R.E.M. – Lifes Rich Pageant

Man, this is a really nice sounding album. Sounds really full and clear. Can't hear how they could improve it any more. Definitely one to pick up if you come across it.

Great sounding vinyl. Got my copy second hand but sounds clean and quiet. Good base and attack - sounds like the band are in your living room. Recommended.

Twelve beautiful songs and a great album. REM’s fourth and fundamental: the one that allowed Michael Stipe & Co. to get out of a "niche" dimension and establish themselves in the international limelight, soon to become the pop-rock superstar that we have known since then and during at least fifteen years. Indeed so many beautiful songs that it becomes difficult to pick up a favorite one. I could list the initial «Begin The Begin» for my visceral emotion on first listening; or perhaps the gritty following one «These Days» for its punk-rock catching; or the folk-rock hymn of «Fall On Me»; and why not the poignant tune of «Cuyahoga»? Every time for a different reason, I would name a different song at the top of my list. Isn’t it maybe that the long-lasting charm of this record rests in its variety of musical inspiration, which allows even a kind of crazy rumba like «Underneath The Bunker» to fit well into the picture, just like a recycled minor hit like The Clique’s «Superman» from the lysergic seventies. I like this record no matter if I can hardly catch a bit of the meaning of the lyrics despite all my English-speaking efforts: so why that strange title which could well have meant "the rich spectacle of life" but when it is written as "lifes" without the apostrophe, what does it mean? Well, it doesn't really matter after all. Indeed if a record takes you so much even when you only understand a few fragmented sentences ... then it's really a great record. Also, I should not forget to mention the contribution of producer Don Gehman and with a smile the bushy eyebrows on the cover picture of Bill Berry, the drummer who will leave a few years later. Last but not least there is a curious kind of “life in parallel” between REM and U2, who also reached world stardom in those years - on the opposite side of the ocean - and after their fourth album (The Unforgettable Fire) while the respective frontmen and leaders – Michael Stipe and Bono – have both celebrated just now their 60th anniversary. Tempus fugit, obviously, but good records remain.

Amazing album! As are the bands first six or seven!

On most formats of "Lifes Rich Pageant", the tracklisting printed on the back cover differs from the actual one playing on the vinyl (or cassette, or CD according to the one you own). When you play the CD, you may program the running order in order to match the back cover tracklisting, leaving aside "Underneath The Bunker" and "Superman" which are not even listed (you could almost consider them easter eggs as those songs don't seem to fit in the album mood after all). Then you will experience a different general atmosphere listening from "Begin The Begin" through "Swan Sawn H". Songs flow one after the other in a very consistent way. All energy songs are at the beginning giving way to mid-tempo soulful songs and then finishing with ballads. Personnally I quite prefer this running order, the one printed on the back cover, rather than the recorded one. Please give it a try...