Your favorite of these songs by R.E.M.

[KevShmev]

You can vote for up to 6.

I went with:

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
At My Most Beautiful
Electrolite
Drive
Stand
Shiny Happy People

Hardcore fans might scoff at my last two picks, but they are two highly enjoyable, fun songs.

[Cool Chris]

Damn I listened to Green a ton when it came out. I never owned, or even got in to, any of their albums before that, or after that. Over half those songs on that list aren't even familiar to me by name.

So... not sure why I am here...

From that list I recognize from Green:
Pop Song 89
Orange Crush
(I recognize Stand but can't in good faith give it a vote)

I am going to make it a point to listen to that album as soon as I can.

[Fritzinger]

I love REM! I think Automatic For The People is one of the greatest albums of the 90s.

But dude, where's The Sidewinder???

[Zantera]

Out of these options I went for Losing My Religion, Nightswimming, E-Bow the Letter, What's the Frequency, Kenneth?, Man on the Moon & The Great Beyond.
The Great Beyond might just be my favorite R.E.M song, it's so damn good.

[Zydar]

I am in a huge R.E.M. phase right now, so this thread had great timing, Kev

It was nearly impossible to choose only six, but today I chose:

Fall On Me
Nightswimming
At My Most Beautiful
Radio Free Europe
Man On The Moon
Drive

I'm listening through and focusing on the I.R.S. years (1982-1987), and I instantly loved Murmur, Reckoning, and Document. I knew the big hits from before, but decided to dive into their albums.

[Stadler]

HUGE REM fan, but almost none of my favorites are on that list.

Murmur is a TREMENDOUS album; where's Perfect Circle or 9-9?
I'm indifferent on Reckoning, but where's So. Central Rain or Time After Time?
I like not love Fables, but where's Life And How To Live It or Wendell Gee?

For me, their best albums are Lifes Rich Pageant and Document.  I LOVE when they're a rock band.

For me:
Begin The Begin
These Days
Cuyahoga
Swan Swan H
Superman

and

Finest Worksong
Welcome To The Occupation
Exhuming McCarthy
Disturbance At The Heron House

I get that Out Of Time and Automatic are their critical and commercial high points, but I don't go to those records much; the only things on Automatic I really dig are Sidewinder, Ignoreland and Nightswimming.   OOT has some hidden gems: Near Wild Heaven, Country Feedback and Me In Honey.

TL;DR:  I LOVE REM, but with a few exceptions, I am completely out of step with the fanbase. 

[KevShmev]

Stadler, your post is helpful, as I am sort of getting into more R.E.M. (finally), and need some recs on the pre-Document material.  I had heard Murmur years ago, but was left wondering what all of the hype was about; I will have to give it another try.

Me in Honey, which I had never heard before, played at work a few weeks ago on whatever Pandora station was on, and I liked it a lot, so I sought it out and realized that Out of Time is pretty good from start to finish.  Same goes for Automatic for the People, which seems not quite as good, but still a good record.

New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the one I like the most so far.  I really like the experimental and laid back nature of that one, although I can see it not being a favorite if you just want to rock.

[Stadler]

REM is neat in that their albums seem to work in groups (pairs, usually).  There's nothing quite like Murmur, but Reckoning and Fables are enough alike to be a pair.   LRP and Document are enough alike to be a pair.  Green/Out Of Time/Automatic are sort of a group, and Monster and HiFi are similar.

I really like Monster and Hifi, by the way.  There's some great material there, if you can accept the stylistic individuality of those disks. 

[The Curious Orange]

I loved that Green album. Wonder if I still own it?

[pg1067]

[KevShmev]

REM is neat in that their albums seem to work in groups (pairs, usually).  There's nothing quite like Murmur, but Reckoning and Fables are enough alike to be a pair.   LRP and Document are enough alike to be a pair.  Green/Out Of Time/Automatic are sort of a group, and Monster and HiFi are similar.

