This is where R.E.M. turned the corner and decided to R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., as if on some kind of mission to annoy. They used to sound cool, mysterious. Well, not here. No sir, with Lifes Rich Pageant onward, they wanted to be rock stars.
The cringing starts with "Begin the Begin", a hip-grinding rocker that has a Mick Jagger swagger which, in the hands of Michael Stipe, just comes off as embarrassing. It's Michael with a can-do attitude (lucky us) which spills over into the next song, the surprisingly melodic "These Days" roaring and shouting at us, "...we are young despite the years, we are concerned, we are hope despite the times..." giving us an actual anthem. Dear god, do we really need another? "Fall on Me" points out the most distinct difference in the "new R.E.M." - it's another Byrdsian folk song, which had always been a major aspect of their music, but now it's crisp, direct, obvious. There's no room for enigma in a protest song, they've decided, the "message" needs to be jammed down your throat.
Prior to this album, their music had been strengthened by insisting that the vocals and drums be pushed into the mix, leading the listener inward to find balanced, well-crafted, but still powerful songs. Well, that's too much effort for your average radio listener - you don't go platinum with obtuseness. So now the vocals and drums are way up front, something for you to shake your fist and pound your chest to. Dumbed-down and a little too cocksure. I realize it's important for a band to redefine themselves, but it's always suspect when that band just happens to pick a path that more closely resembles whoever's filling arenas at the time. Sadly, in 1986, it was John Mellencamp and Bryan Adams.
Resentful? Me?
But it's not just their stylistic choices that bug me about this record. There's just some poor songwriting here, like the godawful and anemic "What If We Give It Away?", the Tom Waits rip-off "Underneath the Bunkers", the sea shanty sung as a power ballad "Swan Swan H", and the overt earnestness of "Cuyahoga", which sounds like they wrote it 5 minutes before walking into the studio. Drunk.
It's any band's prerogative to become the antithesis of whatever made them interesting in the first place, and laugh themselves to the bank in the process. But I don't have to like it.
Both on my imaginary list.
we should start a club..
