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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect transition album: cult faves to stadium fillers., 30 Jul 2000
By A Customer
It was inevitable that signing to big boys Warner Bros would result in a big sounding album with a more commercial slant. But this is not to say that REM suddenly abandoned the credentials that made them such a fine album producing outfit throughout the 1980's. 'Green' is the sound of a band full of confidence. Previous album 'Document' had elevated their profile a great extent, now it was time to take their sound on to a bigger audience. From the opening track 'Pop Song 89' it's clear that they have opted for a more listener friendly approach, mixing typically oblique lyrics into a smooth pop format. There are other pop classics here too, 'Get Up' and 'Stand' being the most obvious examples. But most interesting of all is the world-weary, paranoid 'World Leader Pretend' which attempts to draw parallels between band spokesman and dictator without the pompous indulgence of, say, Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall'. 'Green' is the perfect transition album, capturing a band coming out of indie obscurity and blinking at the bright lights of the global stage. Fans of REM's later work will be able to get plenty from this album: it may not be as user-friendly as 'Out of Time' or 'Automatic for the People' but it's still a rewarding experience so if you liked the REM albums mentioned above (and, let's face it, most people only really know these two)don't hesitate to invest in 'Green'. You won't regret it. But don't stop there either, go further back to 'Document' and 'Lifes Rich Pageant' for even more relatively unknown gems.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If Not Best, Almost As Good As, 26 Nov 2002
I'm torn between this and Automatic For The People as my favourite REM album (which given my favourite REM album would probably also be my favourite album of all time is fairly high praise). This is by no means as perfect or coherent an album as "Automatic..." or indeed "Out Of Time", "Reveal" and several others and it is indeed a transitory album but its flaws do not detract from its overall brilliance, which stems from having such a strong collection of songs. While Orange Crush" and "Stand" offer the pop, as it were, to draw in casual listeners, there are more complex, more beautiful songs once you are pulled in. Of these, "The Wrong Child" is the best, a painful paean to being different and am convinced, partially from experience, that the chorus "I'm not supposed to be like this...but it's ok" sum up being disabled, scarred or different as well as any words written in history. Elsewhere, "You Are The Everything" is beautiful and "World Leader Pretend" is a phenomenal song. While I feel "Automatic..." wins out as an album overall, I feel this is the album to buy if you are looking for Stipe's finest lyrics and trying to understand how REM got to where they are. A flawed masterpiece that, through its flaws, becomes even more of a masterpiece
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
REM step confidently into the spotlight., 25 Oct 2008
REM,s first album for a major label ( Warner Bros for who they signed a five album deal worth $10 million) was their sixth album and arguably the first that saw the band fall from the general standards of excellence they revelled in for their previous five albums on the IRS label. Coincidence? , probably, as under the terms if their contract with W.B. they were allowed complete artistic autonomy . Having pointed that out Green is still worth having in any collection as it does contain some tremendous tracks .
Released on the 7th November in 1988 , one day before the 88 presidential election , the recording of Green marked a significant shift in the groups recording methods. This was a conscious decision by the group ( no doubt with the compliance of producer Scott Litt) to avoid making an album similar to their previous . The band swapped instruments for some of the songs. Bill Berry played bass on "You Are The Everything ", "The Wrong Child" and Hairshirt" while Peter Buck contributed drums on the last untitled track ( copyrighted under the moniker "11" as it was the eleventh track appropriately enough) . Mike Mills played keyboards on many tracks , a role he would adopt for future recordings , and even learnt the accordion. They most notable addition however was Bucks use of the mandolin which he utilised on the three tracks on which Berry played bass.
The album , as had their previous albums Document (Remastered) and Life's Rich Pageant (Remastered) , kicks off in imperious affirmative style with "Pop Song 89" and "Get Up" which confirm with their sense of mischievous fun and gleaming pop hooks that here is a band truly embracing the transition from indie band to stadium hugging major players. "Stand" a big hit i find rather annoying with it,s big dumb arrangement and clunking chords but either side of that are the gorgeous "You Are The Everything " and the albums pinnacle "World Leader Pretend" ( with cello from Jane Scarpantoni and pedal steel from Bucky Baxter) a brilliant acerbic diatribe against the men who run things . A song that manages to sound both both mournful and angry.
The twisted slightly awkward "Turn You Inside Out" is preceded by the trademark harmonies of Mike Mills on "Orange Crush " where Michael Stipe , further moving towards mainstream acceptability with his more clarified vocals ( augmented by a megaphone on this track) perverts this with his oblique lyrics. From track nine -"Hairshirt" i feel the album rather runs out of steam though "I Remember California" is a pleasant wistful number.
REM were to move even emphatically towards the mainstream with their next album Out of Time which despite including one of their finest songs "Losing My Religion" is by far their weakest album , though many ( usually those who embrace what ever is most popular at the time) fee it,s their strongest. Green can be seen as the moment when the band stepped confidently into the commercial spotlight something they were to embrace fully ( and brilliantly with Automatic for the People) before the sonic experimentation ofNew Adventures in Hi-Fiand Up. So sometimes it seems the only way is indeed up.
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