#409/2088
September 1986
The Stars of Heaven
Sacred Heart Hotel
Genre: Paisley Revival
3.5 out of 5
I the shadow of the success of Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest and Van Halen the 80s landscape was dotted, no…littered, with copy cat bands. I have to believe they started out with the best of intentions, though. Like they heard music they loved and thought, “Yeah! Let’s do that!!!”, which is how it should be.
And then it all got really repetitive and boring.
So, it stands to reason that the same thing would happen with the post-Bangles, Long Ryders, REM paisley revival. It’s been lurking for a while but it really took REM to push it over the edge.
Now, I don’t know if we are going to have as much pollution of this sound going forward, it wasn’t THAT profitable in 1986 but, damn does this album sound like the softest stuff from all the previous REM records. So gentle and precious in its approach but slavishly devoted to Stipe’s style that it almost sounds like what REM WILL sound like when they strip everything down in a few years for Automatic for the People.
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