Fables of the Reconstruction From:R.E.M. , Capitol ,
| 
See larger picture. | | Amazon Sales Rank:# 23969 User Rating: Customer Reviews List Price:$11.98 Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
|
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724349347922
Format: Original recording reissued
Label: Capitol
Manufacturer: Capitol
Number Of Discs: 1
Packaged Height: 54 hundredths-inches
Packaged Length: 555 hundredths-inches
Packaged Weight: 18 hundredths-pounds
Packaged Width: 497 hundredths-inches
Publisher: Capitol
Release Date: 1998-01-27
Studio: Capitol
Product Description:
R.E.M. Photos More from R.E.M.
Lifes Rich Pageant | 
The Best of the I.R.S. Years: Collector’s Edition | 
Document |
Customer Reviews:
 Early R.E.M. Material That Mainstream Radio Should Have Paid Attention To, 2008-06-15
The 1990s music landscape saw Alternative Rock begin to basically become part of the mainstream music fold. Alternative Rock actually had its roots in the 1980s. Alternative Rock really ties itself to the "Indie Rock" (Independent Rock) movement. It is a style of music that often covers a wide variety of genres, often working on independent record labels, but most importantly the artist maintains complete control of the music and their careers. With 1980s Rock dominated by "Hit Radio" and mainstream music, much of the Alternative Rock movement was "underground" - heard in smaller venues and colleges. A band that was at the forefront of this underground movement of music was R.E.M. While many know R.E.M. is a pop-band from the 1990s, many also know R.E.M from the 1980s as one of the pioneers in Alternative Rock. Much of the reason for this popularity stems from their third album - "Fables of the Reconstruction". This album has been described as exploring stories from "Southern Mythology" - or stories dealing with the landscape of the Southeastern United States. My personal take was slightly different - although I can see the connection to the Southeast. This album is a prime example that an album not getting exposure to the mainstream is still an example of excellent material.
Back when I was a freshman in college in 1985, the college newspaper had done a review of "Fables of the Reconstruction" and proclaimed the album to be "Album of the Year". Now of course, there was some bias from R.E.M. catering to the underground audience. When R.E.M. would hit it in the mainstream world several years later, I decided to go back and see what the newspaper had meant by "Album of the Year". While I still wasn't convinced about this being 1985's best album (I give that nod to Sting's Jazz-infused "The Dream of the Blue Turtles"), I did discover an album that I could really get into.
Many of the reviews or summaries of this album will mention that this is an album about the "tales from the Southern United States". My subscription of things is slightly different as I see this as more or less stories from being in a car (or riding in a train) and driving along the highway (whether it's the southeast of not). Many of the songs have this feel. Here is a song by song synopsis:
"Feeling Gravity's Pull": While this song doesn't fit into my personal theme of "traveling along the highway", this is a great song. It has a darker tone - and the guitar work from Peter Buck combined with Michael Stipe's unique vocals truly helps set the tone to this song. The use of a string quartet is really done well on this track.
"Maps and Legends": Not only does the title fit into my highway theme, but the melody and beat of the song does as well. However the song isn't about driving down the highway and the title is more symbolic. I particularly like the harmonic background vocals that were incorporated on this track.
"Driver 8": The tempo picks up for this song and once again the title and melody fit into my highway theme. Actually this song is the story of a train (the Southern Crescent). In a way, this song also has a dark feel to it. The harmonica used on this song is the perfect touch, but ultimately Mike Mills' bass lines are the foundation to the sound.
"Life and how to Live It": Once again, this song has a perfect feel of driving down the highway. I've put this one on for long interstate rides. The chorus really has some great hooks on this one - terrific track that could have easily made mainstream radio.
"Old Man Kensey": Mills' bass work opens up this track and once again provides a great foundation. This also is a darker track, but it also one that grew on me.
"Can't Get There From Here": The title and melody also fit my highway theme for this album. Bill Berry's drums open this song nicely, but ultimately it is the unique vocals of Stipe that give this song its identity.
"Green Grow the Rushes": I also felt this song had melody that felt like driving down the highway. Lines like "Gone to find a cheaper hand" lend to the Southern theme around migrant farmers.
"Kohoutek" is the name of a comet. The band uses this as an analogy by saying "Like Kohoutek, you were gone" referring to a girl leaving someone. I also found this to be a catchy song.
"Auctioneer (Another Engine)": When you listen to the chorus, this song had one of the darkest themes. This is another song with mention of a train - although once again the beat also has a feel of driving down the highway. Berry's drums are right on target on this one, but ultimately it's Buck's guitar work to deliver the feel to this song.
"Good Advices": This was the one weak track of this collection. This was not a bad track, but overall it did not have me doing any handstands.
"Wendell Gee": From what I know Wendell Gee was some used car dealer in Georgia. This song has more of a ballad-feel to it. The part of this song I found interesting was a banjo solo done over a backdrop of an orchestral-like sound. There are also some great harmonic background vocals on this track.
The liner notes on my particular version of this collection were thin and the lyrics were not included. This was slightly disappointing because I think R.E.M. music has some of the most interesting music and adding lyrics would have been a good thing. Overall, long time R.E.M. fans are going to greatly enjoy this album. If you are fan of mainstream R.E.M, I would still recommend picking up this album.
|
|
|
