Lifes Rich Pageant is my most satisfying REM listen. No obvious hits, but the album is so *EVEN*. No iconic anthems, but no clunkers either. Every song is a good song. And they all go together well. Silver medal? Document.
When I first heard this record, I thought it was pretty darn good, but it was never among my favorites. It's a bit brief, and they dusted off old songs like Just a Touch, What if We Give it Away, both written in 1981, plus Hyena, written in '83 or '84. But I've met a lot of people who thinks it's by far the best R.E.M. album. On my 1-15 list, it's about 5 or 6.
I don’t blame you. Lifes Rich Pageant is definitely the band’s most accessible I.R.S. album by far. Personally tho, there are (only) two clunkers on the album…oh yeah, you know it’s coming: the opening track and the closing track. I don’t care for Begin the Begin or Superman at all. But hey, I love the rest of the album. :)
I think it's definitely their best album, from the incredible opening riff of "Begin the begin" to the majestic 'Fall on me', 'Cuyahoga', 'I believe', 'Flowers of Guatemala', 'Swan swan H', etc. Great production, amazing songs. A couple of lesser tracks with "Hyena" and "Just a touch" but terrific overall. Even the two hidden tracks are great.
Really good record, I think it’s more of a grower though, an album you’ve gotta spend some time with to really get into. It is long but it’s a big statement from them and puts forth a lot of their different styles and ideas. I think it’s a good mix of Automatic+Monster.
The last one I really got into. I loved it at the time but I do think now that it's too long. With a bit of pruning it would be higher in people's lists.
@@beerhe Great response. With REM, you need a top 20…I like a lot of their oddities, instrumentals too! Went from loving the GUITAR GOD rock of the 70’s -Page, Blackmore, Gibbons, Schenker, etc- to loving Buck’s simple jangly picking even more!
I'm relistening to the albums I own, and I become more and more convinced that he is the difference maker for this band. Sometimes it feels like he gets more attention for his harmonizing and his backup vocals (wouldn't be unjustified, they are one of the band's hallmarks and are sublime) than he does for his bass playing. But he plays such great bass lines. Absolutely essential.
When I saw them on Letterman, “Radio Free Europe,” I was amazed by that bass line. And he’s jumping all over the place while he plays. I wished they had focused on him a little more. And I loved this garage band-looking group was so awesome. Never understood anything Stipe sang except the title words.
Enjoy their entire discography. Don't think they have a bad album. Some are just stronger than others. 15. Accelerate 14. Collapse Into Now 13. Around the Sun 12. Monster *. Dead Letter Office 11. Fables of the Reconstruction 10. Green 9. Reckoning 8. Out of Time 7. Reveal 6. Up 5. Murmur 4. Lifes Rich Pageant *. Chronic Town 3. Document 2. Automatic for the People 1. New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Also if you tilt it in the light there is an embossed 4 over the R. That always made me think that they were speaking to us in some kind of code and there was some secret hidden message
@@scottmcrae3355 stipe explained it that when he used a typewritter machine to write the names of the songs he by mistake typed "R" instead of "4" ( the are close on the the keyboad),and he liked it and leave it this way. on the back u can see the songs and their numbers and its written: "R. Stand", instead of: "4. Stand"
1. Green. A bold celebration of life, both positive and negative 2. Fables of the Reconstruction. It's dark as hell and packs a mighty emotional punch 3. Murmer. A quirky look at life, offbeat and has a nerdy charm. Unique. 4. Reckoning. Songs about longing and loss, superbly written and played 5. Automatic for the People. Myriad styles of music, excellent songwriting.
Jason cracks me up. No idea where he will go. "Yeah I've got Exile On Main Street last. At my number three definitely Steel Wheels. Between A Rock and A Hard Place the best single since Angie."
Two comments stood out for me- the one about Reveal and Up being like companion albums, which I've always believed, and the one about Document being the album where they started to sound like the REM that people most associate with REM. In Document, Michael sounds strong and positive- like he has something to say and he wants the world to hear it.
15. Around the Sun 14. Up 13. Accelerate 12. Reveal 11. Collapse into Now 10. New Adventures in Hi Fi 9. Monster 8. Reckoning 7. Document 6. Fables of the Reconstruction 5. Out of Time 4. Murmur 3. Green 2. Lifes Rich Pageant 1. Automatic for the People
What you do is great guys. Keep it up. I usually do not agree with your rankings and from what i see in the comments you stir the waters with your choices, (and this is what makes your rankings great)but I think that what may cause this huge division between your choices and fans, and not only with REM, is that on some cases you are forced to mass listen and at the same time rank albums in a very short period of time. Some albums are revealing their strengths and charm after repeated spins, and with a different state of mind (not one that tries to compare and rank things) Also, some works carry the distinctive aroma of an era which unfortunately we, the younger ones, can't actually get, since we weren't around back then. Of course many will say that this way we can be more objective, but this is also a folly, since ranking music, is pretty much like music categories. They are only there to serve a purpose that has little to do with the actual music. I like ranking things, and I see the fun in doing it, but i don't get too serious about it, because music is supposed to be fun and ranking a bit extra fun on top. Of course having three people listing their favourites has merits, most importantly acting as a buyers' guide. Top 5 records from combined lists can be a good solid place to start. On topic - REM are a bit hard to rank, unlike bands like Dire straits that only have 6 albums- which are all equally great, or black sabbath that their top 10 contains at least 5 common ones from all three. I am not a huge REM fan, although I have all their albums. Still the ones that I had the spare time and free mind to listen at their time of release, (my late teens) I call my favourite. And somehow I feel that I am probably mistaken because I didn't give the same equal chances to all their albums, previous ones (because I was too young) or later ones (because I had other issues on my mind). Anyway, keep it up, you are a great company while I work. Ann afterthought would be to revisit some bands after 2-3 years of listening to their albums and create a new ranking, compare it with the previous one and see how it goes.
I was in high school when Chronic Town came out and college during the IRS years. Followed them on their tour dates in Texas and even bought some beers for Mike Mills and Bill Berry. Definitely suffer from the “my band” attitude, college rock snobbiest and I had an irrational issue with them getting played on radio. I loved/love Murmur and Reckoning the most, but recall listening to Life’s Rich Pageant thinking it was the first album I loved on first listening from that entire era. In general, I think you guys did a great job with this one. Appreciate and agree with your wrap up assessments. Jason, you kill me with your assessment of Murmur. You are the enigma of this one. ;)
Long-time REM fan, they were the first band I ever saw live (Green tour 1989). I skew heavily towards the IRS years, so here's my 15... 1. Fables Of The Reconstruction 2. Murmur 3. Green 4. Document 5. Reckoning 6. Life's Rich Pageant 7. Automatic For The People 8. Out Of Time 9. Monster 10. Collapse Into Now 11. New Adventures In Hi-Fi 12. Up 13. Reveal 14. Accelerate 15. Around The Sun
R.E.M. albums ranking: 1. Reckoning 2. Murmur 3. Lifes Rich Pageant 4. Fables of the Reconstruction 5. Document 6. Green 7. Automatic For the People 8. New Adventures in Hi-Fi 9. Out of Time 10. Monster 11. Collapse into Now 12. Accelerate 13. Reveal 14. Up 15. Around the Sun As a big REM fan for over 35 years this was very difficult. I could have put any of the first 4 albums at #1. While I definitely come back to the IRS albums most often I can find good things in all of their albums. I appreciate your guys’ lists and enjoyed your commentary. Cheers! / Matt
That's a solid ranking. I think Automatic deserves to be a couple spots higher but I totally get why people who were fans from the beginning don't think it's as good as their early stuff.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 dude, always love your comments. But please please please continue the full five guesses on aoty. It's a highlight of our week. We literally text each other to see if you've posted them yet
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Yeah I really liked Automatic when it came out but for me it hasn't held up over time as much as their early stuff. That being said, Nightswimming and Find The River are sublime and possibly the two best closing tracks on any album.
@@ryankramzer1256 I guess I can try. It's just that we're getting into the years I don't know as well... heck, I don't know for sure what my top 5 is gonna be in any given year from now on so I figured trying to predict your guys' top 5 would be prohibitively difficult. I'll go back to trying to predict all 5 if you want... but get ready for some 0/15 scores.
Your approach to songs and albums is refreshing and it’s nice to see that you are not falling for the usual mainstream music press nonsense and snobbery. The comments about Out of time reflect this well.
Just a great band who’s catalog overall is pretty special. The top spots is ever changing for me. Love seeing Fables up high on all your lists. I always felt that I was growing up and evolving as they were as a band. As I changed they changed. 🤘🤘🤘👏👏👏
R.E.M. was the first band that I ever became truly obsessed with. In the pre-internet their music and imagery seemed so mysterious to this young teen and I read and listened to and watched everything that I could get my hands on.I am very much an IRS era “snob” but do love pretty much everything up until and including Automatic, do like monster and Hi-Fi a lot and really dislike Up. So much so that I stopped paying attention therefore don’t really have much of an opinion on the Berry-free years. Perhaps I should finally give those albums a chance. My absolute favourite is always changing but right now I am really feeling Fables of the Reconstruction of the....must be the seasonal depression talking.
Yeah totally agree. I would put it in top 3-5 range for me. First few listens I didn’t appreciate it but it took a few years and more listens but it’s fantastic. Might climb even more in the future but would never knock off my number one, Murmur
1. Document 2. Automatic For The People 3. Fables of the Reconstruction 4. Murmur 5. New Adventures In Hi-Fi 6. Life's Rich Pageant 7. Reckoning 8. Green 9. Out Of Time 10. Monster
The recent remix of Monster by Scott Litt is interesting, the vocals are much clearer and upfront and it's not as grungy but I think they made the right decision by not deciding on it as the released version is appropriately dirty sounding which is what they were going for at the time.
New Adventures and Dog Man Star are the most underrated albums of the 90's for me. Thanks all for this video loved it! Not hard for me to work out my number 1 as Automatic is my favourite album of all time. As a piece it's more like a symphony thanks a rock/pop/alternative album. I love that "I just got it today!" comment
Automatic for the People - one of the best albums ever. New Adventures in Hi-Fi has grown on me over time to finally eclipse Out of Time - tho' both are great albums. New Test Leper, E-Bow The Letter, Bittersweet Me, Be Mine, Binky the Doormat, So Fast, So Numb, and Electrolite - all great tracks. Around the Sun the only real duffer in their catalogue - although it does have one of their best songs - Leaving New York 1. Automatic for the People 2. New Adventures in Hi-FI 3. Out Of Time 4. Reveal 5. Up 6. Murmur 7. Green 8. Monster 9. Document 10. Collapse Into Now 11. Lifes Rich Pageant 12. Reckoning 13. Accelerate 14. Fables of the Reconstruction 15. Around the Sun
Drive is one of my favourite songs by anyone. Awesome, especially at the 2 minute mark when the electric guitars come in. My only fault with Automatic is it could've done with more 'heavy' moments like this, amongst the more sombre stuff.
REM, U2 and Madonna are all similar for me in that I’m a diehard fan of their 90’s output and just a casual fan of everything else. I like them all for their 80’s singles and post-2000 live shows. 1. New Adventures 2. Out of Time 3. Monster 4. Up 5. Automatic for the People 6. Document 7. Life’s Rich Pageant 8. Murmur 9. Fables 10. Reckoning 11. Green 12. Reveal 13. Collapse into Now 14. Around the Sun 15. Accelerate
Great video guys. Lots of really interesting thoughts both on things you like and on things you don't. This was fun to watch and I got little work done today :-( R.E.M. is one of my top 5 favorite bands all time and were the band, along with Jason & the Scorchers (Lost & Found, listen to it, pure cowpunk like you never heard before), that opened up a whole new world of rock music to me. In 1985 both bands were inexplicably slotted onto the local album-oriented rock station's playlist, somewhere between Zeppelin, the Stones, Van Halen, the Doors, the Beatles, et al. They were the sand in the vaseline of the Boomer-centric classic rock station, but to me they were manna from heaven and they let me know that somewhere out there, toiling away from just outside the commercial rock radio airwaves and the MTV heavy rotation playlist was some kind of new sound made by people younger than my parents. I have listened to all of their records through Monster hundreds of times, but after 1994 life happened and, much like Springsteen, I stopped listening to their new music. I have not listened to any album post-Monster all the way through and am not sure I ever will. I am very happy with the 10 records that follow. No dogs on this list, in my opinion. They still surprise and delight me and I'm not sure I need anything more than that. 10. Out of Time - Losing My Religion is great. Near Wild Heaven reminds me of Who Loves the Sun by the mighty VU. Me in Honey is a great closing song. Sequencing is effed-up, great observation Kramzer. A few duds on this record. 9. Green - those 2 opening tracks are great. Again, a couple duds, but mostly great stuff. 8. Monster - a much-maligned stylistic departure, but c'mon, Bang and Blame is one of their most affecting songs, possibly better than anything else released in 1994, and those first 5 songs are tremendous. A few duds, but this is a great album. 7. Chronic Town - docked a few points for being too short, but what a great EP. I've never thought about ranking EPs, but is there a better one than this? Those first three songs...perfection. 6. Automatic for the People - I can't explain how this masterpiece isn't even in the top 5. Maybe there are a couple of songs I can skip, but none of the albums that follow have any tracks I skip? Is there a stranger album that was still considered a mainstream hit? 5. Murmur - not a bad song on the album. Many great ones. Why so low then? I like me some noise. I like me some punk rock. I like me some darkness. 4. Document - this album brings the noise and the darkness, keeps the weirdness. And a cover of Wire to boot! What we want and what we need have been confused. 3. Reckoning - Peter Buck at his appregiated best. I just love the songs on this album more than I love the songs on Murmur. 2. Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables - Weird. Dark and moody. Very moody. That opening riff of Feeling Gravitys Pull and the Man Ray kind of sky. Driver 8. Can't Get There from Here. A strange masterpiece. 1. Lifes Rich Pageant - the punk rock album. I love the energy of this album. Not a bad song on it, but I feel like I can say that for albums 1 through 5 anyway. This is just the album that picks me up whenever I put it on, so that's why it's at the top.
