R.E.M - Green

 

R.E.M's sixth album Green" marked a move away from jangle pop/college rock towards the mainstream and "Orange Crush" became their first single to break the UK Top 30. Despite a delightfully cheesy dance routine in its video, "Stand" only reached number 48.

My clear favourite track was "World Leader Pretend", which I would play over and over, and in addition to the two singles, I liked "Pop Song 89" and "Get Up".

However, I had no recollection of the other 6 tracks, so re-playing "Green" now would almost be like playing the album for the first time.

There are a couple of oddities on the album sleeve, track 4 appears as R Stand rather than 4. Stand, and Untitled, track 5 on side 2, is not listed on either the cover nor on the disc. For an album titled "Green", the cover was orange !

The album begins with "Pop Song 89", a pop song about a pop song, in a similar vein to Wreckless Eric's "Pop Song", and I like the backward guitar riff.  The lyrics of the verses give a nod to The Doors "Hello, I Love You" but instead with "Hello, I saw you, I know you, I knew you. I think I can remember your name" whilst the chorus of "should we talk about the weather ? should we talk about the government ?" pokes fun at much of the lyrical themes in R.E.M's earlier songs. 

"Get Up" is jovial and has a staccato guitar riff. "Dreams they complicate my life"

"You Are The Everything" is the first of three songs featuring a mandolin, and this track also includes an accordion. The melody is beautiful in parts

"Stand" has a brief organ intro before the fun, bouncy beat, and it has a psychedelic guitar solo in the middle. "Stand in the place where you live, now then face north"

"World Leader Pretend" is an archetypal R.E.M tune and in some ways a precursor to "Losing My Religion". A steel guitar figures prominently in the bridge section, and a piano is played during the final verse and ending. There are even some castanets in the background. It remains my favourite song on the album. "This is my mistake, let me make it good. I raised the wall, and I will be the one to knock it down".

"The Wrong Child" has no intro and goes straight into the vocal and mandolin. Its gentle and melancholic. "I'm not supposed to be like this, but it's OK"

The power pop "Orange Crush" opens side two and is not a song about a fruit drink.but rather the toxic herbicide Agent Orange used during the Vietnam war, as referenced by sounds of army marching chants and a helicopter in the middle break. "Follow me, no follow me, I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush".

"Turn You Inside Out" is a mid-pace stomp with heavy drums but is a bit of a dirge. In parts it reminded me a little of INXS.

"Hairshirt" is another slow song and the third with the mandolin but the vocal is a bit annoying, and the tune is not memorable.

"I Remember California" has a slightly menacing guitar and bass, and a gloomy critique of The Golden State. "I remember traffic jams, motor boys and girls with tans. Nearly was and also rans. I remember this".

"Untitled" is a a fairly pretty but insubstantial pop song "I made a list, of things to say. But all I want to say. All I really want to say is"

"Green" is an eceletic album, containing two great political songs ( World Leader Pretend and Orange Crush ), some dumb, almost bubblegum songs ( Stand, Pop Song 89, & Get Up ), three pastoral folk songs ( You Are The Everything, The Wrong Child and Hairshirt ) and the rest being outliers.

Side One works much better, containing all the stronger material except for "Orange Crush", after which the album tails off. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Pop Song 89
2. Get Up
3. You Are The Everything
4. Stand
5. World Leader Pretend
6. The Wrong Child

Side Two :

1. Orange Crush
2. Turn You Inside Out
3. Hairshirt
4. I Remember California
5. Untitled

Released 1988
UK Chart Position : 27

Singles :

Orange Crush ( No 28 - 1988 )
Stand ( No 48 - 1989 )

R.E.M - Eponymous

 

Early in their career R.E.M received a lot of favourable comments from the UK music press for their jangle-pop alternative rock but were steadfastly ignored by the radio stations, at least by the one's I listened too. This started to change with "The One I Love" and "Finest Worksong" getting airplay in the evenings as I drove home from work but didn't get a wider exposure so both failed to chart.

A short while later I heard an interview with the band on a late night radio station, which also played "Fall On Me" and "The End Of The World As We Know It" and I liked both of them as well. Browsing in a local record store I came across the "Eponymous" album, which contained all the R.E.M songs I knew so I bought it. The sticker shows I paid £7.49 in Our Price Records for it.

