Fables of the Reconstruction

R.E.M.

Release Date: 12th Jul, 2010
Label: IRS
Genre: Rock

Now into the fourth decade of their career, it’s easy to forget the significance of R.E.M.’s music, especially the five albums released on IRS Records. Murmur, their seminal debut album, was released in 1983. Twenty-five years later, in 2008, a deluxe anniversary edition was brought out, newly remastered, with a bonus live concert. Similarly last year, to celebrate its quarter-century, their second album Reckoning was reissued with another live album. Presumably this will continue each year until their last album for IRS, Document, turns 25, by which time the series of 30th anniversary editions will have probably begun.

The remarkable thing is that Murmur, Reckoning and now, in 2010, Fables of the Reconstruction (or Reconstruction of the Fables – the cover was designed so that the title becomes an infinite, unending loop) sound not just old albums reborn, but like brand new ones. Part of that is down to the remastering – which makes Fables… sound bolder and crisper than it did before – but really, it’s testament to the timeless nature of Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe’s songwriting.

This third effort marked a change in direction for the band, who infused its 11 songs with dark, unsettling undertones. It begins with the metallic sheen of Feeling Gravity’s Pull, the sound of a slow-motion apocalypse, an iron world rusting. Old Man Kensey extends that sense of impending doom, while Auctioneer (Another Engine) and Kohoutek are full of a nervous, jittery energy. Maps and Legends, Driver 8 and the hypnopompic lament of Wendell Gee recall the jangly guitars and slight country twang of those first two albums, but they still sound somewhat twisted and deranged. Overall, Fables is the embodiment of confusion, of minds and worlds unsure about their futures, a sense of foreboding intensified by Stipe’s oblique, muddied lyrics.

This reissue comes with The Athens Demos, a second disc containing 14 cuts – including the full album in embryonic form, two other demos and one previously unreleased song. Although the versions here lack the dark magic of those on the album, there’s an unnerving, lo-fi bleakness to these recordings which adds to their apocalyptic nihilism. If that wasn’t enough, it all comes packaged in a deluxe mini boxset with new liner notes, postcards and a poster. A dark, dangerous but delightful record that’s as good – if not better – than new.

Reviewed by Mischa Pearlman

About The Artist

R.E.M.

Artist Homepage

R.E.M. were an alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, United States in 1980. The band originally consisted of Michael Stipe (vocals), Peter Buck (guitar, mandolin), Mike Mills (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Bill Berry (drums). Berry retired from the band in October 1997 after having suffered a brain aneurysm in 1995. R.E.M. released its first single, "Radio Free Europe", in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone. The single was followed by the Chronic Town EP in 1982, the band's first release on I.R.S. Records. In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album, Murmur, and built its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, and the support of college radio. Following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single "The One I Love". The group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988, and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide. By the early 1990s, when alternative rock began to experience broad mainstream success, R.E.M. was viewed as a pioneer of the genre and released its two most commercially successful albums, Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992), which veered from the band's established sound. R.E.M.'s 1994 release, Monster, was a return to a more rock-oriented sound. The band began its first tour in six years to support the album; the tour was marred by medical emergencies suffered by three band members. In 1996, R.E.M. re-signed with Warner Bros. for a reported US$80 million, at the time the most expensive recording contract in history. The following year, Bill Berry left the band, while Buck, Mills, and Stipe continued the group as a three-piece. Through some changes in musical style, the band continued its career into the next decade with mixed critical and commercial success. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On 21 September 2011, after over 30 years together, R.E.M. announced that they had split up.

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27 Comments

Nessyliz 11 Mar 2012

Incredible!
mutinyonark 28 Jan 2012

one of REM's best ..up there with murmur and reckoning
Drazba 12 May 2011

my favorite-saw the tour that supported this album-truly amazing-UIC pavilion with festival seating-mob scene-michael standing on a metal folding chair to get above the crowd-singing and reading poetry
hotterthanjuly 16 Mar 2011

One of my favorite R.E.M. albums.
gingertosser 30 Jun 2010

there's not a single bad track on this wee beauty..oh how it makes me smile :)
ChrisCappello 28 Jan 2010

My second favorite record ever.
Kzer_za 12 Dec 2009

I used to think was one of their worst albums, but it's really grown on me.
chadmagic 03 Dec 2009

Lots of great songs on here that get overlooked.
fmaratz 11 Sep 2009

I seriously think this might be R.E.M.'s finest album ever, along with "Document".
WhiteTrashZero 06 Sep 2009

I love this album. Even though the cover art is incorrect.
RIPELIVEJAM 01 Sep 2009

Underrated this album is. (3) Feeling Gravity's Pull is one of the best openers ever, and Life and How to Live It is sheer perfection.
LastSerge 10 Aug 2009

underrated this album is (2)
darthsketch 03 Jul 2009

Underrated this album is.
hogefan 02 Jan 2009

If I were an MMA fighter, Feeling Gravity's Pull would be my entrance music. People would come to my events just to hear the song. Overall, an awesome album. Nearly every song has been my favorite song at some point, with Life and How to Live It lasting the longest. This album, Reckoning, LRP...these and more are why this was the best rock band of its era and one of the best of all time. Arguably the best, considering how many quality songs are on each album. It's craziness!
lordkingfisher 02 Dec 2008

R.E.M.'s greatest moment. Such a mood Fables evokes.
rehabdoll0 24 Nov 2008

this album is fucking amazing
eighteenforever 31 Jul 2008

This was love at first listen
Exile824 11 Jul 2008

This album deserves a ton more attention, it's brilliant.
vigimael 03 Jun 2008

I think there's something in the production which repels me. This is unfair as a lot of the songs are brilliant.
Stubbsy67 03 Mar 2008

I love this album! The first 4 tracks are the best opening of any R.E.M. album (yes, even LRP...). Tracks 7-11 took a little longer to grow, but they mostly got there in the end.
ColmDawson 05 Feb 2008

This album is really growing on me.
tin_jones 06 Jan 2008

i love it i love it i love it
heaventree22 02 May 2007

deserves so much more attention! southern gothic was never this sexy.