R.E.M.'s Swan (Swan H) Song

R.E.M. finally broke up today after 30-odd years. I've followed the band very casually for the last decade, but was very into them during the mid- to late-90s and saw them live in 1999. To a lot of their fans, the band really ended in 1997 when drummer Bill Berry quit near the peak of the band's popularity(he'd suffered an aneurysm during a concert performance in 1995). But R.E.M. carried on, and while they'd lost some of their magic, they still had some strong moments. In honor of their career, here are my favorite tracks from each of their albums.


Chronic Town: "Wolves, Lower" (This was an EP, not a full album.)


Murmur: "Sitting Still"

Reckoning: "Pretty Persuasion"


Fables of the Reconstruction: "Feeling Gravity's Pull"


Lifes Rich Pageant: "Cuyahoga" (I think this is my favorite R.E.M. song, musically.)

Document: "The One I Love"


Green: "Get Up"


Out of Time: "Texarkana" (One purdy tune. Bassist/keyboardist Mike Mills sang the lead on this one.)



Automatic For The People: Tie between "Man on the Moon" and "Find the River" (This is their best album overall, although it's not representative of their 'classic' sound. "Try Not to Breathe" is also a real stunner.)

Monster: "Bang and Blame"


New Adventures in Hi-Fi: "Bittersweet Me" (Sonically, this is one of my favorite albums by any band. It sounded more raw and open than their other records to that point, and the music hit a sweet spot between their folk-rock and hard-rock sides.)


Up: "Daysleeper"


Reveal: "Imitation of Life"

Around The Sun: "I Wanted To Be Wrong" (This is their worst album. It's actually hard to pick a favorite off this one. I only like this track musically; the lyrics are irritating.)


Accelerate: "Hollow Man"


Collapse Into Now: "Discoverer" (This came out only six months before they announced they were disbanding. Somewhat of a 'return to form.')