I absolutely love REM, they are a top 3 favorite of mine so I think everything they've ever done is terrific. I appreciate the work you gentlemen put into this list, I certainty don't agree with everything but you all give an interesting perspective on their music (and all music for your channel) and do a great job. 1. Automatic For the People - a true masterpiece, songs of love and loss, transcendent of the human spirit 2. Out of Time - its diversity is its strength to me, so many different styles, all wonderfully covered 3. Green - The color of money, naivety, and the environment; all pressing matter for their big label debut. 4. New Adventures in Hi-Fi - I agree 65 minutes in a bit overlong but some of these songs are pure gold 5. Up- Jason called it outer space cocktail lunge music, and I think that’s perfect. Sorry Joe! 6. Document- Sounds great, thanks Scott Litt! 7. Murmur- A brilliant debut, if they broke up after this their name would still go down in history. 8. Lifes Rich Pageant- A great record, dropped lower due to a few goofy throwaway tracks. 9. Fables of the Reconstruction- Southern Gothic, dark and brooding 10. Monster - Yes, their “big dumb rock record” but it’s fun 11. Around the Sun - Underrated but I agree the Q-Tip cameo is cringe worthy 12. Reveal - Bright and sunny record, which isn’t necessarily their forte 13. Reckoning - A slight stumble after a brilliant debut, the mix doesn’t sound great to my ears 14. Accelerate- Short (35 minutes) with a few throwaway tracks 15. Collapse Into Now- Too many guests, too many middle of the road tracks, they knew it was the end for them so they through everything but the kitchen sink into it.
I commented back then to Jason's list and provided my top 10 REM choices. I have not changed my mind, so the old ranking is still valid - the band was history by that day, so my assessment was solid for me.
@@179rich Repost from original REM Listography Jul 31, 2019 " I was 24 when REM debut was released and a record collector for 15 years by then. I already had a VERY large collection by that time and of course some ideas about music and what I liked and what not. But I was always open for new experience. Murmur immediately clicked for me and I was sure this was a band worth watching. You rate the albums quite differently when you witness a band evolve and grow (and go down again). There was a constant line upwards for REM until Automatic, a bit of stagnation afterwards and then a fade out...Some albums have aged better than others. The late ones have not aged that well in my opinion. That said, I just made a top 10 because the ones not on my list are those that I rarely ever go back to. Anyway, they were a great band and have influenced and defined two decades of music - few bands can claim that. 10. Around the Sun 9. Lifes Rich Pageant 8. Monster 7. Reckoning 6. New Adventures in HiFi 5. Green 4. Out of Time 3. Document 2. Murmur 1. Automatic for the People
@@roxannewalsh thanks for reposting (and thanks for requesting, Rich Latta). It is difficult to explain how different and revolutionary REM's early work was, from the mumbled lyrics to the arpeggiated Rickenbacker to the packaging, which lent the band a sense of mystery and really built on a Southern gothic aesthetic. This band was doing what they were doing well before the Smiths, and while people compared them to the Byrds, largely because both guitarists played Rickenbackers, REM was part of a whole new ballgame. They were one of a growing group of young bands who were putting their own spin on rock music but were almost completely shut out of commercial radio and heavy MTV rotation until that latter half of the 80s. Those first three albums were so idiosyncratic, so different, but inspired so many copycats that I think it is difficult to appreciate them fully if you come to them a few decades afterwards and have heard so many others crib from their sound. I think the guys did a pretty good job ranking them.
@@burmajones803 Well spoken. If you come from an age where nearly every band has a bit of REM (or Velvet Underground or some other highly influential band) it is hard to imagine how different and new this stuff was for the contemporaries. Great that you also mention the cover art and everything else that surrounded them - this is where I also see the comparison with the Smiths with their covers or their many non-album tracks that were part of the picture. Today everything is "indi-something", so much that the term has become meaningless. It meant something at a time however.
REM was defiantly a good counter balance in the mid 80s, to what else was going on at the time, also Husker Du deserves more props for bringing alternative rock to the forefront.
Great video. REM were a hugely important band for me growing up. Very pleased to see Up getting some praise - I think it's hugely underrated. Suspicion, You're In The Air, At My Most Beautiful, The Apologist being big favourites of mine from that album. Their last significant artistic development I would say. RE: New Adventures... wasn't some of that recorded at soundchecks on the Monster tour? For me, those songs are inferior, sound sonically different and are the reason for the album not flowing. Fables... is a difficult one for me. I've never been able to get past the murky mix and it doesn't have the vitality of the first 2 albums. A couple of their later albums didn't work for me, but those aside, I think they have a wonderful catalogue and Michael Stipe is one of the best and most distinctive singers in rock.
63 years old and been a fan since first hearing them while in college in 1981 or so. For me, their albums up to Green are the best. Saw them live 9 times. Their early shows when Michael danced a lot, with kind of dark stage and simple lighting were the best. Life’s Rich Pageant is my favorite. Saw them in heavy rain outdoors do a killer performance of These Days that is still the most dynamic and exciting song performed by any band I saw live and I went to a lot of concerts from 1974 until now. I first-day bought and liked all of their albums, but the first 3-4 albums were the best in my opinion.
People sleeping on reveal ... It would be in my top three. I think every song on it is rather good. It's a melancholy album and those typically seem to go over people's heads.
With Kram on the later albums, Jason on Document, and Joe on Automatic for the People. 1. Automatic for the People 4.5/5 2. Lifes Rich Pageant 4/5 3. Reckoning 4/5 4. Murmur 4/5 5. Green 4/5 6. Out of Time 4/5 7. Fables of the Reconstruction 4/5 8. Document 3.5/5 9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi 3.5/5 10. Up 3/5 11. Monster 3/5 12. Collapse Into Now 3/5 13. Reveal 3/5 14. Accelerate 2.5/5 15. Around the Sun 2.5/5
I am from Scotland, almost 70 years old and have been collecting music all that time. I love you guys, it is definitely better with three different personalities. I have no problem with other peoples opinions, I collected music over the years so got to listen in sequence which obviously affects my opinionsI am impressed with your musical knowledge in the short amount of time you have been collecting. Joe listen to Joe Strummer’s greatest hits cd, you might change your mind about him. Keep on Chongjin.
@@TastesLikeMusic 13 of their albums are stellar, only 2 fall below that standard: one of which is good (Up); the other is mediocre (Around The Sun). No other band has put out as many great albums whilst putting out so few non great albums. I’m not saying they’re the best band of all time (although they are definitely in the conversation). I am saying they’re the most consistent. I even wrote a song about how much I love them… 🤷♂️ ruclips.net/video/eJIphsJKAt4/видео.html
I think you need to understand that music is subjective. Some of the bands you do lists on are a joke to me and I find it funny you feel they deem attention but Music is a very personal enjoyment and people appreciating musicians hard work is all good...up to a point. It's sad that X factor, Simon Cowell , and endless amounts of younger and younger kids singing A.I generated crap has led to the demise of music as we knew it. Their is no romance / cultural/political statements now just bland music fronted by good looking youngsters , who's exploitation only last 12 months tops. I'm glad I've lived through the times of the NME , Melody Maker, Rolling Stone and the great Biographies that let us learn about our favourite artists. Music is such a big part of my identity and it has been for so many since the birth of Rock & Roll. The way we dress, hairstyles , political leanings our culture was shaped by music in so many ways. I'm so glad we had bands like REM providing a soundtrack to our lives. @@TastesLikeMusic
I would agree with this, with the qualifier that they'd be second only to The Beatles in my estimation. Each and every one of R.E.M.'s albums has something to recommend it. Even the ones you hear panned a lot.
One. Life‘s rich pageant Two. Document Three. Fables of the reconstruction Four. Reckoning Five. Murmur Six. Green Seven. Automatic for the people Eight. Monster Nine. Out of time Ten. New adventures
REM Studio Albums Ranked by 40 People ============================================ 15. Around the Sun: average rank=14.306, average star rating=2.3 14. Accelerate: average rank=12.198, average star rating=2.8 13. Collapse Into Now: average rank=11.410, average star rating=3.1 12. Reveal: average rank=10.680, average star rating=3.3 11. Up: average rank=10.106, average star rating=3.3 10. Monster: average rank=9.312, average star rating=3.3 9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi: average rank=8.907, average star rating=3.1 8. Fables of the Reconstruction: average rank=7.190, average star rating=4.1 7. Out of Time: average rank=6.345, average star rating=3.9 6. Reckoning: average rank=6.110, average star rating=3.9 5. Green: average rank=5.473, average star rating=4.5 4. Document: average rank=5.121, average star rating=4.3 3. Lifes Rich Pageant: average rank=4.742, average star rating=4.3 2. Murmur: average rank=3.932, average star rating=4.3 1. Automatic for the People: average rank=3.307, average star rating=4.6 Statistical Analysis ============================================ Most underrated albums: Accelerate: 1.802, Collapse Into Now: 1.590, Reveal: 1.320 Most overrated albums: Automatic for the People: -2.307, Murmur: -1.932, Lifes Rich Pageant: -1.742 Most fairly-ranked albums: New Adventures in Hi-Fi: 0.093, Reckoning: 0.110, Green: 0.473 Most controversial albums: Up: 15.096, New Adventures in Hi-Fi: 14.120, Fables of the Reconstruction: 12.036 Least controversial albums: Around the Sun: 1.590, Accelerate: 3.804, Murmur: 6.839 Most negative dissent: Automatic for the People at 2.000/3.307 (lowest median-to-mean) Most positive dissent: Reveal at 12.000/10.680 (highest median-to-mean) (* underrated = receives a higher average rank than its final rank, fair = average rank pretty close to final rank, controversial = a lot of variation in how people rank it) (* positive dissent = people giving higher rankings feel more strongly than those giving lower ones) (** note: an album can still be non-controversial if everyone agrees that it's bad) The Critics ============================================ Most underrated by critics: Out of Time, 2.5 vs 3.9 from fans Most overrated by critics: Accelerate, 4.0 vs 2.8 from fans Most critic/fan consensus: Fables of the Reconstruction Overall critic rating vs fan rating of REM: 3.7 / 3.7 Ranked list from critics: 15. Around the Sun, 14. Out of Time, 13. Up, 12. Monster, 11. Reveal, 10. Green, 9. Collapse Into Now, 8. Fables of the Reconstruction, 7. New Adventures in Hi-Fi, 6. Accelerate, 5. Lifes Rich Pageant, 4. Document, 3. Murmur, 2. Reckoning, 1. Automatic for the People Phases of REM ranked: ============================================ * 80s REM (from Murmur to Green): average of 5.428 (4.2 stars) across 6 albums: Fables of the Reconstruction, Reckoning, Green, Document, Lifes Rich Pageant, Murmur * 90s REM (from Out of Time to Around the Sun): average of 8.995 (3.4 stars) across 7 albums: Around the Sun, Reveal, Up, Monster, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Out of Time, Automatic for the People * 2000s REM (from Accelerate to Collapse Into Now): average of 11.804 (3.0 stars) across 2 albums: Accelerate, Collapse Into Now Most popular phase: 80s REM Fans of Interest ============================================ Key fan scores (lower is more stereotypical): Kramzer: 9.546, Joe: 10.231, The Critics: 12.969, Jason: 16.315 Most stereotypical REM fan: Kramzer Least stereotypical REM fan: Jason Fans Clusters (K-Means Clustering) ============================================ Most fans best fit one of the following. Select one of these top 5 / bottom 3 lists. * = not shared across all lists. Cluster 1 (9 fans): Automatic for the People, Up *, Green *, Out of Time *, Lifes Rich Pageant *... Reckoning *, Accelerate *, Around the Sun Cluster 2 (13 fans): Automatic for the People, Document *, Green *, Murmur *, Out of Time *... Accelerate *, Up *, Around the Sun Cluster 3 (19 fans): Murmur *, Lifes Rich Pageant *, Reckoning *, Automatic for the People, Document *... Reveal *, Collapse Into Now *, Around the Sun Methodology: User lists and host lists (including star ratings, where provided) are pasted into text file, which is then processed and analyzed by Python script. Text file also includes info about artist and album names. Critic star ratings come from Allmusic.com.
