It's what I want, hurry and buy

Continuing my trip across the output of Athens' finest...

Reckoning (1984)

R.E.M.'s second album, my entry point (ish - see below) and (I think) the third or fourth one I bought (I only bought "old" albums when they were cheap in Our Price back then).  It's one I've got a lot of affection for and I listen to as an album every couple of years or so - although I rarely make it to the end, so let's see if there's a good reason for that...

You're definitely going to get a longer track breakdown on this album than you got last time...

Side one - "(L) The Left Side"

1. Harborcoat
A nicely jaunty number which manages to be nicely sing-along, despite the fact that you can only recognise half the words and those you can recognise make no sense - "there's a splinter in your eye and it reads react. R-E-A-C-T".  It's also just occurred to me I don't know whether a harborcoat is actually a thing - ah, Google tells me it isn't.

2. 7 Chinese Bros
This is not unlike "Harborcoat", but with a slightly more drawn out chorus - it gets quite maudlin towards the end, but you're not really sure what he's maudlin' about.  Whatever the reason, this is a fine track as well.

3. So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)
Ooh, I'd forgotten how strongly this album opened - this is another great track with even more yearning from Mr Stipe

4. Pretty Persuasion
And this is the one where it all started for me - I heard this on the radio around this time but missed who it was and I think it took me about 18 months to track down who it was by.  Things are so much easier these days!  And yeah, it's great with a very interesting rhythm and a great chorus.

5. Time After Time (Annalise)
This is the first track I couldn't sing the chorus just from the title and the first one I don't love - I mean, it's fine but the run has to end somewhere.

Side two - "(R) The Right Side"

1. Second Guessing
Another fine track, if not absolutely top drawer in the context of the album.

2. Letter Never Sent
Mr Stipe makes some most peculiar noises on this one - his voice is more of an instrument than anything else but it's another top track with interesting rhythms.

3. Camera
Dialling the pace down somewhat, this track is good for that and some interesting guitar work if not a lot else

4. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
A very quirky intro leads in to the most obvious sing-along track on the album - it's got a proper chorus and everything!

5. Little America
Another sing-along track with some fine jangly guitarwork - again not quite top drawer but still perfectly acceptable.

Can you tell I like it?  Only ten tracks this time, but not a dud amongst them - yes, some are better than others but that doesn't mean it's not all very listenable (and surprisingly singalongable for early R.E.M.).  This album was always getting four tracks on the playlist and my selections are the opening four "Harborcoat", "7 Chinese Bros", "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" and "Pretty Persuasion" - but "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" can consider itself very unlucky not to be included.  

Wikipedia tells me the album is alternatively titled File Under Water and water-related imagery features heavily in the lyrics (which I'd never noticed, but that's not a massive surprise with Mr Stipe singing).  Once again, IRS made the recording process more awkward than necessary with Mitch Easter (back to produce, but for the last time) acting as a buffer between the band and the label.  Michael Stipe also found the sessions very hard because he was knackered after their tour, which leads on to the great "Voice Of Harold" story that you're just going to have to wait for...

The album cover is a picture of a two-headed snake drawn by Mr Stipe, coloured in by artist Howard Finster following directions from Michael along the lines of "part of it is rocks and part of it is the sun and part of it the sky".  Can you imagine having to work with arty types?   Whatever the creative process may have involved, the critics were very impressed - declaring either as good as or even better than Murmur.  And the commercial response wasn't bad either with it getting to #27 in the US and it even charted in the UK at the time - for two whole weeks, reaching the dizzy heights of #91.

So, in case you haven't guessed, this is an album I like a lot - it's difficult to rank R.E.M. albums because they vary so much across the years, but I'd say this is certainly in their top five for me (and top three on a good day).  It takes me back to a time when I was infinitely curious about music and finding out what I liked - it was often really tricky to track things down and, at times, this effort was entirely wasted.  However, in the case of R.E.M., the effort has been repaid many times over the year and it all started with "Pretty Persuasion" - god damn, pure confusion!

Murmur - A fine debut
Fables Of The Reconstruction - My least favourite of their early albums