I really like Monster and Hifi, by the way.  There's some great material there, if you can accept the stylistic individuality of those disks.

Hifi seems to be one of those albums that is all over the place, yet somehow works.  Some albums do that and it doesn't work at all.

Fortunately, my younger brother has a ton of their stuff, and he has already sent me a bunch to listen to, so I have quite the chore ahead of me.  

Listening to Murmur now on the ear buds during a bit of downtime at work and it sounds better than I remember.  Definitely sounds like a band wanting to just have a little fun on their first record.

[RoeDent]

E-Bow the Letter
At My Most Beautiful
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
The One I Love
Man on the Moon
The Great Beyond

If I may add a few more that aren't on the list:

Daysleeper
All the Way to Reno
Leaving New York

I'm going off on a tangent here, somewhat, but last year an online charity fundraiser I watch, during their marathon, played a game where the assembled people had to guess whether the thing named by the host was a Norman Rockwell painting or an REM song.

[?]

Settled on these after some thinking:

Finest Worksong
Orange Crush
Radio Free Europe
Nightswimming
Driver 8
Electrolite

[WildRanger]

My picks:

- Fall On Me
- Nightswimming
- It's the End of the World as We Know It
- Radio Free Europe (their best tune IMO)
- Man on the Moon
- Orange Crush

[WildRanger]

Shiny Happy People

Hardcore fans might scoff at my last two picks, but they are two highly enjoyable, fun songs.

SHP is highly enjoyable because of (very hot) Kate Pierson in the music video.

[Zydar]

I really like Shiny Happy People.

[KevShmev]

Given that I have gotten into R.E.M. a lot in the last six days, since starting this thread, I doubt Shiny Happy People would still be one of my six favorites, but I still like it a ton.  The band (or some of the band), years later in all cases, express somewhat of a dislike for Shiny Happy People, Stand and The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite. 

I guess they just hate the songs they did that were fun.

[Podaar]

The only thing I really know from REM is Stand, because...

I used to work with a guy named Stan, and well, the song would come on the radio back in the shop. I listened to it enough to change the lyrics to:

Stan's in the place where you work
Think about infection
Wonder why
You haven't before

That's all I got.

[HOF]

Of the songs in the poll What’s the Frequency Kenneth is probably my favorite (and a bunch of others from Monster would be up there probably).

A song I would have definitely included in the poll is Find the River.

[Kotowboy]

.

[KevShmev]

Of the songs in the poll What’s the Frequency Kenneth is probably my favorite (and a bunch of others from Monster would be up there probably).

A song I would have definitely included in the poll is Find the River.

That has become my favorite R.E.M. song, or at least the one I listen to the most, so take that for what it's worth.  The backing vocals in every chorus except the first by Mike Mills are so simple, yet so great.  I love when something so simple and not even up front can elevate a song so much.

[HOF]

Of the songs in the poll What’s the Frequency Kenneth is probably my favorite (and a bunch of others from Monster would be up there probably).

A song I would have definitely included in the poll is Find the River.

That has become my favorite R.E.M. song, or at least the one I listen to the most, so take that for what it's worth.  The backing vocals in every chorus except the first by Mike Mills are so simple, yet so great.  I love when something so simple and not even up front can elevate a song so much.

That opening guitar chord is perfect.

[KevShmev]

The whole song is perfect!

In fact, that album, Automatic for the People, is almost perfect as well. The short little instrumental is a skipper for me, but everything else is perfect. That and Murmur have definitely emerged as my two favorite R.E.M. records since I've become a fan in the last year, with Out of Time and New Adventures... not far behind.

[Stadler]

The whole song is perfect!

In fact, that album, Automatic for the People, is almost perfect as well. The short little instrumental is a skipper for me, but everything else is perfect. That and Murmur have definitely emerged as my two favorite R.E.M. records since I've become a fan in the last year, with Out of Time and New Adventures... not far behind.

Murmur!