@@droquet6961 exactly. No disrespect meant. I wouldn't be so assertive when it comes to good or bad taste, particularly with well-informed guys that know their stuff. I also like R. E. M. clearly much more than Counting Crows, but I don't think that necessarily has to be the case for everyone
Ew, dude. There’s literally zero chance I would have ever liked Pavement. I would have thought REM was horribly pretentious. Now Kram and Jason, sure. No chance for me. - Joe
I don’t think I’d make any assumptions because of one Listography.... REM isn’t even in my top 100 artists. Pavement is my least favorite band of all time and from 12-15 I mostly listened to Weird Al Yankovic. My current taste in music is pretty much the same as it has been for 20 years or so. I also disliked all the modern bands that Kram and Jason were into when we were hanging out back in the day. So if I was born say... 10 years earlier I’m guessing I would be mostly into metal? I’m more of a contrarian than anything, so if Kram and Jason were really into REM I probably would end up hating them. - Joe
Great record. It's a good companion album to Murmur. Different sounding but still very complementary. People sometimes forget how good these early songs are. Still sound fresh and classic at the same time. And to be doing that in 83-84, amazing stuff.
I love pretty much all their albums, but if I had to rank them. 15. Around The Sun 14. Reveal 13. Reckoning 12. Up 11. Fables Of The Reconstruction 10. Monster 9. Life's Rich Pageant 8. Murmur 7. Accelerate 6. Out Of Time 5. Green 4. Collapse Into Now 3. New Adventures In Hi-Fi 2. Document 1. Automatic For The People
NAIHF is R.E.M. at the absolute peak of their powers. Fourteen tracks, and not one dud, despite the widely-ranging variety of styles. ATFP is the only thing in their catalogue that comes even close.
Massive R.E.M. obsessive here. This is my list: 1. Automatic for the People 2. Monster 3. New Adventures in Hi-Fi 4. Out of Time 5. Up 6. Green 7. Murmur 8. Reckoning 9. Fables of the Reconstruction 10. Collapse into Now 11. Lifes Rich Pageant 12. Reveal 13. Document 14. Accelerate 15. Around the Sun
Thanks to Jason for encouraging me to give Collapse into Now another listen. Really great album, really underrated, lots of great songs. Probably their most cohesive work thematically since Automatic for the People.
But he puts murmur near last? Murmur has some great songs I’ve heard n rolling stone voted it one of the albums of the year so it must be pretty good? [:] 0
@@Jiv_Ing57819 This is what I find a bit irritating about Jason. He comes off as an elitist most of the time and I feel like some of his controversal placement of albums are done for no other reason than to stir the waters and create controversy. Kramzer is a mixed bag for me because he sometimes shows his bias when ranking a band he personally likes or dislikes. I trust Joe's opinion on these rankings because he actually tries to keep an open mind and form an opinion based purely on the merits of the music as opposed to his personal views on the band.
Agreed. Loved it at the time (25 years ago?!") and still love it now. The post Up albums are the only ones I can take or leave these days. I love all the rest of their stuff.
I mean, I love you guys - but this list made me wince! New Adventures and Murmur getting MURDERED out there. I'd like to politely correct your list: These ten records are untouchable. 1. Automatic (completely beautiful and haunting front to back) 2. Murmur (unbelievable quality straight outta the gate...almost never matched) 3. New Adventures in HIFI (contains all time greats - Ebow, Leave, Be Mine, Electrolite - and I love how dark it is...) 4. Life's Rich Pageant (kicks ass all the way through but finds beauty as well) 5. Out of Time (yes, messy, and widescreen in its scope - but sounds timeless) 6. Green (Their most underrated record) 7. Up (My first REM album so holds a place in my heart) 8. Document (Reaching for the mainstream and hitting the bullseye - slightly weaker back half) 9. Monster (they went for sounding like everyone else, and ended up sounding like nothing else...) 10. Reckoning (Murmur part.2 - the slightly less good sequel) These records are good. 11. Fables (peak mumble-rock - but lovely in places) 12. Accelerate (half a great album) 13. Collapse (another half great album) 14. Reveal (Up's much less interesting brother) This record is boring. 15. Around the Sun (zzzzzzzzzz)
I am with Kram on this one, his list would be closest to mine. The later records after Bill Berry left just didn’t do much for me. Document would be number 1 for me as well, something coalesced with that record.
Joe - I hope you don't think I'm being patronising when I say this, but I found your comments about Automatic really interesting, when you said about hearing your Mum play it and you not really liking it but it really clicking with you now. I think maybe that it's an album you need to have lived through certain things to really appreciate it. It's not nessesarily an age thing, but for me my love of this album grows as I do and my life experiences do. Which I think is really interesting and it kind of struck a chord with me when you were talking about it, because I never used to rate it so highly either.
I definitely think there are some albums where it helps to have more life experience before you can appreciate it. My tastes haven’t changed that much in the 20 years or so, but I definitely can appreciate some things more. REM is a good example of a band that I didn’t think I liked that much outside of their hits. - Joe
I'm an REM fan, and my rankings have changed over the years, my ranking would be: 1 Lifes Rich Pageant 2 Document 3 Murmur 4 New Adventures In Hi-Fi 5 Out Of Time 6 Automatic For The People 7 Monster 8 Green 9 Fables Of The Reconstruction 10 Reckoning 11 Up 12 Collapse Into Now 13 Accelerate 14 Reveal 15 Around The Sun
R.E.M. are one of my favourite bands. Here's my list: 1- Lifes Rich Pageant 2 - Murmur 3 - Reckoning 4 - Fables Of The Reconstruction 5 - Green 6 - New Adventures In Hi-Fi 7 - Document 8 - Out Of Time 9 - Automatic for The People 10 - Accelerate 11 - Monster 12 - Reveal 13 - Up 14 - Collapse Into Now 15 - Around The Sun
Another enjoyable video from you guys. Jason, I found it odd that you'd write off "Out Of Time" as a weaker album here on grounds that a lot of the songs have little in common, and therefore don't belong together. (A statement with which I'd disagree.) And yet, this is precisely the main appeal of The Beatles' "White Album", which you listed as #1 in your video that ranks Beatles albums. (It's my #1 too, for that very reason.)
Don't understand why "Around The Sun" gets so little love, really. It's no "Automatic" or "Lifes Rich Pageant", but I can play it and replay it and enjoy it. It's just R.E.M. trying to be something different this time around, which they kinda did with each new album. There are two weak tracks, but this happened on most of the albums after "New Adventures", probably to satisfy some questionable notion that more tracks were needed since CDs could hold more music. There are more than a few catchy compositions on "Around The Sun".
Mine at the moment would probably be: 1. Murmur 2. Reckoning 3. Automatic For The People 4. Lifes Rich Pageant 5. Up 6. Out Of Time 7. Document 8. New Adventures In Hi-Fi 9. Green 10. Accelerate 11. Fables Of The Reconstruction 12. Reveal 13. Collapse Into Now 14. Monster 15. Around The Sun Since I’m a huge fanboy and they’re in my top 5 favorite bands, probably up to 11 or 12 on this ranking is at least 4 stars for me, the next couple are 3-1/2 and the too dull and adult contemporary Around The Sun is low 3/high 2-1/2. I’ve mentioned before that Automatic and Pageant were probably the biggest growers throughout my fandom (I could probably concede they’re the two best albums songwriting-wise - I’m just still enough under the spell of the mysterious Murmur and Reckoning), while Green used to be much higher in the early days I was getting into them but not as much in recent years (although it’s plenty good). Maybe I’m also a bit biased towards New Adventures since it was their first new release to come out after I became obsessed (although I don’t hold the same warm feelings for Monster, maybe because I don’t feel like that overly tremeloed glam rock sound is their forte, and feel like New Adventures is a more natural sounding cross between that album and Automatic). I do admit to yelling out “oh, come on” when Joe put Up last, but knowing his overall tastes I can kind of understand it. 😜 Figuring out top 10 favorite songs for me is going to be even harder than ranking the albums, though I will have to admit “Losing My Religion” has to be up there in the top 3 at least. It probably sounds the best when listening to all their albums consecutively, as I’ve done a few times.
This is how I rank the eight I own: 1. Document 2. Fables of the Reconstruction 3. Out of Time 4. Murmur 5. Reckoning 6. Automatic for the People 7. Life's Rich Pageant 8. Monster
You have so much awesome music left to discover. I'm jealous! Start with New Adventures in Hi-Fi (these guys are clearly deaf), followed by Accelerate. That's my opinion though, ask 100 REM fans, you'll get 100 different answers.
@@Jiv_Ing57819 if that was addressed to me, then top five definitely. Could be as high as number two on any given day, but New Adventures in Hi-Fi will always be their peak of peaks for me.
Good ordering. A great band with ‘Automatic’ indeed the peak - perfect southern gothic alt country them:) Footnote: Stipe has repeatedly listed BDP as one of his favourite bands and ‘Blupribt’ as his fave rap album thus the KRS one appearance on ‘Radio Song’. I like it very much as it capture hip hop ascendancy at becoming THE sound of modern music and both singers are lamenting what they are hearing - witty.
Document: "Everything sounds really important like you have to hear what they say on this album". Well said, and after all isn't that what matters most in a rock record?
Are you guys sure it isn't Reconstruction of the Fables? I think the album packaging played around with that possibility. More of R.E.M.'s syntactical games.
My CD box has Fables of the Reconstruction on one side and Reconstruction of the Fables on the other edge. The CD itself has Fables... My LP has both again - one on each side the vinyl record.
1. Out of Time 2. Green 3. Document 4. Lifes Rich Pageant 5. Up 6. Monster 7. Automatic For the People 8. Fables of the Reconstruction 9. Murmur 10. Reckoning .......................... Out of Time has a lot of nostalgia for me which undoubtedly colours my perception.
Out of time while hard 2 listen at first sounds classic and is a unique interesting listen. Lost my copy unfortunately n they don’t sell it much anymore but one thing is sure if the album has losing religion, shiny happy people, endgame, near wild heaven, country feedback, low it’s sure to be something of an album, I think they were finding their feet in a new way and it sounds like an exciting promising period.
Ok you get some credit back for loving Drive Joe....👋👋... beautiful opener....my second fave of theirs in fact....Sets the scene beautifully and takes brooding into another realm....
"Document" is obviously their biggest album. It's like a triumphant combination of all the best things on the albums which proceeded it. Not surprised they were snapped up by the majors right afterwards. All of their IRS albums could easily occupy the top slots here. "Life's Rich Pageant" would be #2, with "Murmur" being #3. Skipping ahead I do think "Reckoning" would fall at #6 with "Dead Letter Office" being behind it at #7. Note: I am counting the "Chronic Town" EP and "Dead Letter Office" to arrive at that number. Otherwise, I stalled on their major label releases. "Green" just has Stipe's vocals too high in the mix. He's a lot less interesting when you can actually make out the words he's singing. I did like and appreciate "Out of Time" as what I would expect from REM. Hated the sleepy wind-up music box sounding songs on "Automatic For the People" and just stopped listening at that point. However, they did continue on to be great 'live.'
I also prefer when Stipe is lower in the mix and when it’s hard to understand what he’s saying. It not only makes it more interesting but it fit the sound really well and actually made him a better singer compared to when he’s high up in the mix or straining trying to hit all the melodies from singing loudly. It’s interesting how so few mention this but it’s one of the most significant changes they made in their career.
