Ever since the band called it quits, I've been listening to some old albums and thinking about things...

One item keeps coming to mind:

I was in high school and I was a well-known R.E.M. fan. I remember some stupid kid saying..."Hey, you know, Michael Stipe is gay." He said it in a manner that was not very nice.

This had to be my first encounter with a blatant homophobic. I was a kid, so my first thought was to be like, 'oh yeah I know, whatever.'

Instead, I stood against this stupid kid and said that I didn't care what Michael Stipe was - he's an awesome singer in a great band.

I'm still proud of that moment. It would be easy to do that now, but back then, as teenager, it was tough.

Yeah, in high school I would have just gone with your initial reaction.

how old are you coach?

I've given it a couple listens now, and I'm hooked on Rockville.

It's a great song.

I had heard a lot of positive opinions about it, but it's nothing like I could have expected. Pretty sure I actually laughed the first time I heard the first line and the way he pronounces "bus"... he nails the country feeling in the verses.

Definitely mine too! And probably in my top 10 favorite albums of the early '80's. Still...

For teh last couple of days Ive listened to all the albums in order (without listening to other music) which is somethiing Ive never done before, gives you a real nice and fresh perspective on things. It's been said many times before but this band never made a really bad record which makes it possibly the most consistent band ever.

I also came to a new ranking, or better grouping (good, better, best). Surprisingly, since I found out that I enjoy Up & Accelerate more than Fables or Document..

Best:
-Murmur
-Reckoning
-Life's Rich Pageant
-Automatic for the People
-New adventures in Hi-Fi

Better:
-Green
-Out of Time
-Monster
-Up
-Accelerate

Good:
-Fables....
-Document
-Reveal
-Around the Sun
-Collapse into now

The 80s records are always so hard for me to rank...not because of a lack of quality, but just that they feel like chapters in a longer story rather than taking each record as a piece. That being said, each album from that time does have a unique feel to it so you'd think they'd be easier for me to rank.

It's easy: Reckoning is the best!

I'd be curious to see how you rank their records.

apologies if this has been posted already.

I feel like listening to Fables of the Reconstruction.

Probably the only REM record I'm really fond of.

Definitely a top 3 REM album for me.

To be honest, I favor this REM thread.

i appreciate your honesty

I thought you were going back to work.

If this was PJChat, these would have been merged a long time ago.

I need to take a lot of breaks when I start crashing. This is going to be a long week

Falls To Climb is fucking awesome.