REM PART 1: It's Not Easy Being Green

In my first year in high school I was trying to finding something new to listen to. I wanted to be part of the hip and cool clicks and If I liked what they liked I could hang out with them and meet new people.  I was listening to new stuff at that time and watching a ton of MTV music videos.  I stumbled upon an alternative music video program called 120 Minutes and watched all the cool artists that were new and fresh.  These videos were of classic alternative bands like The Cure, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Replacements, and most of all R.E.M.  I have heard R.E.M. before because they have been around for a bit.  Once in a while the radio stations would play their music and I liked it.  It was catchy and fun.

In the winter of 1988/89 I stumbled upon a new R.E.M. album.  MTV was playing them in heavy rotation.  I heard "Stand" and I would crank up either the radio or the TV when I saw the video.  It was catchy and fun.  I finally had enough money to pick up the album.  I looked at and starting reading the lyrics.  Each song had a strong political statement, but that was cool with me because the people I was hanging with wanted to make a change.  They saw and identified with political music all the time.  R.E.M. was at the forefront of this political movement.

When I heard R.E.M. previously I knew I was going to like the new music that they were making.  Each of their previous albums had at least one catchy tune. This is the first album that had many catchy tunes.  I wanted to buy it because they were obviously on a hitting streak. It was also a major label debut for them and that means a bit more success.  Success was just a word.  When Green came out, it was huge.

For me it was the catchy hooks, It was the music that was fueled with great Big Star type guitars and awesome lyrics, and catchy tunes.  Four of them came out as singles.  I think their should have been a fourth, but that's me.  "Turn You Inside Out" is a classic R.E.M tune. The songs that became singles for Green are seriously R.E.M. classics.  This might be called their breakthrough, but no mistake the band should have been recognized to a wider audience sooner.

I sadly did not see this tour, but if I did I think I would have been going to a few shows.  The music is infectious and shows their roots and their influences of Big Star, Replacements, Patti Smith, and other Power Pop/Rock of the 70's and 80's.  You can see this influence on their third single for Green.  "Pop Song '89" has Replacements and Big Star written all over it.  To me when I first heard it I loved the freshness that R.E.M. pulled off.  My friends who turned me on to this stuff knew about R.E.M. from their older siblings, I did not have that inside information since I was an only child. I did though had friends who were older who told me that R.E.M. was no joke and their music is something that I would like.

If your trying to find the best R.E.M. in your collection and you don't want a greatest hits or best of then check out their early albums.  If you want feel like you been a fan for more then ten minutes then check out Green.  It's a pretty decent album and worth listening to.  It has it's jangling guitar and hits.  It also has a few political charged numbers.  It's a good start to a great band.  Check it out and crank it up.