Lifes Rich Pageant

by

R.E.M.

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"I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract/

Explain the change, the difference between/

What you want and what you need, there's the key"

-- "I Believe"

A review, however written, however praised, I fear won't do this one justice. It's that good...the pinnacle of what R.E.M. has to offer, which is saying a lot in and of itself. To offer unabashed praise without reason is as empty as the soul of a record company corporate lawyer, so here goes.

After all these years of following R.E.M., I've just now noticed the cover art for "Lifes Rich Pageant" is none other than a close-up of Bill Berry upper mug. Who could mistake those bushy unibrows? And now he farms and has left R.E.M. a drum-machining threesome, but this is all beside the point...reason...where's the reason?

"Lifes Rich Pageant," opens up smoking and we hear Michael Stipe's voice clearly, lucid, growling, "Let's begin again, like Martin Luther's Zen." And so they have, once again recreating themselves in discovery which has kept their marathon career fresh, interesting, and relevant.

"Fall on Me," and "The Flowers of Guatemala," represent the genius of Stipe and Mills songwriting and are hauntingly beautiful. "Fall on Me," pays homage to the sky, gives religion back to the sky, fears the falling of the sky with the interplay of rounds between Stipe and Mills, "Don't fall on me (What is it up in the air for) (It's gonna fall)/Fall on me (If it's there for long) (It's gonna fall)/Fall on me (It's over it's over me) (It's gonna fall)"

Ther's silliness as well, but artistic silliness in a curious, "Underneath the Bunker," screams and yelps in "Just a Touch," and archaic arcane lyrical language of, "Swan Swan H." What does it all mean? R.E.M. is just beginning to flesh out their politics here and pays homage to a lost childhood with "Cuyahoga," the same Ohio river that caught on fire due to it being so heavily polluted and toxic in 1969.

This album really has so many layers like the peels of an onion, the music, the lyrics, the accompanying vocals layered and subtle, that you will find yourself years later still discovering things with closer listens. Though R.E.M. has put out some briliant music over the years particularly in "New Adventures in Hi Fi," and "Automatic For the People," none reach the watermark set by 1986's "Lifes Rich Pageant." It raves, it rocks, it reels, it rolls. It's a reckoning of a different order, a revolution, musical and deep...a must. One of my top three pieces of music I own and I own a lot.

There I told you I wouldn't do it justice, but don't let your music collection go without this one. There is a difference between what you want and what you need. You need this.

A transitional release for the band, "Pagent" shows the band's willingness to get commercial..but only in tenative, baby steps.

New producer Don Gehman (John Cougar Melloncamp) does all he can to make the band radio friendly and maintain the air of mystery..hence big time 80's bombastic sound combined with Stipes muffled, almost hidden vocals (the Band's M.O. up to the release of "Document").

For the very first time, the material isn't up to the usual high standard that made the first three releases outright classics, with a quarter of the songs mearly ok but skimpy and the band's first throwaway ("Underneath The Bunker") making an appearance. The notion that the band may have been short of material is reaffirmed by some of the songs which date from the band's earliest days ("Just A Touch").

All in all, it bridges "Fables" and "Document" nicely, but it could've been much better if it had been developed more fully.