R.E.M. Album: “Fables of the Reconstruction [Import Bonus Tracks]”

One thing before I continue: If you own the original copy of Fables, there is no need to purchase this album; they're all included on Dead Letter Office. But for those of you who don't own the album, this is certainly the one to get.

From the excellent opener, Feeling Gravitys Pull, the listener is drawn into the albums generally gloomy mood... but who said there's anything wrong with gloomy? There are the radio hits Driver 8 (my personal favourite of this cd), Life And How To Live It, and the somewhat upbeat Can't Get There From Here, all great songs. Maps and Legends is my personal favourite, very nice track indeed :P

We also have the calm, though catchy melodys of Green Grow the Rushes, Old Man Kensey, Good Advices and Wendell Gee (a very good album closer, one of the best I've ever heard!) No track on this cd is really that bad, so there's no track skipping here!

Then we have the bonus tracks, that are good but certainly not enough to entice those who own the original. Crazy and Bandwagon are great little covers, the former always urgeing me to start dancing! Burning Hell is probably the worst of the bonus tracks, but it's not that bad.

The two live recordings of two of the better albums on the songs are great, and the live version of Maps is actually superior to the original! Definatly worth hearing for new R.E.M. listeners!

Verdict? Well, I gave the original 4 stars because it still pales in comparison to R.E.M.s other albums, and a few bonus tracks won't change that. But this cd is definatly worth picking up, it's the sort of atmospheric music you won't find on any other cd!

I'm a fairly new fan of R.E.M. and this albumn is a new discovery for me. It really is exquisite. They have a genius for giving one a glimpse of the weave of the carpet of Creation and that is very apparent in this albumn. It has more than the usual exquisite patterning of harmony and discord, high and low, voices and music and lots of other things I can barely percieve. The harmonies do wonderful and shocking things. It's an education! All this and a lively dance beat too! That said - it's not for the faint hearted.

Having not heard this album until well after its release, I'd already become pretty familiar with REM through everything they'd released after Document in 1987. When I went back and bought their earlier albums this one kind of stuck out like a banged up thumb.

There's a progression to most REM albums, from Chronic Town all the way through the post-Bill Berry era, but this one is out of place. It doesn't seem to be a reasonable bridge from 1984's Reckoning to 1986's Life's Rich Pageant the way those albums are a step after Murmur and before Document, respectively.

The introduction to the album given on the early best-of Eponymous isn't much help, either. Driver 8 is still one of my favorite REM songs due to it's vocal melody, but 15 years after first hearing it I'm still not a fan of Can't Get There From Here. It's simply too busy-sounding.

But 15 years also does a lot to a person's perspective, and now I think Fables is easily one of REM's best efforts. The songwriting is brilliantly narrative though still somewhat cryptic in Stipe's early manner of lyricism. Almost every song is its own short story, and Feeling Gravity's Pull is one of the band's best "Side One Track One" tunes ever. It perfectly sets the tone for what follows.

This isn't the album to buy if you're looking to introduce yourself to REM other than what you've heard on the radio since 1991. It's easily their most challenging album, however, and if you're a person who takes enjoyment out of picking pieces out of songs for deeper understanding and you're willing to put the time in in order to let the music evolve in your brain to raise whatever consciousness you have, click "Add to cart" right now.

I'm not going to try writing an explanation of every song on it, because one of the best things about this record is how many different understandings I've been able to glean from listening to it over the years and through different parts of my life.

I'm shocked that I'm writing the first review for this CD! If you're an REM fan and you like their older stuff, you'll love this CD. Good and raw, it's REM before the politics and fluff. Solid from top to bottom.

"Fables of the Reconstruction" was the album that convinced me to make the *jump* from "classic" rock to alternative in 1985. Not only is this my favorite REM album, it's my favorite ALBUM--period.

Fables is beautiful; dark, deep, lush... (kinda like kudzu) it's easy to get lost in Michael's stories of the South, while simultaneously being hypnotized by Peter Buck's jangling Rickenbocker-picking sound. Buck's playing takes the listener for a Byrd's-esque train ride on Driver 8, the album's standout track. This is the song that would influence everything I'd listen to for the next ten years-- it was THE point of comparison.

Michael Stipe is at his peak vocally on this album, and Peter Buck would never sound this good again. Not to mention Mike Mills' harmonies and Bill Berry's solid drumming--

Before they changed their sound in 1988, they were the best band in the world. Check 'em out.