1. Automatic for the people - this may have the most stunning of stunners..."Sweetness Follows," "Nightswimming" and "Find The River." Not to mention "Drive" and "Everybody Hurts." And... 2. Lifes Rich Pageant - probably the album that made me fall in love with them in the first place 3. Reckoning - the top 3 albums are my favorite and which is my ACTUAL favorite at the time I'm asked will change on any given day 4. Murmur 5. Document 6. Green - the first half of this album is a lot better than the 2nd half of this album 7. Out of Time - this is so good for a #7 album 8. Fables Of The Reconstruction - the top 8 are on one level...4 star albums and above...they drop off significantly from here 9. Up - I think half of this album is incredible, especially "At My Most Beautiful," but half of it, not so much 10. New Adventures In Hi-Fi - always loved the song "Be Mine"...the album is just TOO LONG, but there's a good album hiding in there somewhere 11. Accelerate 12. Reveal 13. Collapse Into Now 14. Around The Sun 15. Monster - one of the biggest disappointments in my music listening life. Still, I have always loved the song "Star 69."
Dude knows his REM. My list would be similar, except I put Life’s Rich Pageant, Reckconing and Murmur a bit lower, but in that order, and Green and Document higher in reverse order.I suppose Green is to me that Life’s Rich Pageant is to you.
I don't know about Green, hasn't held up that well in my opinion. The album has no flow and several of the songs never did much for me. Pop song 89 is a complete throwaway, maybe their weakest opener. Green has the hits and a few deep cuts certainly but for an album that went double platinum it's a little spotty to me, but I feel the same way about Out Of Time.
@@mck7646 "Pop Song '89" is actually my favorite song on the album and, I believe, one of my top 10 favorites. That's the thing with REM: with so much great material released, every fan has its favorite songs and favorite albums and no two fans would have the same two lists.
Yeah, I’m tempted to put Monster at the bottom of my list too. Bang and Blame and I Took Your Name are unnerving and uncomfortable and creepy as hell; I Don’t Sleep, I Dream is terrible; Let Me In is terrible. What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?, Crush With Eyeliner and Strange Currencies are the only good songs on it.
For the umpteenth time in the last 40 years or so, I am currently obsessed with "Murmur," which remains my favorite REM if only because of all the sonic textures and rhythms weaving together like the kudzu on the cover. Unless you're Joni Mitchell, pop lyrics tend toward the banal. They're supposed to be somewhat cryptic, suggestive and half-understood so you can hear them a million times and pick out the fragments that resonate for you at any given time, but the sound of the words is probably what matters the most. Like: "Callin' on in transit/Radio Free Europe/Radio." What more needs to be articulated? "Murmur" also has that hollow-wood drum sound over the minor chord shifts on "Moral Kiosk" which has always been one of my favorite things in the world: "It's so much more attractive [clunk-clunk, clunk-clunk] Inside the moral kiosk [clunk-clunk, clunk-clunk)." God, I love that.
Radio Song is great - sister song to Can’t Get There From Here, Feeling Gravity’s Pull and even Orange Crush. Great lyrics on the album, matured…‘I’ve got everything to show, I’ve got everything to hide’, ‘I’ve said to much, I haven’t said enough’. Jason’s comment about Mills vocal is very on point. Listen to three part harmony (counter melodies) chorus on Fall On Me: Mill: ‘What is it up in the air for’…Berry: ‘It’s going to fall… Stipe: ‘Fall on meeee’. Just haunting - recalls The Band’s vocal acrobatics
I was in my early twenties when they came out and I think that really makes a difference with anything we rate. Murmur is by far my favorite. Its most likely to be in my top twenty albums.
I also favor the music I first heard by them - Lifes Rich Pageant and Fables. I don't know it it's the great memories, the newness of it, the music or just coincidence.
I rated Murmur at #1 even though the first albums I heard from REM were Document and Green. But I have a thing for a band's early music. In 90+% of cases a band's first 4 to 7 albums are my favorite and it's downhill from there.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Yeah, probably most bands lose their magic sooner or later over time. Some don't though. And some start off weak and get a lot better.
@@179rich Yeah, there are rare cases where a band actually gets better in their 2nd and 3rd decade. I think The Flaming Lips are an example of that. But those are definitely the exceptions. The vast majority of bands start out great and slowly decline.
01. Green 02. Automatic For The People 03. Document 04. Murmer 05. Life's Rich Pageant 06. Reckoning 07. Out Of Time 08. New Adventures In Hi-Fi 09. Fables Of The Reconstruction 10. Monster Never dived into their post Berry stuff.
1. Murmur (5/5) 2. Automatic for the People (5/5) 3. Document (5/5) 4. Reckoning (4.5/5) 5. Life's Rich Pageant (4.5/5) 6. Fables of the Reconstruction (4/5) 7. Green (4/5) 8. Out of Time (4/5) 9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi (3.5/5) 10. Monster (3.5/5) 11. Reveal (3.5/5) 12. Up (3.5/5) 13. Collapse Into Now (3/5) 14. Accelerate (3/5) 15. Around the Sun (1.5/5) I'd echo the sentiment that REM are one of the most consistent bands in rock history. They'll definitely be in my "top 100 greatest artists," although probably in the bottom half. They're true legends when it comes to albums, not as much for singles.
1 Automatic 2 Perhaps Murmur or monster, gets harder 2 compare cause don’t have early albums 3 Green 4 Out of time 5 and I feel fine: best of the irs years compilation! : -D 6 Later day tracks off rem best of 88-2004, just I wouldn’t know if some of the albums would be full of good songs as a whole
Haven’t fully heard murmur but don’t know if I’d put it ahead of Austomatic dude, automatic is really good, strong album, it can really help at hard times, maybe murmur is really good, I do like a couple songs that could be off there like perfect circle, radio free Europe, some of the songs I’ve heard off the first two albums are very good songs like 7 Chinese bros n South central rain ,: 0
I only saw them live once, Document tour with projected films, etc. DB’s opened for the. Stunning show. Everyone stood on their folding chairs the whole show. UIC, Chicago.
And when they played "End of the World," it made people fall off their chairs, right? Or was that just the Green Tour with the fast-speed ferris wheel on the screen?
Did any of you guys hear the remix of Monster that came out a couple years ago. It is quite a radical remix in some places. Also, do you guys do fixed up versions of albums; resequence tracks, add outtakes from the time, remove bad tracks, etc?
I haven’t heard the remixed monster. Might have to check it out because the mix is probably my biggest issue with it. And we are discussing a series where we resequence poorly sequences albums. So maybe. -Jason
Believe this is the first listography you guys have done, where I’m overtly familiar with all of the records. It helps that I’ve been a fan for 30 plus years .. Having said that, nobody is gonna agree with my list. But that’s why we all have our own opinions for, so we can disagree lol 1) Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) 2) Out of Time (1991) 3) Murmur (1983) 4) Reckoning (1984) 5) Monster (1994) 6) Life’s Rich Pageant (1986) 7) Automatic for the People (1992) 8) Up (1998) 9) New Adventures in Hi Fi (1996) 10) Green (1988) 11) Around the Sun (2004) 12) Document (1987) 13) Collapse Into Now (2011) 14) Reveal (2001) 15) Accelerate (2008)
There is a Document box with the album Document and a live version of Document. I got it a few years ago. Not sure if it’s still available but worth looking for.
Going against an idea of mine watching this before I check them out, buuut I figure it might be cool to watch to get some idea of where to start 🤙🤙 btw should DEFINITELY do a remaster of The Cure rankings!
My favorite R.E.M. album is their first eight albums. I have ranked them 10 times and got 10 different answers. I guess it just comes down to my mood that day. The EP Chronic Town is outstanding as well. I am of the opinion that Monster and New Adventures aren’t quite as good and would rank at 9 and 10 but they still have sone great moments. The albums after Bill left are clearly the worst of their catalog in my opinion.
Being a big R.E.M fan who is very passionate about my music just wanted to say the dude these guys basically share a very common give all aknolegging an awareness of the bands craft but have zero love for which I understand and am sure I have expieeences myself with other artists which I can respect and relate because some things can be heartfelt authentic and crafted well enough to be noticed and even appreciate that for some reason or another fail to gel with a particular listener vibe it just doesn't connect but as hard watching 3 people shit on what I believe to be my fine taste was barrable getting through. I think the 90s were the greatest time in music history and hope to present my claim with a future video providing my opinion as a fact no I can't ever change anyones mind but besides the common coming of age decade which someone lives usually being the decade which is held in the highest regard however I can point out the many reasons to back my claim which is the 90s we're the best time in music having the many world changing intense impact and overall enjoyment that was offered to those lucky enough to have been around that payed attention . R.E.M isn't a band that I feel comfortable enough blasting all day viewing them as something some may see as douchie or pretentious my friends give me hell for being a huge Kurt Cobain Nirvana fanatic and as relentless as they are about something I really care about and annoyed I get with them To me their music is so awesome that I will blast loudly caring a F you vibe to everyone else deal with it because these songs rock plus view Nirvana as pretty much the band that made what à is generally viewed as alternative rock creating and pushing the craft without changing their song into the many sub catagories alternative umbrella type of sound which it holds a great example is the Red hot chili peppers or The offspring or even the Beastie boys or psychodelic/ alternative like The Smashing Pumpkins or Nine inch nails.
Lifes Rich Pageant is my most satisfying REM listen. No obvious hits, but the album is so *EVEN*. No iconic anthems, but no clunkers either. Every song is a good song. And they all go together well. Silver medal? Document.
When I first heard this record, I thought it was pretty darn good, but it was never among my favorites. It's a bit brief, and they dusted off old songs like Just a Touch, What if We Give it Away, both written in 1981, plus Hyena, written in '83 or '84. But I've met a lot of people who thinks it's by far the best R.E.M. album. On my 1-15 list, it's about 5 or 6.
I don’t blame you. Lifes Rich Pageant is definitely the band’s most accessible I.R.S. album by far. Personally tho, there are (only) two clunkers on the album…oh yeah, you know it’s coming: the opening track and the closing track. I don’t care for Begin the Begin or Superman at all. But hey, I love the rest of the album. :)
@@jeffmaehre7150yeah, it’s my #6, just outside the top 5.
@@curly_wyn I love Begin the Begin and Superman. For me, Coyahoga is the clunker. Maybe it's something that happens at the molecular level.
I think it's definitely their best album, from the incredible opening riff of "Begin the begin" to the majestic 'Fall on me', 'Cuyahoga', 'I believe', 'Flowers of Guatemala', 'Swan swan H', etc. Great production, amazing songs. A couple of lesser tracks with "Hyena" and "Just a touch" but terrific overall. Even the two hidden tracks are great.
Dude new adventures in hifi is mindblowing
Plus is Stipes favorite
Really good record, I think it’s more of a grower though, an album you’ve gotta spend some time with to really get into. It is long but it’s a big statement from them and puts forth a lot of their different styles and ideas. I think it’s a good mix of Automatic+Monster.
The last one I really got into. I loved it at the time but I do think now that it's too long. With a bit of pruning it would be higher in people's lists.
As a true REM fan, my top 10 list would be different every time I wrote it. Love all the albums differently.
Word
@@beerhe Great response. With REM, you need a top 20…I like a lot of their oddities, instrumentals too! Went from loving the GUITAR GOD rock of the 70’s -Page, Blackmore, Gibbons, Schenker, etc- to loving Buck’s simple jangly picking even more!
One more thought: Mike Mills is one of the most underrated bass players of all time.
I'm relistening to the albums I own, and I become more and more convinced that he is the difference maker for this band. Sometimes it feels like he gets more attention for his harmonizing and his backup vocals (wouldn't be unjustified, they are one of the band's hallmarks and are sublime) than he does for his bass playing. But he plays such great bass lines. Absolutely essential.
Absolutely. Melodic without being over the top.
Yes.
Add to that legendary backup vocals like It’s the End of the World and Fall on Me, and his keyboard work and composing such as Nightswimming.
I agree
When I saw them on Letterman, “Radio Free Europe,” I was amazed by that bass line. And he’s jumping all over the place while he plays. I wished they had focused on him a little more. And I loved this garage band-looking group was so awesome. Never understood anything Stipe sang except the title words.
Enjoy their entire discography. Don't think they have a bad album. Some are just stronger than others.
15. Accelerate
14. Collapse Into Now
13. Around the Sun
12. Monster
*. Dead Letter Office
11. Fables of the Reconstruction
10. Green
9. Reckoning
8. Out of Time
7. Reveal
6. Up
5. Murmur
4. Lifes Rich Pageant
*. Chronic Town
3. Document
2. Automatic for the People
1. New Adventures in Hi-Fi
automatic for the people is such a beautiful album, one of the best album of all time
Superb gents. Enjoyed hearing your perspectives on my favourite band's albums.