It was only later I realised it was a compilation of material from their early years, with three of the songs having different arrangements, but it served as a good introduction to R.E.M's back catalogue.

At the time I didn't think there was a bad track on "Eponymous" but as the songs were in chronological order the band's development was obvious here. Although side one was good, side two was outstanding. The first two tracks made R.E.M sound like a garage band, but the production values were increasingly more sophisticated as the years went by.

Looking at the track listing now I surprised that there were two songs I couldn't remember, "Cant Get There From Here" and "Romance".

The album starts with "Radio Free Europe" which has a tinny guitar sound, a driving bass and toe tapping beat. It sounds like a garage band demo and might also be considered to be punkish.

I like the guitar intro to "Gardening At Night" which has a nice beat and is one of my favourite tracks on "Eponymous".

"Talk About The Passion" starts with just the guitar riff for the intro and has a cello playing towards the end.

"So Central Rain" is a ballad with a cool vibe and nice bass lines.  "Did you never call ? I waited for your call. These rivers of suggestion are driving me away. The ocean sang, the conversation dimmed. Go build yourself another home, the choice isn't mine. I'm Sorry"

"(Don't Go Back To ) Rockville" is almost a country song with piano and singalong chorus "Don't go back to Rockville, and waste another year". The Scottish football fanzine The Absolute Game once did an article on Falkirk, with a sub-heading of Don't go back to Brockville, which was Falkirk's ground at the time !

"Cant Get There From Here" has funk rock rhythm and is my least favourite track. It's not saved by horns & sax towards the end, and the poor grammar by not having an apostrophe !

Country-rocker"Driver 8" opens side two with a great train guitar riff and there is some harmonica playing deep in the bridge section to give the impression of a train's whistle.

"Romance" has a jerky guitar riff but it wasn't surprising I had forgotten this one as it is the least memorable tune in this collection. "That's worth saving up for, put our heads down on the chest. Mustn't even race for rest. Easy come, easy go"

"Fall On Me" is probably my all-time favourite R.E.M song. It's gorgeous and simply perfect from the verse, pre-chorus, chorus and the middle bridge where bassist Mike Mills provides the vocal. Apparently, it also Micheal Stipe's favourite R.E.M song from the IRS label years. "Buy the sky and sell the sky, and bleed the sky and tell the sky. Don't fall on me".

"The One I Love" has a jangly guitar intro, one verse is sung almost identically three times,and a blistering guitar line after the "Fire !" chorus. It's almost new wave. 

"Finest Worksong" is slower than a usual R.E.M song, with heavy drums, the usual jangle guitar, and horns.

"The End Of The World As We Know It ( And I Feel Fine )" is well-known for its quick-fire delivery of the lyrics, almost a rant, in a blazing rock song. Apparently Micheal Stipe had a dream that he was at a party where everyone had the initials LB, hence Leonard Bernstein, Lenny Bruce Lester Bangs and Leonid Brezhnev. I love the "Time I had some time alone" counterpoint vocal in the closing choruses.

In summary, Eponymous remains a good introduction to R.E.M's early years and contains several outstanding songs. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Radio Free Europe
2. Gardening At Night
3. Talk About The Passion
4. So Central Rain
5. ( Don't Go Back To ) Rockville
6. Cant Get There From Here

Side Two :

1. Driver 8
2. Romance
3. Fall on Me
4. The One I Love
5. Finest Worksong
6. It's The End Of The World As We Know It ( And I Feel Fine )

Released 1988
UK Chart Position : 69

Singles :

The One I Love ( No 16 - 1991 re-release )
It's The End Of The World As We Know It ( And I Feel Fine ) ( No 39 - 1991 re-release )

Rainbow - On Stage

  

A friend at school was into Deep Purple, and over time I borrowed all of the albums to listen to. I didn't like them much apart from the honourable exception of the live "Made In Japan" double album, and the title track on "Burn".

I was aware of guitar player Ritchie Blackmore but didn't pay too much notice when he split from Purple to form his own band.

Rainbow had made two studio albums before deciding to release a live double album. At this point I wouldn't have been able to name any Rainbow song, but "Kill The King" and "Man On The Silver Mountain" got some late night airplay on Capital Radio and I quite liked both songs.

