R.E.M is:
Michael Stipe
Peter Buck
Mike Mills
Bill Berry
Monster is R.E.M's "hard rock" moment. After the dark and haunting
Automatic For THe People, R.E.M decided to return to being a rock band. Instead of another
Green or
Document, R.E.M decided to take their jangle pop sound and crank up the volumes on the guitar.
For most part, this is a pretty decent album with a few weak songs, and the tour that was launched was quite successful. Unfortunately, this album received negative comments by critics, and some of the older fans considered it to be a big deprture by some of the bands previous works. Despite what others say, this is a pretty good album, but not the best place to start if you want ot get into REM.
The disortion on this album is quite heavy at times. Most of the lyrics are different too, on tracks such as Bang and Blame, Star 69, and Crush WIth Eyeliner. Michael Stipe's vocals are quite different too, and he croons a few times throughout the album, but his voice is a tiny bit weak at times on this album as well.
What's The Frequency Kenneth
After hearing the distorted guitar chords in this song, you can definitely tell that this album is going to be different than what you expected. This song is actually a single, and was pretty popular on MTV. A good way to open the album. 10/10
Crush With Eyeliner
THe catchiest song on this album, and the distortion is quite similar to the previous song and quite catchy too. Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth also contributes to this track. 10/10
King Of Comedy
THis one's pretty different than the previous tracks. It kind of provides a more funky kind of feeling rather than alternative rock feeling. Michael Stipe sing sort of quiet, and the distortion is different. 9/10
I Don't Sleep, I Dream
No distortion on this one but it's pretty melodic. Michael Stipe sings like his usual self on this one, but croons a few times throughout this track. 9/10
Star 69
IMO, the album begins to slip a little. It sounds very punk, unlike anything REM has done before. Unforunately, Michael Stipe's singing throughout is kind of repetitive, and the lyrics are pretty weak. But this one shows that the band was just trying to have fun, playing loud music. 6/10
Strange Currencies
A decent track, but no distortion on this one. Michael Stipe's singing gets kind of repetitive after a while though. Another average track. 7/10
Tongue
This is an odd track. For most part, there's no guitar, just piano. Michael Stipe signs high pitched throughout the whole track, making it kind of hard to understand what he's singing. Also includes a solo from Peter Buck. 5/10
Bang and Blame
This is where the album starts getting really good again. This song turned out to be as successful as the first two, and it's pretty catchy too. The song ends at 4 minutes, but then it comes back again with Peter Buck playing something similar to Crush With Eyeliner. 10/10
I Took Your Name
Started with Peter Buck playing the same guitar chord throughout the track. Michael Stipe's vocals are smilar to Crush With Eyeliner, but not quite as good. 8/10
Let Me In
Starts with Peter Buck playing guitar chords without drums. Many consider this to be a tribute to Kurt Cobain FYI. Yet the lyrics are quite hard to understand. 9/10
Circus Envy
The distortion in this song is extremely heavy making it hard to understand what Michael Stipe is singing. Not a very good track, and gets kind of boring after a while. 5/10
You
Peter Bucks' guitar playing kind of reminds me of a country song I heard one time for some reason. This track is better than theprevious one, but gets a little repetitive towards the end. Michael Stipe's vocals are the end of the track are no suprise though. 7/10
This album is pretty good from what I've heard, but don't expect it to be great. If you want to get into REM, you should listen to early albums such as
Murmur and
Document before this one. It might give you a better opinion of the band.
6.5/10
