Monday, 2 August 2010

‘Green’ by R.E.M.

R.E.M. A band I’ve consistently liked without ever quite managing to love. And yet, when I stop and make myself listen to an album, I always enjoy it. ‘Green’ is a particular pleasure to listen to. As the transition between their early cult success, and their later world domination, the album walks a fine line between artistry and commercialism, and it therefore manages a very fine balance.

‘Pop Song ‘89’, ‘Get Up’, ‘Stand’, ‘Orange Crush’ – all are great. Slightly disposable and possibly meaningless, perhaps, but still great. ‘World Leader Pretend’, whilst far more downbeat and introspective, is also great. Only a couple of tracks – ‘Turn You Inside Out’ and ‘I Remember California’ – are less successful. Since they’re the louder, more rock-heavy tracks on the album, that would suggest that, to my mind at least, R.E.M. are at their best when they’re writing pop songs and having a good time. This in turn suggests that when I reach their 90’s output, I’m not going to enjoy it quite so much.

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