Your criticisims are all balanced and credible.
been blinking at my "Green" record sleeve for about 5 minutes now and I can start seeing the green spots when I close my eyes!
Also if you tilt it in the light there is an embossed 4 over the R. That always made me think that they were speaking to us in some kind of code and there was some secret hidden message
@@scottmcrae3355 stipe explained it that when he used a typewritter machine to write the names of the songs he by mistake typed "R" instead of "4" ( the are close on the the keyboad),and he liked it and leave it this way.
on the back u can see the songs and their numbers and its written: "R. Stand", instead of: "4. Stand"
1. Green. A bold celebration of life, both positive and negative
2. Fables of the Reconstruction. It's dark as hell and packs a mighty emotional punch
3. Murmer. A quirky look at life, offbeat and has a nerdy charm. Unique.
4. Reckoning. Songs about longing and loss, superbly written and played
5. Automatic for the People. Myriad styles of music, excellent songwriting.
Nice to see the appreciation for Fables. It was my first REM album and saw them in concert before they got big.
Jason cracks me up. No idea where he will go. "Yeah I've got Exile On Main Street last. At my number three definitely Steel Wheels. Between A Rock and A Hard Place the best single since Angie."
Lol
Really warming to your videos and respect the knowledge you all have on the depth of music covered by the channel.
Two comments stood out for me- the one about Reveal and Up being like companion albums, which I've always believed, and the one about Document being the album where they started to sound like the REM that people most associate with REM. In Document, Michael sounds strong and positive- like he has something to say and he wants the world to hear it.
Fantastic videos guys, enjoying every bit of them
15. Around the Sun
14. Up
13. Accelerate
12. Reveal
11. Collapse into Now
10. New Adventures in Hi Fi
9. Monster
8. Reckoning
7. Document
6. Fables of the Reconstruction
5. Out of Time
4. Murmur
3. Green
2. Lifes Rich Pageant
1. Automatic for the People
Up is an album to listen to at 2 am after a few cocktails. Every song is great and memorable
Definitely not memorable. Great YMMV. - Joe
My go to road trip album.
What you do is great guys. Keep it up. I usually do not agree with your rankings and from what i see in the comments you stir the waters with your choices, (and this is what makes your rankings great)but I think that what may cause this huge division between your choices and fans, and not only with REM, is that on some cases you are forced to mass listen and at the same time rank albums in a very short period of time. Some albums are revealing their strengths and charm after repeated spins, and with a different state of mind (not one that tries to compare and rank things) Also, some works carry the distinctive aroma of an era which unfortunately we, the younger ones, can't actually get, since we weren't around back then. Of course many will say that this way we can be more objective, but this is also a folly, since ranking music, is pretty much like music categories. They are only there to serve a purpose that has little to do with the actual music. I like ranking things, and I see the fun in doing it, but i don't get too serious about it, because music is supposed to be fun and ranking a bit extra fun on top. Of course having three people listing their favourites has merits, most importantly acting as a buyers' guide. Top 5 records from combined lists can be a good solid place to start. On topic - REM are a bit hard to rank, unlike bands like Dire straits that only have 6 albums- which are all equally great, or black sabbath that their top 10 contains at least 5 common ones from all three. I am not a huge REM fan, although I have all their albums. Still the ones that I had the spare time and free mind to listen at their time of release, (my late teens) I call my favourite. And somehow I feel that I am probably mistaken because I didn't give the same equal chances to all their albums, previous ones (because I was too young) or later ones (because I had other issues on my mind). Anyway, keep it up, you are a great company while I work. Ann afterthought would be to revisit some bands after 2-3 years of listening to their albums and create a new ranking, compare it with the previous one and see how it goes.
My personal favourite R.E.M album is UP. I can't wait to purchase the 25th anniverary album. ❤
Great work you three! I definitely like the trifecta balance and viewpoints. Keep Rocking. 🥸
I was in high school when Chronic Town came out and college during the IRS years. Followed them on their tour dates in Texas and even bought some beers for Mike Mills and Bill Berry. Definitely suffer from the “my band” attitude, college rock snobbiest and I had an irrational issue with them getting played on radio. I loved/love Murmur and Reckoning the most, but recall listening to Life’s Rich Pageant thinking it was the first album I loved on first listening from that entire era. In general, I think you guys did a great job with this one. Appreciate and agree with your wrap up assessments. Jason, you kill me with your assessment of Murmur. You are the enigma of this one. ;)
Long-time REM fan, they were the first band I ever saw live (Green tour 1989). I skew heavily towards the IRS years, so here's my 15...
1. Fables Of The Reconstruction
2. Murmur
3. Green
4. Document
5. Reckoning
6. Life's Rich Pageant
7. Automatic For The People
8. Out Of Time
9. Monster
10. Collapse Into Now
11. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
12. Up
13. Reveal
14. Accelerate
15. Around The Sun
R.E.M. albums ranking:
1. Reckoning
2. Murmur
3. Lifes Rich Pageant
4. Fables of the Reconstruction
5. Document
6. Green
7. Automatic For the People
8. New Adventures in Hi-Fi
9. Out of Time
10. Monster
11. Collapse into Now
12. Accelerate
13. Reveal
14. Up
15. Around the Sun
As a big REM fan for over 35 years this was very difficult. I could have put any of the first 4 albums at #1. While I definitely come back to the IRS albums most often I can find good things in all of their albums. I appreciate your guys’ lists
and enjoyed your commentary. Cheers! / Matt
If including EPs and B-side records, Chronic Town definitely in the top 5 and Dead Letter Office in the top 10.
That's a solid ranking. I think Automatic deserves to be a couple spots higher but I totally get why people who were fans from the beginning don't think it's as good as their early stuff.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 dude, always love your comments. But please please please continue the full five guesses on aoty. It's a highlight of our week. We literally text each other to see if you've posted them yet
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Yeah I really liked Automatic when it came out but for me it hasn't held up over time as much as their early stuff. That being said, Nightswimming and Find The River are sublime and possibly the two best closing tracks on any album.
@@ryankramzer1256 I guess I can try. It's just that we're getting into the years I don't know as well... heck, I don't know for sure what my top 5 is gonna be in any given year from now on so I figured trying to predict your guys' top 5 would be prohibitively difficult. I'll go back to trying to predict all 5 if you want... but get ready for some 0/15 scores.
Your approach to songs and albums is refreshing and it’s nice to see that you are not falling for the usual mainstream music press nonsense and snobbery. The comments about Out of time reflect this well.
Just a great band who’s catalog overall is pretty special. The top spots is ever changing for me. Love seeing Fables up high on all your lists.
I always felt that I was growing up and evolving as they were as a band. As I changed they changed.
🤘🤘🤘👏👏👏
R.E.M. was the first band that I ever became truly obsessed with. In the pre-internet their music and imagery seemed so mysterious to this young teen and I read and listened to and watched everything that I could get my hands on.I am very much an IRS era “snob” but do love pretty much everything up until and including Automatic, do like monster and Hi-Fi a lot and really dislike Up. So much so that I stopped paying attention therefore don’t really have much of an opinion on the Berry-free years. Perhaps I should finally give those albums a chance. My absolute favourite is always changing but right now I am really feeling Fables of the Reconstruction of the....must be the seasonal depression talking.
Wow "New Adventures in Hi Fi" is my favorite album by this marvellous band.
Yeah totally agree. I would put it in top 3-5 range for me. First few listens I didn’t appreciate it but it took a few years and more listens but it’s fantastic. Might climb even more in the future but would never knock off my number one, Murmur
Explain.
@@johnkammerle1822 Actually, Stipe’s favorite R.E.M. album was Reveal.
It's my number 2 behind Automatic. Loved it. Shocked to see it so low.
1. Document
2. Automatic For The People
3. Fables of the Reconstruction
4. Murmur
5. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
6. Life's Rich Pageant
7. Reckoning
8. Green
9. Out Of Time
10. Monster
The recent remix of Monster by Scott Litt is interesting, the vocals are much clearer and upfront and it's not as grungy but I think they made the right decision by not deciding on it as the released version is appropriately dirty sounding which is what they were going for at the time.
New Adventures and Dog Man Star are the most underrated albums of the 90's for me.
Thanks all for this video loved it!
Not hard for me to work out my number 1 as Automatic is my favourite album of all time. As a piece it's more like a symphony thanks a rock/pop/alternative album. I love that "I just got it today!" comment
Automatic for the People - one of the best albums ever. New Adventures in Hi-Fi has grown on me over time to finally eclipse Out of Time - tho' both are great albums. New Test Leper, E-Bow The Letter, Bittersweet Me, Be Mine, Binky the Doormat, So Fast, So Numb, and Electrolite - all great tracks. Around the Sun the only real duffer in their catalogue - although it does have one of their best songs - Leaving New York
1. Automatic for the People
2. New Adventures in Hi-FI
3. Out Of Time
4. Reveal
5. Up
6. Murmur
7. Green
8. Monster
9. Document
10. Collapse Into Now
11. Lifes Rich Pageant
12. Reckoning
13. Accelerate
14. Fables of the Reconstruction
15. Around the Sun
Monster!................ My No 1.
This is my #1 review show you’ve done.
Thanks for shouting out Suspicion on Up, a truly slept-on deep cut, not a famous-for-not-being-famous deep cut like Country Feedback.
R.E.M. get kinda sexy on that one. ;-)
@@179rich I love the tremolo guitar solo, it's like a storm cloud that descends on the song.
@@DeflatingAtheism best slow motion guitar solo ever!
I absolutely loved Up and Monster
Drive is one of my favourite songs by anyone. Awesome, especially at the 2 minute mark when the electric guitars come in. My only fault with Automatic is it could've done with more 'heavy' moments like this, amongst the more sombre stuff.
REM, U2 and Madonna are all similar for me in that I’m a diehard fan of their 90’s output and just a casual fan of everything else. I like them all for their 80’s singles and post-2000 live shows.
1. New Adventures
2. Out of Time
3. Monster
4. Up
5. Automatic for the People
6. Document
7. Life’s Rich Pageant
8. Murmur
9. Fables
10. Reckoning
11. Green
12. Reveal
13. Collapse into Now
14. Around the Sun
15. Accelerate
Great video guys. Lots of really interesting thoughts both on things you like and on things you don't. This was fun to watch and I got little work done today :-( R.E.M. is one of my top 5 favorite bands all time and were the band, along with Jason & the Scorchers (Lost & Found, listen to it, pure cowpunk like you never heard before), that opened up a whole new world of rock music to me. In 1985 both bands were inexplicably slotted onto the local album-oriented rock station's playlist, somewhere between Zeppelin, the Stones, Van Halen, the Doors, the Beatles, et al. They were the sand in the vaseline of the Boomer-centric classic rock station, but to me they were manna from heaven and they let me know that somewhere out there, toiling away from just outside the commercial rock radio airwaves and the MTV heavy rotation playlist was some kind of new sound made by people younger than my parents.
I have listened to all of their records through Monster hundreds of times, but after 1994 life happened and, much like Springsteen, I stopped listening to their new music. I have not listened to any album post-Monster all the way through and am not sure I ever will. I am very happy with the 10 records that follow. No dogs on this list, in my opinion. They still surprise and delight me and I'm not sure I need anything more than that.
10. Out of Time - Losing My Religion is great. Near Wild Heaven reminds me of Who Loves the Sun by the mighty VU. Me in Honey is a great closing song. Sequencing is effed-up, great observation Kramzer. A few duds on this record.
9. Green - those 2 opening tracks are great. Again, a couple duds, but mostly great stuff.
8. Monster - a much-maligned stylistic departure, but c'mon, Bang and Blame is one of their most affecting songs, possibly better than anything else released in 1994, and those first 5 songs are tremendous. A few duds, but this is a great album.
7. Chronic Town - docked a few points for being too short, but what a great EP. I've never thought about ranking EPs, but is there a better one than this? Those first three songs...perfection.
6. Automatic for the People - I can't explain how this masterpiece isn't even in the top 5. Maybe there are a couple of songs I can skip, but none of the albums that follow have any tracks I skip? Is there a stranger album that was still considered a mainstream hit?
5. Murmur - not a bad song on the album. Many great ones. Why so low then? I like me some noise. I like me some punk rock. I like me some darkness.
4. Document - this album brings the noise and the darkness, keeps the weirdness. And a cover of Wire to boot! What we want and what we need have been confused.
