-
R.E.M. – Green
Anyone who is a music buff has to know what Athens, GA means in relation to music history. To quote music author Richie Unterberger, “The contributions of Athens to rock, country music, and bluegrass have earned it the nickname “the Liverpool of the South”, and the city is known as one of the American birthplaces for both modern alternative rock and new wave music. Athens was home to the first and most famous college music scene in the country, beginning in the 1970s.”
Included in the list of famous bands is Widespread Panic, The B-52’s and probably most notably, R.E.M. Needless to say this band is probably the first alt-rock band I really got attached to. I never will forget the first time I heard ‘Radio Free Europe.’ I was like, ‘Holy Cow, who is this?’ At that time my nephew, may he Rest In Peace, was 14 and into skateboarding as many other youth his age and he had that long hair (sling head I think they were called) and he could just pull it off, as he was such a slim, handsome kid, with a beautiful spirit. It was a special time and I recall having that song on replay all the time and then of course MTV began to dominate the screens and the band began to get more publicity.
With that being said, while ‘Murmur’ was definitely the start of it all, I think of all the albums my absolute favorite is ‘Green.’ There is not a song on it that does not resonate with me, even though I do tolerate ‘Stand’ as much as that is probably one of my least favorite songs by them. To me that one is definitely too commercial and outside of what I would have expected of them. But outside of that, I think this album is their masterpiece. ‘Pop Song 89’, ‘You Are the Everything’, ‘Orange Crush’, and the excellent ‘Untitled’ are the stand outs for me. The band is absolutely tight on this one and Stipe is in perfect form as far as his singing. Go ‘Green!’
#musicfiends
#remgreen
#greenalbum
#greenbyrem
Log in to reply.