Life and How to Live It is the greatest song ever written. Great melody, lyrics even Bob Dylan would have been proud of, and the sound is just spectacular

>>65155597
The album that came before and after that one in their discog is better. Still one of the best albums of the 80s though.

>>65156459
Lifes Rich Pageant is their weakest IRS album. Reckoning is slightly below Murmur and Fables, though I can see why someone would prefer it.

>>65157066
>Lifes Rich Pageant is their weakest IRS album
OK Kid

>>65157988
Despite having some of their finest songs to date, it's got the two weakest songs of that era, Underneath the Bunker and Just a Touch. It's a preview of their Warner albums, which are about a 50/50 split of great songs and bad songs (though LRP has more highlights than lowlights, to be fair).

>>65156425
>Life and How to Live It is the greatest song ever written.
lmao

>>65158041
Automatic For The People, Monster, and Adventures In Hifi are some of their best and most daring. Idk how their Warner are supposed to be considered a turn for the worse. If you ask me they were heading for a brief slump with Document followed by very similar Green and Out of Time which, despite being actually quite good, is their worst Bill Berry album. They instantly turned that around as I've already mentioned. Also, Underneath The Bunker is a great interlude.

>>65155597
Excellent post. It's right up there with Murmur for me, probably a little ahead of it.

>>65160313
I disagree with you on Automatic, at the very least. The stretch between the instrumental and Star Me Kitten is an absolute slog for me to get through, even though Try Not to Breathe and Find The River are top 10 REM songs for me. I'll admit I haven't heard Adventures in full, but I haven't liked what I have heard. Monster has great singles, but the rest of the album feels lacking to me.

Meanwhile, Green is probably my favorite of their major label albums. Up to and including Orange Crush, I love it, but with the Finest Worksong rewrite that is Turn You Inside Out, it loses me for a bit until the untitled song at the end.

>>65160881
I'm sorry, bro, but your taste is, like, poop, man.

The only thing Fables doesn't do perfectly is the album cover.

>>65155597
Because it's shit

It ranks high for me just for being an R.E.M. album, although it's one of my least favorites of their IRS era. Strongest backloaded album of their career in my opinion though.