Georgia alt-rockers produced one of 1988’s best records
For the first several years of their career together, Athens, Georgia, group R.E.M. toiled in relative obscurity. They produced four stellar albums from 1983 to ’86 that earned critical acclaim and received a fair amount of airplay on college radio stations. That translated into the band developing a cult following, but it wasn’t until “Document” was released in 1987 that R.E.M. finally broke into the mainstream. Much of that success can be attributed to MTV playing the videos for singles like “The One I Love” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”
That work was co-produced by the group and producer Scott Litt, and it served as their last original studio album released on IRS Records. (They later released “Dead Letter Office” and “Eponymous,” both of which were compilations of early work and outtakes.) R.E.M. signed with Warner Bros. and reunited with Litt in 1988 to record a follow-up album, the result being “Green.”
Staying true to its rock ‘n’ roll roots, the record found the group continuing to explore political issues through Michael Stipe’s lyrics, which at times conveyed a rebellious tone. It spawned four singles including “Stand,” a bubblegum-sounding tune that thrust R.E.M. back into the limelight. The other singles (“Orange Crush,” “Turn You Inside Out” and “Get Up”) were the types of songs that endeared the band to music critics and the general public alike. The latter group still was somewhat sparse, but it was loyal – and growing.
The LP’s opener, “Pop Song 89,” which seems at first listen to be another bubblegum throwaway track, is actually a tongue-in-cheek critique of the turbulent times back then, the alienation expressed in its lyrics paving the way for Thom Yorke and Radiohead a decade later on “OK Computer.”
The album packs a special charm, too, with ballads such as “Hairshirt,” “I Remember California” and “You Are the Everything,” all retracing another aspect of the group’s roots.
While “Green” wasn’t the group’s most commercially successful LP, it did enough to keep them around before they really exploded in the early ‘90s with the transcendent “Automatic for the People.” It also remains one of rock’s truly fine yet understated and underappreciated jewels.
