With Reckoning, R.E.M.’s second album, the band sought to capture the power of their live performances on record. Slightly less glossy than Murmur, the band’s 1983 debut, Reckoning showed the group in a state of more direct delivery, both in terms of the songwriting and the album’s production. The newly released reissue of the album was remastered by Greg Calbi, who’s worked with everyone from Grizzly Bear to David Bowie to Talking Heads, and his tweaking brings new life and clarity to the music. The textures sound cleaner and clearer, allowing you to really hone in on each musician’s subtleties as well as the sound of the whole. This new mix, along with a superb accompanying live disc, makes for a fantastic listen that reminds you of why R.E.M. was one of the most important rock groups of recent history.
Reckoning has aged amazingly well over the last 25 years—something attributable to the simplicity of the songwriting and recording as well each member’s unique and understated approach to his instrument. Songs like “Camera” and “So. Central Rain” carry no superfluity . . . just Stipe’s pained vocals, Peter Buck’s Byrds-y guitar chime, and the subtle backing of ultra-melodic bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. The result is some of the most emotive music of the alternative rock era.
“Pretty Persuasion” and “Harborcoat” illuminate Stipe and Mills’ unique vocal counterpoint in two of the band’s all time greatest songs that, like so much of R.E.M.’s early work, rock while maintaining a sense of dark pensiveness. Every song on Reckoning is great, from the haunted “Time After Time (Annelise)” to the bar-band twang of “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville.”
The second disc of the reissue features 16 live tracks from a 1984 show at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. Beginning with a perfect cover of Lou Reed’s “Femme Fatale,” and moving on to selections from Reckoning and Murmur, the performance illustrates R.E.M.’s prowess as a rocking live act. The live versions of “Radio Free Europe” and “Gardening At Night” outshine their studio counterpoints and infuse the songs with newfound energy and force. “Hyena” is another highlight, featuring the twisted vocals of Stipe and Mills over Buck’s urgent guitar work and Berry’s driving drumming. The concert shows the band to be at least as strong away from the shelter of overdubs and studio tricks.
For R.E.M. fans and novices alike, the deluxe reissue of Reckoning is worth exploring. Both the studio and live disc showcase the influential band at one of its numerous heights . . . heights that illustrate R.E.M. as one of the major torchbearers of the alternative rock movement. |