3. Reckoning - Peter Buck at his appregiated best. I just love the songs on this album more than I love the songs on Murmur.
2. Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables - Weird. Dark and moody. Very moody. That opening riff of Feeling Gravitys Pull and the Man Ray kind of sky. Driver 8. Can't Get There from Here. A strange masterpiece.
1. Lifes Rich Pageant - the punk rock album. I love the energy of this album. Not a bad song on it, but I feel like I can say that for albums 1 through 5 anyway. This is just the album that picks me up whenever I put it on, so that's why it's at the top.
I absolutely love REM, they are a top 3 favorite of mine so I think everything they've ever done is terrific. I appreciate the work you gentlemen put into this list, I certainty don't agree with everything but you all give an interesting perspective on their music (and all music for your channel) and do a great job.
1. Automatic For the People - a true masterpiece, songs of love and loss, transcendent of the human spirit
2. Out of Time - its diversity is its strength to me, so many different styles, all wonderfully covered
3. Green - The color of money, naivety, and the environment; all pressing matter for their big label debut.
4. New Adventures in Hi-Fi - I agree 65 minutes in a bit overlong but some of these songs are pure gold
5. Up- Jason called it outer space cocktail lunge music, and I think that’s perfect. Sorry Joe!
6. Document- Sounds great, thanks Scott Litt!
7. Murmur- A brilliant debut, if they broke up after this their name would still go down in history.
8. Lifes Rich Pageant- A great record, dropped lower due to a few goofy throwaway tracks.
9. Fables of the Reconstruction- Southern Gothic, dark and brooding
10. Monster - Yes, their “big dumb rock record” but it’s fun
11. Around the Sun - Underrated but I agree the Q-Tip cameo is cringe worthy
12. Reveal - Bright and sunny record, which isn’t necessarily their forte
13. Reckoning - A slight stumble after a brilliant debut, the mix doesn’t sound great to my ears
14. Accelerate- Short (35 minutes) with a few throwaway tracks
15. Collapse Into Now- Too many guests, too many middle of the road tracks, they knew it was the end for them so they through everything but the kitchen sink into it.
I commented back then to Jason's list and provided my top 10 REM choices. I have not changed my mind, so the old ranking is still valid - the band was history by that day, so my assessment was solid for me.
Doesn't hurt to repost it.
@@179rich Repost from original REM Listography Jul 31, 2019
" I was 24 when REM debut was released and a record collector for 15 years by then. I already had a VERY large collection by that time and of course some ideas about music and what I liked and what not. But I was always open for new experience. Murmur immediately clicked for me and I was sure this was a band worth watching. You rate the albums quite differently when you witness a band evolve and grow (and go down again). There was a constant line upwards for REM until Automatic, a bit of stagnation afterwards and then a fade out...Some albums have aged better than others. The late ones have not aged that well in my opinion. That said, I just made a top 10 because the ones not on my list are those that I rarely ever go back to. Anyway, they were a great band and have influenced and defined two decades of music - few bands can claim that.
10. Around the Sun
9. Lifes Rich Pageant
8. Monster
7. Reckoning
6. New Adventures in HiFi
5. Green
4. Out of Time
3. Document
2. Murmur
1. Automatic for the People
@@roxannewalsh thanks for reposting (and thanks for requesting, Rich Latta). It is difficult to explain how different and revolutionary REM's early work was, from the mumbled lyrics to the arpeggiated Rickenbacker to the packaging, which lent the band a sense of mystery and really built on a Southern gothic aesthetic. This band was doing what they were doing well before the Smiths, and while people compared them to the Byrds, largely because both guitarists played Rickenbackers, REM was part of a whole new ballgame. They were one of a growing group of young bands who were putting their own spin on rock music but were almost completely shut out of commercial radio and heavy MTV rotation until that latter half of the 80s. Those first three albums were so idiosyncratic, so different, but inspired so many copycats that I think it is difficult to appreciate them fully if you come to them a few decades afterwards and have heard so many others crib from their sound. I think the guys did a pretty good job ranking them.
@@burmajones803 Well spoken. If you come from an age where nearly every band has a bit of REM (or Velvet Underground or some other highly influential band) it is hard to imagine how different and new this stuff was for the contemporaries. Great that you also mention the cover art and everything else that surrounded them - this is where I also see the comparison with the Smiths with their covers or their many non-album tracks that were part of the picture. Today everything is "indi-something", so much that the term has become meaningless. It meant something at a time however.
REM was defiantly a good counter balance in the mid 80s, to what else was going on at the time, also Husker Du deserves more props for bringing alternative rock to the forefront.
Great video. REM were a hugely important band for me growing up.
Very pleased to see Up getting some praise - I think it's hugely underrated. Suspicion, You're In The Air, At My Most Beautiful, The Apologist being big favourites of mine from that album. Their last significant artistic development I would say.
RE: New Adventures... wasn't some of that recorded at soundchecks on the Monster tour? For me, those songs are inferior, sound sonically different and are the reason for the album not flowing.
Fables... is a difficult one for me. I've never been able to get past the murky mix and it doesn't have the vitality of the first 2 albums.
A couple of their later albums didn't work for me, but those aside, I think they have a wonderful catalogue and Michael Stipe is one of the best and most distinctive singers in rock.
63 years old and been a fan since first hearing them while in college in 1981 or so. For me, their albums up to Green are the best. Saw them live 9 times. Their early shows when Michael danced a lot, with kind of dark stage and simple lighting were the best. Life’s Rich Pageant is my favorite. Saw them in heavy rain outdoors do a killer performance of These Days that is still the most dynamic and exciting song performed by any band I saw live and I went to a lot of concerts from 1974 until now. I first-day bought and liked all of their albums, but the first 3-4 albums were the best in my opinion.
People sleeping on reveal ... It would be in my top three. I think every song on it is rather good. It's a melancholy album and those typically seem to go over people's heads.
With Kram on the later albums, Jason on Document, and Joe on Automatic for the People.
1. Automatic for the People 4.5/5
2. Lifes Rich Pageant 4/5
3. Reckoning 4/5
4. Murmur 4/5
5. Green 4/5
6. Out of Time 4/5
7. Fables of the Reconstruction 4/5
8. Document 3.5/5
9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi 3.5/5
10. Up 3/5
11. Monster 3/5
12. Collapse Into Now 3/5
13. Reveal 3/5
14. Accelerate 2.5/5
15. Around the Sun 2.5/5
How can you put Up above Monster
@@TheAdArchive If anything, my opinion of Up has grown since this! Think I prefer it over the grungier sound they have going on on Monster.
I am from Scotland, almost 70 years old and have been collecting music all that time. I love you guys, it is definitely better with three different personalities. I have no problem with other peoples opinions, I collected music over the years so got to listen in sequence which obviously affects my opinionsI am impressed with your musical knowledge in the short amount of time you have been collecting. Joe listen to Joe Strummer’s greatest hits cd, you might change your mind about him. Keep on Chongjin.
Chooglin
@@jameshunter3177 Chongjin. Wasn't he a Chinese dictator?? 🤣
Hard core REM fans rank NAIHF in their top 5. Pretty much says it all.
New adventures is definitely my favorite.... can't wait for a expanded vinyl release
Looking forward to that as well! Love the record - underrated.
100% NAiHF is easily their best. The band even agrees it’s them at their peak.
In my opinion, R.E.M. is the most consistently great band of all time.
That is lunacy. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic 13 of their albums are stellar, only 2 fall below that standard: one of which is good (Up); the other is mediocre (Around The Sun). No other band has put out as many great albums whilst putting out so few non great albums.
I’m not saying they’re the best band of all time (although they are definitely in the conversation). I am saying they’re the most consistent.
I even wrote a song about how much I love them… 🤷♂️ ruclips.net/video/eJIphsJKAt4/видео.html
I think you need to understand that music is subjective. Some of the bands you do lists on are a joke to me and I find it funny you feel they deem attention but Music is a very personal enjoyment and people appreciating musicians hard work is all good...up to a point. It's sad that X factor, Simon Cowell , and endless amounts of younger and younger kids singing A.I generated crap has led to the demise of music as we knew it. Their is no romance / cultural/political statements now just bland music fronted by good looking youngsters , who's exploitation only last 12 months tops. I'm glad I've lived through the times of the NME , Melody Maker, Rolling Stone and the great Biographies that let us learn about our favourite artists. Music is such a big part of my identity and it has been for so many since the birth of Rock & Roll. The way we dress, hairstyles , political leanings our culture was shaped by music in so many ways. I'm so glad we had bands like REM providing a soundtrack to our lives. @@TastesLikeMusic
@@TastesLikeMusic No, not understanding that other people have their preferences and opinions is lunacy.
I would agree with this, with the qualifier that they'd be second only to The Beatles in my estimation. Each and every one of R.E.M.'s albums has something to recommend it. Even the ones you hear panned a lot.
One. Life‘s rich pageant
Two. Document
Three. Fables of the reconstruction
Four. Reckoning
Five. Murmur
Six. Green
Seven. Automatic for the people
Eight. Monster
Nine. Out of time
Ten. New adventures
REM Studio Albums Ranked by 40 People
============================================
15. Around the Sun: average rank=14.306, average star rating=2.3
14. Accelerate: average rank=12.198, average star rating=2.8
13. Collapse Into Now: average rank=11.410, average star rating=3.1
12. Reveal: average rank=10.680, average star rating=3.3
11. Up: average rank=10.106, average star rating=3.3
10. Monster: average rank=9.312, average star rating=3.3
9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi: average rank=8.907, average star rating=3.1
8. Fables of the Reconstruction: average rank=7.190, average star rating=4.1
7. Out of Time: average rank=6.345, average star rating=3.9
6. Reckoning: average rank=6.110, average star rating=3.9
5. Green: average rank=5.473, average star rating=4.5
4. Document: average rank=5.121, average star rating=4.3
3. Lifes Rich Pageant: average rank=4.742, average star rating=4.3
2. Murmur: average rank=3.932, average star rating=4.3
1. Automatic for the People: average rank=3.307, average star rating=4.6
Statistical Analysis
============================================
Most underrated albums: Accelerate: 1.802, Collapse Into Now: 1.590, Reveal: 1.320
Most overrated albums: Automatic for the People: -2.307, Murmur: -1.932, Lifes Rich Pageant: -1.742
Most fairly-ranked albums: New Adventures in Hi-Fi: 0.093, Reckoning: 0.110, Green: 0.473
Most controversial albums: Up: 15.096, New Adventures in Hi-Fi: 14.120, Fables of the Reconstruction: 12.036
Least controversial albums: Around the Sun: 1.590, Accelerate: 3.804, Murmur: 6.839
Most negative dissent: Automatic for the People at 2.000/3.307 (lowest median-to-mean)
Most positive dissent: Reveal at 12.000/10.680 (highest median-to-mean)
(* underrated = receives a higher average rank than its final rank, fair = average rank pretty close to final rank, controversial = a lot of variation in how people rank it)
(* positive dissent = people giving higher rankings feel more strongly than those giving lower ones)
(** note: an album can still be non-controversial if everyone agrees that it's bad)
The Critics
============================================
Most underrated by critics: Out of Time, 2.5 vs 3.9 from fans
Most overrated by critics: Accelerate, 4.0 vs 2.8 from fans
Most critic/fan consensus: Fables of the Reconstruction
Overall critic rating vs fan rating of REM: 3.7 / 3.7
Ranked list from critics: 15. Around the Sun, 14. Out of Time, 13. Up, 12. Monster, 11. Reveal, 10. Green, 9. Collapse Into Now, 8. Fables of the Reconstruction, 7. New Adventures in Hi-Fi, 6. Accelerate, 5. Lifes Rich Pageant, 4. Document, 3. Murmur, 2. Reckoning, 1. Automatic for the People
Phases of REM ranked:
============================================
* 80s REM (from Murmur to Green): average of 5.428 (4.2 stars) across 6 albums: Fables of the Reconstruction, Reckoning, Green, Document, Lifes Rich Pageant, Murmur
* 90s REM (from Out of Time to Around the Sun): average of 8.995 (3.4 stars) across 7 albums: Around the Sun, Reveal, Up, Monster, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Out of Time, Automatic for the People
* 2000s REM (from Accelerate to Collapse Into Now): average of 11.804 (3.0 stars) across 2 albums: Accelerate, Collapse Into Now
Most popular phase: 80s REM
Fans of Interest
============================================
Key fan scores (lower is more stereotypical): Kramzer: 9.546, Joe: 10.231, The Critics: 12.969, Jason: 16.315
Most stereotypical REM fan: Kramzer
Least stereotypical REM fan: Jason
Fans Clusters (K-Means Clustering)
============================================
Most fans best fit one of the following. Select one of these top 5 / bottom 3 lists. * = not shared across all lists.