Sometime later, despite not a big fan of "heavy" rock music I purchased the album and thought it to be pretty good, and I thought singer Ronnie James Dio had a great voice alongside Blackmore's masterful guitar playing.

The double album contains just 6 tracks, and was criticised in some quarters for its short run time despite the padding out of most songs.. Four of the songs were taken from the eponymous first album Rainbow, "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Catch The Rainbow", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" and "Still I'm Sad". However, the versions here were all extended, usually twice the length, and the cover of The Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad" was an instrumental, but live included the lyrics.

The only song from "Rainbow Rising", the second album was a shortened version of "Starstruck", as part of the medley, whilst the studio version of "Kill The King" only subsequently appeared on their third album "Long Live Rock N' Roll". "Mistreated" was an extended version of the song on Deep Purple's "Burn" album. 

The album begins with a spoken intro of "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. We must be over the rainbow" from the Wizard Of Oz song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", before the band play the opening chords of the song leading into pounding drums and organ to kick start the fast paced "Kill The King" . Despite all the mystical lyrics and violent imagery, it is apparently about a game of chess, well, queen and pawn do get a mention somewhere in there ! Ignoring the individual components of the medley, at 5.32 it is the shortest track on the album but has a mazy guitar solo.

Side One concludes with a medley of three pieces. "Man On The Silver Mountain" has a toe-tapping riff  and is my favourite song on the album. "Get down with fire, lift my spirit higher, someone screaming my name, come and make me holy again", 

The instrumental "Blues" has a slow, standard blues riff and starts with the guitar and organ and drums in the background before drifting off into what sounds like improved jam before the guitar and keyboards attempt to mimic each other, similar to the guitar and Ian Gillan's vocal from Deep Purple's "Child In Time" on the "Made In Japan" album.

"Starstuck" is a standard boogie until the annoying "you're the man" vocal solo in the middle, which leads into a reprise of "Man On The Silver Mountain".

Side Two consists of just "Catch The Rainbow", at 15 and a half minutes long, whereas the studio version is only 6.40. It has a gentle plucked guitar to begin with, then a tender vocal and a melodic chorus. The pace hots up around the 6 minute mark as Cozy Powell's heavy drums and a screeching guitar start but it all slows down after 8 minutes to just the gentle guitar. The drums come back around 10 minutes to restart the heavy riff. There's some shouty, but thankful brief, vocals near the end  before the gentle guitar drifts to the conclusion. I had forgotten how good this song was. "We believed, we'd catch the rainbow, ride the wind to the sun. Sail away on ships of wonder but life's not a wheel, with chains made of steel. So bless me, come the dawn".

There is also just one song on Side Three, the cover of Deep Purple's "Mistreated" at 13 minutes long, compared to 7.28 by Purple. Again the extended song commences with a soft guitar for a minute until some screeching guitar eventually leads into the main riff and a forceful vocal comes in a 2:13. The extended instrumentalisation starts around 4.30, being mostly just guitar and handclaps from the crowd. It was probably great if you were there, but it's all a bit tedious in the comfort of your living room. The main riff returns after around 9 minutes.

Side Four has two songs, beginning with "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves", which probably should have been titled "Twentieth Century Greensleeves" ! It begins with some of the notes from Henry VIII's composition but with some frilly jazz variations. The main riff comes in at 2:34 and the guitar solo in the middle is great. ! "Meet me when the sun is in the western skies. The fighting must begin before another someone dies. Crossbows in the firelight, Greensleeves waving, madmen raving, through the shattered night".

"Still I'm Sad" is fairly faithful cover, albeit must faster, for 3 minutes, before the instrumentalisation starts, with the keyboards reminiscent of the ELP's "Pictures At An Exhibition" era. The guitar riff and the verse come back at 5.52 and the Gregorian style chant from the original is introduced after 7 minutes. It ends with a foot stomping final two minutes.

In summary, it was nice to replay "On Stage" and most of it still sounds good, although I could have done with some editing of the over long extended instrumental sections. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Kill The King
2. Man On The Silver Mountain/Blues/Starstruck Medley

Side Two :

1. Catch The Rainbow

Side Three :

1. Mistreated 

Side Four :

1. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
2. Still I'm Sad

 

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 7