Some REM Tracks that Rock.....so hard!

          Before they bored the world with their devolution into adult-contempo mope-folk-balladry in the mid-1990's, Athens Georgia's REM were a band that refreshed what rock music could sound like.  Their first 15 years as a band saw them expand on a sonic vocabulary that took the then out-of-date pastoral sounds of the Byrds and similar acts and created a new brand of rock music. They were the original "college rock" band, called that by music press people who did not understand what to make of them.  Many of their songs were straight-ahead, powerful rockers, contrary to their image as a folksy, country-music act.  These songs were what first drew me into REM, allowing me to explore the rest of their music, and deepening my love for their classic albums.

          Here are some of the most ROCKING REM SONGS EVER!

REM - I Believe
(This song from the amazing LP "Life's Rich Pageant" starts off with a funny little Banjo line, a musical joke to distract from the hard-hitting song that follows.  "Change is what I believe in.")


          

REM - Pretty Persuasion
(This is my favorite REM track, and to this day, after listening to it hundreds of times, I have no idea what Stipe is singing for about 3/4 of the track.  No matter.  This is so GREAT.)



REM - Get Up
(From the album "Green," which was at the time their most "rockinest" album, comes this roarer.)



REM - Radio Free Europe 
(Off of their first full-length, Murmur, this one always makes me turn it up LOUD)



REM - Auctioneer (Another Engine) 
 (This one builds and builds and is so awesome)

 


REM - Driver 8
(I love songs about trains and REM sang a lot of songs about trains) 



REM - Begin the Begin
(The album Life's Rich Pageant begins with the best 1-2 punch of any REM album.  First, this track, which starts off with a heavy groove and builds, and then the next track, which rocks me out every time)

 

REM - These Days
(I love this song.  I LOVE THIS SONG.)


  
REM - Strange
(This is a cover of a song from Wire's LP, Pink Flag.  I did not know this until I heard Pink Flag a decade later.  Turns out many 80's college rock and alternative bands covered Wire songs, cuz Wire is the greatest.)

 

REM - Turn You Inside Out
(Another gem from Green, this one rocks....so hard.)