Ranking R.E.M.'s Catalog - from 'Murmur' to 'Collapse Into Now'

Today marks the seventh edition of a special series within my weekly feature, Friday On The Turntable - instead of looking at one album, I am featuring all of R.E.M.'s studio albums from 1983 - 2011 - and ranking them! It was a mammoth task, and proved frustrating when putting albums that I love against other ones that I love. Nonetheless, I've provided a ranked list - from #15 (good) - #1 (the best). 

If you would like the short / textual version of the list, please scroll past the video discussion. As always, I look forward to reading your comments and feedback. At the very bottom of this article is a link to an R.E.M. playlist that I created in Spotify, which features my 3 favorite songs from each album - along with their beautiful swan song 'We All Go Back To Where We Belong.'

And as always, here is a link to my band Audra's Bandcamp Site. Thank you!

Here we go...

Check out The 20 Best Songs of R.E.M. feature also!

The text/pics version is below - don't scroll down yet if you want to enjoy the video.

#15: Around the Sun (2004)

3 Favorite Songs: Leaving New York, Make It All Okay, Aftermath

#14: Reveal (2001)

3 Favorite Songs: Imitation Of Life, Beat A Drum, I'll Take The Rain

#13: Accelerate (2008)

3 Favorite Songs: Hollow Man, Supernatural Superserious, Mr. Richards

#12: Monster (1994)

3 Favorite Songs: What's The Frequency Kenneth, Bang & Blame, Strange Currencies

#11: Up (1998)

3 Favorite Songs: At My Most Beautiful, Walk Unafraid, You're In The Air

#10: Collapse Into Now (2011)

3 Favorite Songs: Uberlin, Mine Smell Like Honey, Oh My Heart

#9: New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)

3 Favorite Songs: E-bow The Letter, Leave, New Test Leper

#8: Document (1987)

3 Favorite Songs: It's The End Of The World, The One I Love, Finest Worksong

#7: Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)

3 Favorite Songs: Cuyahoga, The Flowers Of Guatemala, I Believe

#6: Automatic for the People (1992)

3 Favorite Songs: Nightswimming, Sweetness Follows, New Orleans Instrumental No. 1

#5: Green (1988)

3 Favorite Songs: You Are The Everything, The Wrong Child, Orange Crush

#4: Out of Time (1991)

3 Favorite Songs: Near Wild Heaven, Belong, Losing My Religion

#3: Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)

3 Favorite Songs: Driver 8, Feeling Gravitys Pull, Green Grow The Rushes

#2: Reckoning (1984)

3 Favorite Songs: So. Central Rain, Harborcoat, 7 Chinese Bros.

#1: Murmur (1983)

3 Favorite Songs: Talk About The Passion, Perfect Circle, Sitting Still

Listen in on Spotify

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[Friday On The Turntable] R.E.M. - Murmur

Welcome to this week's Friday On The Turntable feature! For those of you that follow my blog on Facebook, you'll recall that each Friday I post a featured record that I'm currently enjoying. To enhance the experience, I've been filming short videos - discussing a brief history of the record, my favorite tracks and what it means to me. The video is embedded below - don't forget to subscribe to my youtube channel here.

This week's featured album is the incredible, 1983 debut album from R.E.M. - Murmur. Please enjoy, and feel free to leave me your thoughts on this record. Thanks for watching!

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R.E.M. - Tourfilm. Review

This week begins a new series on Life On This Planet - Concert Film Of The Day. I will be watching 5 live concert videos and then featuring one every day this week. Keep up on my daily postings by clicking LIKE over at the Life On This Planet Blog Page on Facebook.

Feeling a bit nostalgic since the announcement of their breakup, I decided to check out an old R.E.M. concert video called Tourfilm. Shot over 5 shows on R.E.M.'s Green Tour, it was originally released on VHS back in 1990.

Tourfilm starts off a bit awkward, with a tepid version of Green's huge single, Stand, but luckily they recover with a superb take on The One I Love. It's a joy watching guitarist Peter Buck spin on his heels, holding that classic black and white Rickenbacker.

The set list is heavy on Green / Document era tracks, with only one song represented from 1983's Murmur, and nothing from Reckoning. A major highlight is the performance of You Are The Everything, complete with Mike Mills on accordion, Peter Buck on mandolin and drummer Bill Berry on bass. Not only is it one of my favorite R.E.M. tracks, but this song is the predecessor of the sound that the band would explore to great heights on their next couple of records - in particular, Losing My Religion.

Deep album cuts such as King of Birds and I Believe really stand out on this show, as well as Document's lead-off track, Finest Worksong. After the brilliant performance of Murmur's Perfect Circle, the band takes the stage for a fun, but sloppy version of the Velvet Underground's After Hours - filmed at the very end of the last show of the tour.

Overall, it was cool seeing this era of R.E.M.'s career performed live. There are some other killer live DVDs available, scroll down for links. :)

Track Listing:  Stand / The One I Love / These Days / Turn You Inside-Out / World Leader Pretend / Feeling Gravity's Pull / I Believe / I Remember California / Get Up / It's The End Of The World As We Know It / Pop Song 89 / Fall On Me / You Are The Everything / Begin The Begin / King Of Birds / Finest Worksong / Perfect Circle / After Hours

Check out my list of The 20 Best R.E.M. Songs

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R.E.M. The 20 Best Songs

This week marks the release of R.E.M.'s fifteenth studio album! Collapse Into Now hit the shelves on March 8th. I've been preparing a Best of R.E.M. list over the last few months to share with you this week. It was tough to narrow it down to 15, so there are 20 picks. 

If you'd like to listen to the songs featured in this list, scroll down to the bottom for a Spotify playlist. As always, please share your own picks in the comments section.

After you finish checking out this list, head on over to the R.E.M. Album Ranking feature!

20.  Harborcoat
From the album Reckoning (1984)

19.  Shaking Through
From the album Murmur (1983)

18.  What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
Released as single; appeared on the album Monster (1994)

17.  The Flowers of Guatemala
From the album Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)

16.  Gardening at Night
From the EP Chronic Town (1982)

15.  You are the Everything
From the album Green (1988)

14.  Cuyahoga
From the album Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)

13.  Near Wild Heaven
Released as single; appeared on the album Out of Time (1991)

12.  The One I Love
Released as single; appeared on the album Document (1987)

11.  Radio Free Europe
Released as single (1981) & (1983) re-recorded; appeared on the album Murmur (1983)

10.  Losing My Religion
Released as single; appeared on the album Out of Time (1991)

09.  Sitting Still
From the album Murmur (1983)

08.  At My Most Beautiful
Released as single (1999); appeared on the album Up (1998)

07.  7 Chinese Bros.
From the album Reckoning (1984)

06.  Perfect Circle
From the album Murmur (1983)

05.  Imitation of Life
Released as single; appeared on the album Reveal (2001)

04.  So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)
From the album Reckoning (1984)

03.  Nightswimming
Released as single (1993); appeared on the album Automatic for the People (1992)

02.  Talk About the Passion
Released as single; appeared on the album Murmur (1983)

01.  Driver 8
Released as single; appeared on the album Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)

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