Cluster 1 (9 fans): Automatic for the People, Up *, Green *, Out of Time *, Lifes Rich Pageant *... Reckoning *, Accelerate *, Around the Sun
Cluster 2 (13 fans): Automatic for the People, Document *, Green *, Murmur *, Out of Time *... Accelerate *, Up *, Around the Sun
Cluster 3 (19 fans): Murmur *, Lifes Rich Pageant *, Reckoning *, Automatic for the People, Document *... Reveal *, Collapse Into Now *, Around the Sun
Methodology: User lists and host lists (including star ratings, where provided) are pasted into text file,
which is then processed and analyzed by Python script. Text file also includes info about artist and
album names. Critic star ratings come from Allmusic.com.
Hot take for Jason: R. E. M. is what Counting Crows always dreamt to be but only once were remotely close to be
@@johnmurphy9385 I think he knows that. Just trying to stir the guys up because they're all massive counting crows fans.
@@droquet6961 exactly. No disrespect meant. I wouldn't be so assertive when it comes to good or bad taste, particularly with well-informed guys that know their stuff. I also like R. E. M. clearly much more than Counting Crows, but I don't think that necessarily has to be the case for everyone
@@frangarcia7774 yeah I hate counting crows haha. Still watch these guys regardless.
Ew, dude. There’s literally zero chance I would have ever liked Pavement. I would have thought REM was horribly pretentious. Now Kram and Jason, sure. No chance for me. - Joe
I don’t think I’d make any assumptions because of one Listography.... REM isn’t even in my top 100 artists. Pavement is my least favorite band of all time and from 12-15 I mostly listened to Weird Al Yankovic. My current taste in music is pretty much the same as it has been for 20 years or so. I also disliked all the modern bands that Kram and Jason were into when we were hanging out back in the day. So if I was born say... 10 years earlier I’m guessing I would be mostly into metal? I’m more of a contrarian than anything, so if Kram and Jason were really into REM I probably would end up hating them. - Joe
In 1992 Automatic For The People was the first album I recognized as a “classic” right after I listened to it.
Reckoning! Super great early 80s jangly pop/rock album - great songs and melodies - every music fan should have this record in their collection
Great record. It's a good companion album to Murmur. Different sounding but still very complementary. People sometimes forget how good these early songs are. Still sound fresh and classic at the same time. And to be doing that in 83-84, amazing stuff.
I'm looking forward for the Stones Remaster. Thanks for adding the year to the albums.
I love pretty much all their albums, but if I had to rank them.
15. Around The Sun
14. Reveal
13. Reckoning
12. Up
11. Fables Of The Reconstruction
10. Monster
9. Life's Rich Pageant
8. Murmur
7. Accelerate
6. Out Of Time
5. Green
4. Collapse Into Now
3. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
2. Document
1. Automatic For The People
¡Igual el Automatic for The people es mi favorito!
Up is okay, but New Adventures is one of the most underrated albums of the decade.
New adventures is #2 for me
Me too, top 3-4 for me
It’s number 3 for me. I think it’s one of the best albums of the 1990s, not just by R.E.M. but by anyone.
My number 2 as well after Life’s Rich Pageant
NAIHF is R.E.M. at the absolute peak of their powers. Fourteen tracks, and not one dud, despite the widely-ranging variety of styles. ATFP is the only thing in their catalogue that comes even close.
Massive R.E.M. obsessive here. This is my list:
1. Automatic for the People
2. Monster
3. New Adventures in Hi-Fi
4. Out of Time
5. Up
6. Green
7. Murmur
8. Reckoning
9. Fables of the Reconstruction
10. Collapse into Now
11. Lifes Rich Pageant
12. Reveal
13. Document
14. Accelerate
15. Around the Sun
@@SonicVisionX 😆🤦it's all about opinions brothooor. What would your list look like?
You're good bro. List is a little odd though 😂
Joe seeing the light a bit has made me very happy.
1. Automatic For the People
2. Reckoning
3. Green
4. Lifes Rich Pageant
5. Out of Time
6. Document
7. Murmur
8. Monster
Thanks to Jason for encouraging me to give Collapse into Now another listen. Really great album, really underrated, lots of great songs. Probably their most cohesive work thematically since Automatic for the People.
Never seen Jason look so pleased with himself as when he informs the boys that both of their #15s are in his top 5. lol
But he puts murmur near last? Murmur has some great songs I’ve heard n rolling stone voted it one of the albums of the year so it must be pretty good? [:] 0
n the other guy didn’t like star me kitten, that’s an incredible WTF song [:] 0
@@Jiv_Ing57819
This is what I find a bit irritating about Jason. He comes off as an elitist most of the time and I feel like some of his controversal placement of albums are done for no other reason than to stir the waters and create controversy. Kramzer is a mixed bag for me because he sometimes shows his bias when ranking a band he personally likes or dislikes. I trust Joe's opinion on these rankings because he actually tries to keep an open mind and form an opinion based purely on the merits of the music as opposed to his personal views on the band.
@@Jiv_Ing57819 "what people who have no clue about R.E.M. think about R.E.M.
Adventure in high fi is underrated as hell
Agreed. Loved it at the time (25 years ago?!") and still love it now. The post Up albums are the only ones I can take or leave these days. I love all the rest of their stuff.
I mean, I love you guys - but this list made me wince! New Adventures and Murmur getting MURDERED out there. I'd like to politely correct your list:
These ten records are untouchable.
1. Automatic (completely beautiful and haunting front to back)
2. Murmur (unbelievable quality straight outta the gate...almost never matched)
3. New Adventures in HIFI (contains all time greats - Ebow, Leave, Be Mine, Electrolite - and I love how dark it is...)
4. Life's Rich Pageant (kicks ass all the way through but finds beauty as well)
5. Out of Time (yes, messy, and widescreen in its scope - but sounds timeless)
6. Green (Their most underrated record)
7. Up (My first REM album so holds a place in my heart)
8. Document (Reaching for the mainstream and hitting the bullseye - slightly weaker back half)
9. Monster (they went for sounding like everyone else, and ended up sounding like nothing else...)
10. Reckoning (Murmur part.2 - the slightly less good sequel)
These records are good.
11. Fables (peak mumble-rock - but lovely in places)
12. Accelerate (half a great album)
13. Collapse (another half great album)
14. Reveal (Up's much less interesting brother)
This record is boring.
15. Around the Sun (zzzzzzzzzz)
Automatic twins at least. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic Small mercies!
I am with Kram on this one, his list would be closest to mine. The later records after Bill Berry left just didn’t do much for me. Document would be number 1 for me as well, something coalesced with that record.
Joe - I hope you don't think I'm being patronising when I say this, but I found your comments about Automatic really interesting, when you said about hearing your Mum play it and you not really liking it but it really clicking with you now. I think maybe that it's an album you need to have lived through certain things to really appreciate it. It's not nessesarily an age thing, but for me my love of this album grows as I do and my life experiences do. Which I think is really interesting and it kind of struck a chord with me when you were talking about it, because I never used to rate it so highly either.
I definitely think there are some albums where it helps to have more life experience before you can appreciate it. My tastes haven’t changed that much in the 20 years or so, but I definitely can appreciate some things more. REM is a good example of a band that I didn’t think I liked that much outside of their hits. - Joe
I'm an REM fan, and my rankings have changed over the years, my ranking would be:
1 Lifes Rich Pageant
2 Document
3 Murmur
4 New Adventures In Hi-Fi
5 Out Of Time
6 Automatic For The People
7 Monster
8 Green
9 Fables Of The Reconstruction
10 Reckoning
11 Up
12 Collapse Into Now
13 Accelerate
14 Reveal
15 Around The Sun
R.E.M. are one of my favourite bands. Here's my list:
1- Lifes Rich Pageant
2 - Murmur
3 - Reckoning
4 - Fables Of The Reconstruction
5 - Green
6 - New Adventures In Hi-Fi
7 - Document
8 - Out Of Time
9 - Automatic for The People
10 - Accelerate
11 - Monster
12 - Reveal
13 - Up
14 - Collapse Into Now
15 - Around The Sun
This is close to my list.
Love the channel. Should do a Lou Reed ranking!!
Another enjoyable video from you guys. Jason, I found it odd that you'd write off "Out Of Time" as a weaker album here on grounds that a lot of the songs have little in common, and therefore don't belong together. (A statement with which I'd disagree.) And yet, this is precisely the main appeal of The Beatles' "White Album", which you listed as #1 in your video that ranks Beatles albums. (It's my #1 too, for that very reason.)
Don't understand why "Around The Sun" gets so little love, really. It's no "Automatic" or "Lifes Rich Pageant", but I can play it and replay it and enjoy it. It's just R.E.M. trying to be something different this time around, which they kinda did with each new album. There are two weak tracks, but this happened on most of the albums after "New Adventures", probably to satisfy some questionable notion that more tracks were needed since CDs could hold more music. There are more than a few catchy compositions on "Around The Sun".
Merece más apoyo tu comentario. Concuerdo totalmente.
Just clicked on can’t wait for this one one of my faves REM!
Mine at the moment would probably be:
1. Murmur
2. Reckoning
3. Automatic For The People
4. Lifes Rich Pageant
5. Up
6. Out Of Time
7. Document
8. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
9. Green
10. Accelerate
11. Fables Of The Reconstruction
12. Reveal
13. Collapse Into Now
14. Monster
15. Around The Sun
Since I’m a huge fanboy and they’re in my top 5 favorite bands, probably up to 11 or 12 on this ranking is at least 4 stars for me, the next couple are 3-1/2 and the too dull and adult contemporary Around The Sun is low 3/high 2-1/2. I’ve mentioned before that Automatic and Pageant were probably the biggest growers throughout my fandom (I could probably concede they’re the two best albums songwriting-wise - I’m just still enough under the spell of the mysterious Murmur and Reckoning), while Green used to be much higher in the early days I was getting into them but not as much in recent years (although it’s plenty good). Maybe I’m also a bit biased towards New Adventures since it was their first new release to come out after I became obsessed (although I don’t hold the same warm feelings for Monster, maybe because I don’t feel like that overly tremeloed glam rock sound is their forte, and feel like New Adventures is a more natural sounding cross between that album and Automatic). I do admit to yelling out “oh, come on” when Joe put Up last, but knowing his overall tastes I can kind of understand it. 😜
Figuring out top 10 favorite songs for me is going to be even harder than ranking the albums, though I will have to admit “Losing My Religion” has to be up there in the top 3 at least. It probably sounds the best when listening to all their albums consecutively, as I’ve done a few times.
This is how I rank the eight I own:
1. Document
2. Fables of the Reconstruction
3. Out of Time
4. Murmur
5. Reckoning
6. Automatic for the People
7. Life's Rich Pageant
8. Monster
Looks like you need to buy Green...😎
@@mrp4242 I'm sure I can find a copy in the dollar bin : )
You have so much awesome music left to discover. I'm jealous! Start with New Adventures in Hi-Fi (these guys are clearly deaf), followed by Accelerate. That's my opinion though, ask 100 REM fans, you'll get 100 different answers.
How does Automatic stack up in your ranking dude? [:] (
@@Jiv_Ing57819 if that was addressed to me, then top five definitely. Could be as high as number two on any given day, but New Adventures in Hi-Fi will always be their peak of peaks for me.
Good ordering. A great band with ‘Automatic’ indeed the peak - perfect southern gothic alt country them:) Footnote: Stipe has repeatedly listed BDP as one of his favourite bands and ‘Blupribt’ as his fave rap album thus the KRS one appearance on ‘Radio Song’. I like it very much as it capture hip hop ascendancy at becoming THE sound of modern music and both singers are lamenting what they are hearing - witty.
Document: "Everything sounds really important like you have to hear what they say on this album". Well said, and after all isn't that what matters most in a rock record?
The parts mentioning "Up" are intriguing.
Are you guys sure it isn't Reconstruction of the Fables? I think the album packaging played around with that possibility. More of R.E.M.'s syntactical games.
My CD box has Fables of the Reconstruction on one side and Reconstruction of the Fables on the other edge. The CD itself has Fables...
My LP has both again - one on each side the vinyl record.
@@toonhkuitjes6382 Precisely.
I'm a jangle college REM fan, Reckoning is my favorite.
Good to see the original true believers are still around.
