REM - Reckoning (Deluxe Edition) [Album]

Polydor

July 22, 2009, 04:14 PM

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Given REM's vast and varied back catalogue, it's sometimes easier to see them in terms of their own extensive discography than to picture them as a band who are still a touring and relevant outfit. The recent re-issue of the bands faultless (and in my opinion never bettered) debut album 'Murmur' was a revelation with the new mix, master and polish breathing new life into an album now more than 25 years old. 'Reckoning' takes the foundations front man Michael Stipe, bassist Mike Mills, guitarist Peter Buck and drummer Bill Berry laid so well in 'Murmur' and builds a more eclectic and accessible stack of left-field pop songs on top of it, the re-mastering job handled her by Greg Calbi is just as impressive.

Propulsive opening track 'Harborcoat' is an explosive track with Berry's simple, nervous drums providing a solid base for Buck and Mills trademark guitar/bass interplay and Stipes strained, emotional vocals. It's true that most of the songs on the record use the same beat and that Stipe tends to sing in the same register song after song, but this dry minimalism really helps hold the album together. It's a song that really shows off REM's insistency on working as a democratic unit, there are no stand out players or parts here, it's the sound of a real band playing together and playing to their own individual strengths.

Murmurs incessant energy is here bolstered by some really professionally arranged songs that show off a band who had been touring together for years and honing these songs to perfection. The wandering bridge section in '7 Chinese Bros' and the honky tonk piano that signals the start of '(Don't Go Back To) Rockville' are markers of a band already progressing far beyond their peers. Many of the best songs on Reckoning follow the formula set by the first 2 tracks: a standard, almost folksy verse is offset by a sly turnaround into a booming cathartic chorus. This is particularly evident on 'So Central Rain' where Stipe manages to frame the simple chorus line "I'm Sorry" as a desperate proclamation. Some have come to call Reckoning a formulaic and bland album but I reckon (no pun intended) the subtlety of the record might be lost on someone looking for a casual listen. REM nearly abandoned this kind of minimalism in the 90's so anyone who only knows of their later work might not find themselves instantly taken by these songs.

Of course the album is also full, of great pop songs, 'Pretty Persuasion' contains one of the strongest chorus's the band have ever laid to tape and 'Camera' cuts a beautiful, melancholic figure on an album full of comparable big hitters. The second half of the record embraces the bands love of old fashioned Americana with songs such as 'Time After Time' and 'Rockville' really benefiting from some simple touches which serve to bring out their more latent quirks. It's testament to the bands ability that these songs still manage to retain the energy of the albums first half. A couple of the later songs such as 'Letter Never Sent' and closer 'Little America' (which sounds more like early U2 than REM to me) suffer a little due to their lack of hooks but there's nothing here that comes across as filler, its a damn tight album, no loose ends and no fat. Every song on 'Reckoning' has it's place and it's a perfectly sequenced record with care and attention in every seam. The constant mid pacing and lack of any immediately gripping melodies might ear-mark it as one of the least loved albums in REM's 80's catalogue but there's more substance and depth here than on anything the band released after 1992.

The live disc included in this reissue (a 1984 performance at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom) demonstrates how well these songs work live and how the band's live approach seems to have been utilised in their studio recordings. It's a superb addition to an already tempting package.

Over the last 3 decades R.E.M have released many different kinds of great albums. But, more so than any other R.E.M. record, 'Reckoning' is unified and energised by the very restlessness that has driven the band to explore so many different ideas, sounds and identities. It is this visage of constant change and mystery that has made the band so unique, regardless of the particular approach they choose to take for a given record. This was R.E.M at that moment in time, warts and all and they really don't make them like this anymore.

Tracklisting:-
1. Harborcoat
2. 7 Chinese Bros.
3. So. Central Rain
4. Pretty Persuasion
5. Time After Time (Annelise)
6. Second Guessing
7. Letter Never Sent
8. Camera
9. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
10. Little America

Recommended:-
Harborcoat, 7 Chinese Bros, So. Central Rain, Pretty Persuasion, Time After Time, Camera, (Don't Go Back To) Rockville

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