REM – Fables of the Reconstruction – 1985
The anticipation for Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables or whatever the hell the guys were calling it, was palpable. How could it not be? REM was, by this time, OUR band. We heard them on college radio when we were seniors in high school. We played them on college radio when we were there. This was the validating record, the one that would send them into the stratosphere.
I heard they made a video.
I heard you can understand what Michael Stipe is singing!
I heard it kind of sucks.
Um, what?
Turns out it was all true.
They did make a video for the poppiest, 80s-est riff on a television commercial tagline, “Can’t Get There From Here”. There were WORDS on the video!
And the whole thing, in comparison to the 2.5 albums that preceded it, kind of sucked.
I couldn’t bring myself to listen to it again until I moved to Los Angeles in 87. At the time Document was coming out and I was doing what I’m doing here, I listened to all their albums in a row. Except it wasn’t as copious a task. After that listen, I put the CD away and never dusted it off again. Until now.
Fables isn’t unlistenable. It’s just really different. It’s angular, Buck’s guitar is almost churlish. And it’s dark. Dark dark dark. It’s not a pleasant listen at all. Except for the dopey lullaby, nightmare come to life at the Wendell Gee. A song so obnoxious peter Buck refused to play on it, or play it in concert. I don’t blame him. It’s catchy, but it’s not really a song as much as it’s a pretentious song. And a lot of what’s here harkens back to other songs. Like “Good Advice” which is just a redux of “Camera” and “Green Grow the Rushes” which call to mind “7 Chinese Brothers” but also portends work on future albums.
Fables is a clumsy record. But for it’s posturing and aching there are some terrific moments, case in point, the perfectly fine and catchy “Driver 8” and the aforementioned single.
I don’t care for Fables of the Reconstruction and I’m happy to wait another 23 years before I have to listen to it again.
Grade: C-
ASide: Can’t Get There From Here, Driver 8
BlindSide: Feeling Gravity’s Pull, Kohoutek
DownSide: Life and How to Live it, Old Man Kinsey,
