# Which R.E.M. album should I buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129 "2003-10-07T19:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/41 "2003-10-09T21:09:59Z")
Good call on picking up **Document**. So far it’s the only IRS album that I’ve replaced my copy vinyl with a CD version. I’ll go against the grain here and state I’m actually not that fond of **Murmer**. My recollection from my college dorm days (83-87) was it consisted of Radio Free Europe, that wierd up in the attic song, and a bunch of jangle-pop songs that mostly sound the same. To me, REM grew by leaps and bounds through the 80s, so I’d work my way backwards through the IRS catalog. Grab **Life’s Rich Pageant** next (“Fall on Me” - 2nd most beautiful melody in an English language song, right behind The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset”). **Green** is pretty good, too, although as a former mid-1980s college student I’m supposed to shun it as their major-label sell-out album. But then I like **Monster** , too (their so-called grunge-bandwagon-hopping arena-rock sell-out album) so my taste is suspect. Hijack: Anybody know if there is a legal way to obtain the song they performed on Sesame Street a few years back? They reworked “Shiny Happy People” as “Furry Happy Monsters”. I think Bill Berry was already gone. I don’t remember seeing him. ---
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/42 "2003-10-09T21:17:42Z")
Big push here for the underrated **New Adventures in Hi-Fi**. It’s R.E.M.'s last great album, IMHO, and features three songs - “Leave,” “The Wake-Up Bomb,” and “How The West Was Won and Where It Got US” - that I would rank up there with any classic R.E.M. track. It rocks harder than **Monster** , too. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/43 "2003-10-09T22:09:11Z")
I agree, **Trevathian**. It’s a great album. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/44 "2003-10-09T23:13:59Z")
\*\* Chockfull\*\*, **todd33rpm** tells me to recommend the new Sesame Street boxed set. The songs you want are on it. 🙂 Enjoy! Best, karol ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/45 "2003-10-09T23:27:18Z")
First off, I just wanted to gloat a bit about how I just saw R.E.M. live last week. Ok, done. Definitely get **New Adventures in Hi-Fi.** “E-Bow the Letter” and “Leave” are absolutely incredible songs (especially the live versions of the former featuring Thom Yorke on background vocals). Love **Green** as well. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/46 "2003-10-09T23:43:11Z")
_Hi Infidelity_. Oops, sorry—that’s an RE **O** album. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Delly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Delly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delly)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/47 "2003-10-10T02:27:00Z")
I just want to agree with Tarrsk and say that the song \*\* Leave\*\* is reason enough to buy the New Adventures in Hi-Fi album… ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/48 "2003-10-10T03:25:57Z")
_Life’s Rich Pageant_ Then _New Adventures in Hi-Fi_, if you’ve got some extra cash laying around. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/49 "2003-10-10T03:42:43Z")
I actually never got into anything before parts of Green, so the True Believers will probably disagree with me on most things. (But I hated Monster too! I’m not _completely_ untrustworthy!) New Adventures in Hi-Fi is quite good. I don’t like a few songs on it, but the majority is great. Up is mostly terrible; there are a couple of pretty good songs (_At My Most Beautiful_ and _Daysleeper_ are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head), but definitely don’t make it a first purchase. Reveal is an album that grew on me; my first impression was more _weird_ than anything else, but I liked nearly all of it after a dozen listenings or so, and it’s actually in my CD player at the moment. Considering that you can get New Adventures on Half right now for less than $4, including shipping, and Reveal for a total of about $5.50, I’d go for both. ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/50 "2003-10-10T04:55:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness \* > \*\*Grab **Life’s Rich Pageant** next (“Fall on Me” - 2nd most beautiful melody in an English language song, right behind The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset”). > **Green** is pretty good, too, although as a former mid-1980s college student I’m supposed to shun it as their major-label sell-out album. \*\* I got a chance to hear Michael Stipe sing Fall on Me with Billy Brag accompanying accoustically at Merriweather Post Pavilion (near D.C.) at an Earth Day show in '90. Just awesome. Thank you, Chock (ah, Bobo!) for paraphrasing my thoughts. BTW, Sanibel, agreed with song choice on Document. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129/51 "2003-10-10T05:59:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness \* > \*\*Hijack: Anybody know if there is a legal way to obtain the song they performed on Sesame Street a few years back? They reworked “Shiny Happy People” as “Furry Happy Monsters”. I think Bill Berry was already gone. I don’t remember seeing him. \*\* Well, there is a legal way, but I’m afraid it’ll cost you. You can get the box set [“Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000C05MP/qid=1065765761/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-3772321-0971849) for the low, low price of 39.99 at Amazon (it may be less somewhere else, of course). It is three discs, so if you’re also a Sesame Street fan, it might be worth the money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-r-e-m-album-should-i-buy/206129.md?page=2)