Throwback Throwdown

By: MATTHEW GRAYSON

Posted: 4/3/08

Murmur

Standouts: "Radio Free Europe," "Talk About the Passion"

Deep cuts: "Sitting Still," "Perfect Circle"

Verdict: Half jangle-pop and half post-punk, R.E.M.'s debut LP pushes Buck's chiming guitars and Mills' moody bass to center stage. Stipe's eerily distant vocals form the record's backdrop, and the result is enigmatic, captivating and wholly new. If the "Chronic Town" EP was a snapshot of a band at work, then "Murmur" is a self-portrait of legends-to-be.

Reckoning

Standouts: "So. Central Rain," "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"

Deep cuts: "Pretty Persuasion," "Letter Never Sent"

Verdict: More consistent and less mysterious than "Murmur," this is vintage R.E.M. Stipe remains upbeat throughout, and his vocals are front-and-center in the style fans have long since come to love. The country-infused "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" and the rollicking "Little America," an ode to all things rural, round out this sophomore success.

Fables of the Reconstruction

Standouts: "Driver 8," "Cant Get There from Here"

Deep cuts: "Wendell Gee," "Feeling Gravity's Pull"

Verdict: With its slow tempo, use of folk instruments and focus on the Southern landscape, "Fables" may be R.E.M.'s most thematically cohesive record, but it's also the band's flattest to date. Bill Berry once said it sucked - that's kind of harsh, but after three stellar opening tracks, the album does turn downright boring.

Lifes Rich Pageant

Standouts: "Fall on Me," "Superman"

Deep cuts: "Begin the Begin," "Cuyahoga"

Verdict: "Lifes Rich Pageant" scored the band its first gold record but lacks the readymade singles of R.E.M.'s subsequent output. Consistent yet forgettable, the album ends with Mills crooning an infectious cover of The Clique's "Superman," a cult favorite that was, in turn, covered by Plural for a recent Toyota Sequoia commercial.

Document

Standouts: "The One I Love," "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

Deep cuts: "Finest Worksong," "Exhuming McCarthy"

Verdict: R.E.M.'s last studio release on indie label I.R.S. delivered its first Top 10 hit ("The One I Love") as well as its most unique ("ITEOTWAWKI (AIFF)"). "Document" was the band's first record to go platinum and its first to get political, with Reagan as Stipe's target of choice. The album may end with a whimper, but the rest provides a hell of a bang.

Green

Standouts: "Stand," "Orange Crush"

Deep cuts: "Pop Song 89," "Turn You Inside-Out"

Verdict: An album of firsts, "Green" is the band's debut on Warner Bros., Buck's debut on the mandolin and Stipe's debut in the songwriting process. The result is fresh, fun and full of singles, with both "Stand" and "Orange Crush" topping the charts. This is R.E.M. cashing in on a decade of hard work and making great music all the while.

Out of Time

Standouts: "Losing My Religion," "Shiny Happy People"

Deep cuts: "Radio Song," "Country Feedback"

Verdict: With guest vocals from KRS-One and Kate Pierson of The B-52's, this record blends country, folk and classical elements with traditional pop/rock, foreshadowing the masterpieces to come. "Document" and "Green" were good, but this is the sound of a band wanting more. "Out of Time" was better, but the best was still to come.

Automatic for the People

Standouts: "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite," "Everybody Hurts"

Deep cuts: "Nightswimming," "Drive"

Verdict: It's all been said before - "Everybody Hurts" is the band at its most heartfelt, "Sidewinder" at its most obscure, "Nightswimming" at its most gorgeous and "Man on the Moon" at its most playful. If R.E.M. never makes another "Automatic," no one will be surprised, and if Stipe and company linger for another 20 years, well then "Automatic" gives them that right.

Monster

Standouts: "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?," "Bang and Blame"

Deep cuts: "Star 69," "Strange Currencies"

Verdict: Recorded 14 years into a career now spanning 28, this album is a mid-life identity crisis in more ways than one. Equal parts glam, grunge and garage rock, the sound is hard to pinpoint and even harder to ignore. Somehow, R.E.M. is at its weirdest and its catchiest on this many-headed "Monster."

New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Standouts: "E-Bow the Letter," "Electrolite"

Deep cuts: "Leave," "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"

Verdict: At more than 66 minutes, "New Adventures" is sprawling but not rambling, and its lack of a hit single is likely what makes it so criminally underrated. "E-Bow the Letter" (with Patti Smith) and "Leave" are better than anything on "Automatic" (or any other R.E.M. record, for that matter). Founding drummer Bill Berry leaves after this album, and R.E.M. will never be the same.

Up

Standouts: "Daysleeper," "Lotus"

Deep cuts: "At My Most Beautiful," "Suspicion"

Verdict: Whereas "New Adventures" is epic, "Up" is just plain long. With no real changes of pace in more than an hour of music, the record is both sleep-referencing and sleep-inducing. Despite a few choice gems, this is R.E.M. at its slowest, prettiest and unfortunately not its best.

Reveal

Standouts: "Imitation of Life," "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)"

Deep cuts: "She Just Wants to Be," "Disappear"

Verdict: Horns, organ, drum machine and a bunch of swirling effects make this record R.E.M.'s most produced to date. Hit single "Imitation of Life" is sugarcoated and oh so sweet, right at home on the album's sunny, Beach Boys-inspired latter half. "Reveal" is neither a return to form nor a fall from grace - those would come later, and not in that order.

Around the Sun

Standouts: "Leaving New York," "Wanderlust"

Deep cuts: "Final Straw," "The Ascent of Man"

Verdict: "Up" and "Reveal" lacked Bill Berry, but here he's really missing. All the beats, glitches and fuzz in the world can't hide his absence, and the Q-Tip cameo only adds insult to injury. His rap on "The Outsi-ders" almost (but not quite) tricks you into thinking you're listening to something other than mediocre soft rock.