazing band whose music is still relevant in 2010 as it was in 1986.
I was 16, a junior in high school and when this album was released, I walked into Record Town and gave Joe Chebli twenty bucks and bought the first three R.E.M. albums on compact disc (back then, they were packaged in the long boxes, much easier to open then the compact discs of today but with Limewire, that is a thing of the past). Only a few of my friends liked R.E.M.-Norman Eng and Andrew Zito. Jesse and John (who got on board in 1987) were still in their hardcore punk days but now can attest to why this album is on my desert island playlist.
The album has the three songs I want to hear when I see R.E.M.---Begin The Begin, These Days and I Believe. The other songs are good, Fall On Me is an environmental anthem, Cuyahoga was played on Election Day 2004 to protest the Republican bullying in Cleveland, Hyena and Just A Touch were songs that were played on the Murmur and Reckoning tours and Superman, sung by Mike Mills, who was still wearing those nerd glasses.
R.E.M. is my all-time favorite band. I saw them play twice at the Felt Forum in November 1986 and have never missed a time or tour since 1986. These links are from the Green Tour where as a freshman at Syracuse University, I stood in the fourth row with my friends Ted Barron and Joanna Lovinger screaming the words and just losing my mind. The Begin The Begin link is from 2004 with Eddie Vedder who could have made a better induction speech for R.E.M when they were inducted into that sham of a hall of fame.
I Believe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyGW6jUGtrM&feature=related
Begin The Begin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XaoF8bDMcM
These Days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLLibnwtEBI
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