I’m identifying the best three albums by my fifty favorite rock bands of all time. This blog is for #12- REM.
Criteria for selecting the best three albums
Here are the criteria for this list. I’m changing it up for the top twelve bands. First, no Greatest Hits albums are allowed. I will simply mention if a band has good greatest hits albums. REM does. Second, no live albums. Third I will include one or more honorable mentions for the top 12 bands. Why am I changing the rules? It is getting tough to pick the best three. Think of a band like REM – they released many good albums over the years.
REM albums ranked by ChatGPT
Let’s look at what artificial intelligence has to say about this list. According to ChatGPT, here are the top five albums by REM based on sales and critical acclaim.
- Automatic for the People (1992) – both commercially successful and critically acclaimed. It includes hit songs like “Everybody Hurts” and “Man on the Moon.”
- Out of Time (1991) – Another highly successful album that helped REM gain widespread popularity. It features tracks like “Losing My Religion” and “Shiny Happy People.”
- Green (1988) – This album marked a turning point in REM’s career, achieving significant commercial success and receiving positive reviews.
- Murmur (1983) – REM’s debut album, which was a critical success and laid the groundwork for their future career.
- Monster (1994) – Despite mixed reviews, it was a commercial success, with tracks like “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” and “Bang and Blame.”
There are several that I expected to see and a few I did not. I started listening to this band while in high school back in the 80s. I was a big fan when I was in college and they ruled the college airwaves. They didn’t become really popular until later so I guess it’s not shocking that some of their 90s albums made the list.
Spotify popular releases for this band
Now let’s take a quick peek at Spotify data which is not super helpful. The most popular releases for REM include a single that we will ignore. The album Document shows up twice – the original and the reissue. I think because the song “It’s the End of the World” is on that record. I am not surprised to see both Automatic For The People and Out of Time. This data is not the most helpful which is unfortunate because picking REM’s best albums can be challenging. If you search the internet you will get a variety of answers.
The third-best album by this band is Life’s Rich Pageant
The third-best album by REM is called Life’s Rich Pageant. It was released during my college days. I listened to it a ton. This record includes the song “Fall on Me” and a rather good remake of “Superman”.
The second-best album by REM
The second-best album by REM is called Out of Time. Released in the early 1990s, it was hugely popular due to the song “Losing My Religion” which included an artistic accompanying video that was very popular on MTV. This album also includes a song that divides fans, “Shiny Happy People”. I like it, but hardcore fans don’t enjoy any happy songs. They prefer when Michael Stipe murmurs about life.
Honorable mention albums for this band
Here are the honorable mentioned albums for REM. I’m including two because they released so many great records. First is Murmur. their debut record. It includes the song “Radio Free Europe”. Some albums from the early 80s did not age well. This one has. I still love listening to it today. Next is Automatic For The People which was a shift musically for the band. This record includes “Everybody Hurts” as well as “Man on the Moon”. It is a really good album later on in their career, unlike the ones they released after 2000.
The best album by REM
The best album by REM is their second record called Reckoning. To me, it is the quintessential REM album. Michael Stipe is still somewhat murmuring the lyrics and Peter Buck found his signature guitar sound. Every song on this album is excellent. The two best-known are “South Central Rain” also known as I’m Sorry as well as “Don’t Go Back to Rockville”. I own this one on vinyl and I recommend you do too.
There you have it – the three best REM albums. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
I am Doug Keating and this is my letter to my sons.