My favourite REM album by far, although ‘Murmur’ is great as well 👍🏻
The jangle sound is good, love 12 string ,: 0
Yeh mine too it's their most beautiful
Absolutely...Murmur is one of my greatest albums of all time....38 years later I can still listen from start to finish.
1. Out of Time
2. Green
3. Document
4. Lifes Rich Pageant
5. Up
6. Monster
7. Automatic For the People
8. Fables of the Reconstruction
9. Murmur
10. Reckoning
..........................
Out of Time has a lot of nostalgia for me which undoubtedly colours my perception.
Out of time while hard 2 listen at first sounds classic and is a unique interesting listen. Lost my copy unfortunately n they don’t sell it much anymore but one thing is sure if the album has losing religion, shiny happy people, endgame, near wild heaven, country feedback, low it’s sure to be something of an album, I think they were finding their feet in a new way and it sounds like an exciting promising period.
Ok you get some credit back for loving Drive Joe....👋👋... beautiful opener....my second fave of theirs in fact....Sets the scene beautifully and takes brooding into another realm....
"Document" is obviously their biggest album. It's like a triumphant combination of all the best things on the albums which proceeded it. Not surprised they were snapped up by the majors right afterwards. All of their IRS albums could easily occupy the top slots here. "Life's Rich Pageant" would be #2, with "Murmur" being #3. Skipping ahead I do think "Reckoning" would fall at #6 with "Dead Letter Office" being behind it at #7. Note: I am counting the "Chronic Town" EP and "Dead Letter Office" to arrive at that number. Otherwise, I stalled on their major label releases. "Green" just has Stipe's vocals too high in the mix. He's a lot less interesting when you can actually make out the words he's singing. I did like and appreciate "Out of Time" as what I would expect from REM. Hated the sleepy wind-up music box sounding songs on "Automatic For the People" and just stopped listening at that point. However, they did continue on to be great 'live.'
I also prefer when Stipe is lower in the mix and when it’s hard to understand what he’s saying. It not only makes it more interesting but it fit the sound really well and actually made him a better singer compared to when he’s high up in the mix or straining trying to hit all the melodies from singing loudly. It’s interesting how so few mention this but it’s one of the most significant changes they made in their career.
Exactly. With the early stuff, Michael Stipe voice and lyrics are completely indecipherable which is what I WANT.
“YoU gUyS JuSt DoNt GeT REM...”😂
This one was quite a trip for me. Great job!
When Joe put Up last I almost fainted btw.
Sorry! - Joe
1. Automatic for the people - this may have the most stunning of stunners..."Sweetness Follows," "Nightswimming" and "Find The River." Not to mention "Drive" and "Everybody Hurts." And...
2. Lifes Rich Pageant - probably the album that made me fall in love with them in the first place
3. Reckoning - the top 3 albums are my favorite and which is my ACTUAL favorite at the time I'm asked will change on any given day
4. Murmur
5. Document
6. Green - the first half of this album is a lot better than the 2nd half of this album
7. Out of Time - this is so good for a #7 album
8. Fables Of The Reconstruction - the top 8 are on one level...4 star albums and above...they drop off significantly from here
9. Up - I think half of this album is incredible, especially "At My Most Beautiful," but half of it, not so much
10. New Adventures In Hi-Fi - always loved the song "Be Mine"...the album is just TOO LONG, but there's a good album hiding in there somewhere
11. Accelerate
12. Reveal
13. Collapse Into Now
14. Around The Sun
15. Monster - one of the biggest disappointments in my music listening life. Still, I have always loved the song "Star 69."
Pretty much agree with this completely. I'd switch Murmur and Reckoning and Monster I would move up a couple spots. That's it I think.
Dude knows his REM.
My list would be similar, except I put Life’s Rich Pageant, Reckconing and Murmur a bit lower, but in that order, and Green and Document higher in reverse order.I suppose Green is to me that Life’s Rich Pageant is to you.
I don't know about Green, hasn't held up that well in my opinion. The album has no flow and several of the songs never did much for me. Pop song 89 is a complete throwaway, maybe their weakest opener. Green has the hits and a few deep cuts certainly but for an album that went double platinum it's a little spotty to me, but I feel the same way about Out Of Time.
@@mck7646 "Pop Song '89" is actually my favorite song on the album and, I believe, one of my top 10 favorites. That's the thing with REM: with so much great material released, every fan has its favorite songs and favorite albums and no two fans would have the same two lists.
Yeah, I’m tempted to put Monster at the bottom of my list too. Bang and Blame and I Took Your Name are unnerving and uncomfortable and creepy as hell; I Don’t Sleep, I Dream is terrible; Let Me In is terrible. What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?, Crush With Eyeliner and Strange Currencies are the only good songs on it.
Being an REM fan - I try every year to get into New Adventures in Hi Fi. I just don't get it. I'm glad it's just not me.
For the umpteenth time in the last 40 years or so, I am currently obsessed with "Murmur," which remains my favorite REM if only because of all the sonic textures and rhythms weaving together like the kudzu on the cover. Unless you're Joni Mitchell, pop lyrics tend toward the banal. They're supposed to be somewhat cryptic, suggestive and half-understood so you can hear them a million times and pick out the fragments that resonate for you at any given time, but the sound of the words is probably what matters the most. Like: "Callin' on in transit/Radio Free Europe/Radio." What more needs to be articulated?
"Murmur" also has that hollow-wood drum sound over the minor chord shifts on "Moral Kiosk" which has always been one of my favorite things in the world: "It's so much more attractive [clunk-clunk, clunk-clunk] Inside the moral kiosk [clunk-clunk, clunk-clunk)." God, I love that.
Radio Song is great - sister song to Can’t Get There From Here, Feeling Gravity’s Pull and even Orange Crush. Great lyrics on the album, matured…‘I’ve got everything to show, I’ve got everything to hide’, ‘I’ve said to much, I haven’t said enough’. Jason’s comment about Mills vocal is very on point. Listen to three part harmony (counter melodies) chorus on Fall On Me: Mill: ‘What is it up in the air for’…Berry: ‘It’s going to fall… Stipe: ‘Fall on meeee’. Just haunting - recalls The Band’s vocal acrobatics
I was in my early twenties when they came out and I think that really makes a difference with anything we rate. Murmur is by far my favorite. Its most likely to be in my top twenty albums.
I also favor the music I first heard by them - Lifes Rich Pageant and Fables. I don't know it it's the great memories, the newness of it, the music or just coincidence.
I rated Murmur at #1 even though the first albums I heard from REM were Document and Green. But I have a thing for a band's early music. In 90+% of cases a band's first 4 to 7 albums are my favorite and it's downhill from there.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Yeah, probably most bands lose their magic sooner or later over time. Some don't though. And some start off weak and get a lot better.
@@179rich Yeah, there are rare cases where a band actually gets better in their 2nd and 3rd decade. I think The Flaming Lips are an example of that. But those are definitely the exceptions. The vast majority of bands start out great and slowly decline.
01. Green
02. Automatic For The People
03. Document
04. Murmer
05. Life's Rich Pageant
06. Reckoning
07. Out Of Time
08. New Adventures In Hi-Fi
09. Fables Of The Reconstruction
10. Monster
Never dived into their post Berry stuff.
1. Murmur (5/5)
2. Automatic for the People (5/5)
3. Document (5/5)
4. Reckoning (4.5/5)
5. Life's Rich Pageant (4.5/5)
6. Fables of the Reconstruction (4/5)
7. Green (4/5)
8. Out of Time (4/5)
9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi (3.5/5)
10. Monster (3.5/5)
11. Reveal (3.5/5)
12. Up (3.5/5)
13. Collapse Into Now (3/5)
14. Accelerate (3/5)
15. Around the Sun (1.5/5)
I'd echo the sentiment that REM are one of the most consistent bands in rock history. They'll definitely be in my "top 100 greatest artists," although probably in the bottom half. They're true legends when it comes to albums, not as much for singles.
1 Automatic
2 Perhaps Murmur or monster, gets harder 2 compare cause don’t have early albums
3 Green
4 Out of time
5 and I feel fine: best of the irs years compilation! : -D
6 Later day tracks off rem best of 88-2004, just I wouldn’t know if some of the albums would be full of good songs as a whole
Haven’t fully heard murmur but don’t know if I’d put it ahead of Austomatic dude, automatic is really good, strong album, it can really help at hard times, maybe murmur is really good, I do like a couple songs that could be off there like perfect circle, radio free Europe, some of the songs I’ve heard off the first two albums are very good songs like 7 Chinese bros n South central rain ,: 0
I’ve heard document is very good ,: 0
I only saw them live once, Document tour with projected films, etc. DB’s opened for the. Stunning show. Everyone stood on their folding chairs the whole show. UIC, Chicago.
And when they played "End of the World," it made people fall off their chairs, right? Or was that just the Green Tour with the fast-speed ferris wheel on the screen?
Did any of you guys hear the remix of Monster that came out a couple years ago. It is quite a radical remix in some places. Also, do you guys do fixed up versions of albums; resequence tracks, add outtakes from the time, remove bad tracks, etc?
I haven’t heard the remixed monster. Might have to check it out because the mix is probably my biggest issue with it. And we are discussing a series where we resequence poorly sequences albums. So maybe. -Jason
The remix is really worth hearing. I prefer most versions from it over the originals.
Believe this is the first listography you guys have done, where I’m overtly familiar with all of the records. It helps that I’ve been a fan for 30 plus years .. Having said that, nobody is gonna agree with my list. But that’s why we all have our own opinions for, so we can disagree lol
1) Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
2) Out of Time (1991)
3) Murmur (1983)
4) Reckoning (1984)
5) Monster (1994)
6) Life’s Rich Pageant (1986)
7) Automatic for the People (1992)
8) Up (1998)
9) New Adventures in Hi Fi (1996)
10) Green (1988)
11) Around the Sun (2004)
12) Document (1987)
13) Collapse Into Now (2011)
14) Reveal (2001)
15) Accelerate (2008)
Yes! Fables is still my favorite as well!
@@ttmilbr Always! 😃
There is a Document box with the album Document and a live version of Document. I got it a few years ago. Not sure if it’s still available but worth looking for.
Going against an idea of mine watching this before I check them out, buuut I figure it might be cool to watch to get some idea of where to start 🤙🤙 btw should DEFINITELY do a remaster of The Cure rankings!
First again! Damn. Probably should pay more attention to work. Mammoth effort here with a running time close to a feature film. Time to dive in!!
You've got your priorities straight, my friend. I'm watching during work too.
@@lionelraoul Same here, lol. Ugh why can't I just wait until after work to watch these.
Cant wait for your top 10 REM songs for me number 1 is orange crush followed by what's the frequency kenneth
I was just a casual REM listener and got to know them when Document was released, on cassette via Columbia House.
My favorite R.E.M. album is their first eight albums. I have ranked them 10 times and got 10 different answers. I guess it just comes down to my mood that day. The EP Chronic Town is outstanding as well. I am of the opinion that Monster and New Adventures aren’t quite as good and would rank at 9 and 10 but they still have sone great moments. The albums after Bill left are clearly the worst of their catalog in my opinion.
I spy a dog 😍....Document is my #1, too..Whoot, Whoot!!!!!!!....great show guys!!!!!!!!
Being a big R.E.M fan who is very passionate about my music just wanted to say the dude these guys basically share a very common give all aknolegging an awareness of the bands craft but have zero love for which I understand and am sure I have expieeences myself with other artists which I can respect and relate because some things can be heartfelt authentic and crafted well enough to be noticed and even appreciate that for some reason or another fail to gel with a particular listener vibe it just doesn't connect but as hard watching 3 people shit on what I believe to be my fine taste was barrable getting through. I think the 90s were the greatest time in music history and hope to present my claim with a future video providing my opinion as a fact no I can't ever change anyones mind but besides the common coming of age decade which someone lives usually being the decade which is held in the highest regard however I can point out the many reasons to back my claim which is the 90s we're the best time in music having the many world changing intense impact and overall enjoyment that was offered to those lucky enough to have been around that payed attention . R.E.M isn't a band that I feel comfortable enough blasting all day viewing them as something some may see as douchie or pretentious my friends give me hell for being a huge Kurt Cobain Nirvana fanatic and as relentless as they are about something I really care about and annoyed I get with them To me their music is so awesome that I will blast loudly caring a F you vibe to everyone else deal with it because these songs rock plus view Nirvana as pretty much the band that made what à is generally viewed as alternative rock creating and pushing the craft without changing their song into the many sub catagories alternative umbrella type of sound which it holds a great example is the Red hot chili peppers or The offspring or even the Beastie boys or psychodelic/ alternative like The Smashing Pumpkins or Nine inch nails.