#86
April 9 1984
R.E.M.
Reckoning
5 out of 5
Highlights:
Harborcoat
Harborcoat
7 Chinese Brothers
So. Central Rain
Pretty Persuasion
(…you know I could just list the whole record…..)
Don’t Go Back to Rockville
Little America
I know this is blasphemy but…for my money…Reckoning is actually a better album than Murmur. I know! I know! Stop. Ouch!
The album *could* be read as Murmur II but it’s not. Touring for the debut must have taught them a lot about playing together because they are t.i.g.h.t. And energized. Does Bill Berry get his due? Do enough people understand just how important he was to this band’s success?
Stipe said this about Reckoning on the fantastic blog “Popsongs”.
“"That’s Reckoning for you — nearly every song on the record in some way deals with the aftermath of an event, and at least half of them are traumatic. It’s an album about mourning your losses, taking stock of changes, owning up to guilt, and, in the end, moving on. In this way, the recurring theme of water in the lyrics is extremely appropriate. Just as with the fire of Document, the floods of Reckoning are destructive, but also purifying. There may be panic and trauma on Reckoning, but it’s ultimately a record about finding maturity after a period of chaos. “
I would say that it’s also a perfect moment. 80s college kids looking for rock heroes to throw up the charts and finding them on their own radio stations. Taking over the stations to play the bands that would one day define the era.
This album is perfect. Stop reading and go listen to it right now.
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