644. Green - R.E.M.

This is one of the very few albums I own on vinyl and CD, and so it's fair to say that I know it reasonably well. Chloe was also familiar with a couple of the tracks, so listening to this was like catching up with someone you'd met a couple of times, got on with, and was then coming to live with you for a week; enjoyable, but slightly strained at times.

The album focuses primarily on 'green' issues, relating to environmental concerns caused by freak weather conditions in the US in the summer of 88. Michael Stipe's aim was to raise the profile of climate change concerns, as well as experiment musically with their first album on their new label, having just signed with Warner Bros. 

There are some well known, classic R.E.M. type songs on the album, such as Pop Song '89 and Stand, as well as the well-known Orange Crush. There are also some much slower, more acoustic numbers, including the mandolin on three tracks. The songs are on the whole very catchy, with some interesting, often cryptic, lyrics. The environmental theme is pretty central to the album, from the cover artwork to the outstanding I Remember California. 

Overall, we both enjoyed the album a lot, but it didn't grow on me as much as I had thought it might. A couple of songs I didn't know too well from previous listens stood out this time, but as a whole the album seems a bit fragmented, and pulls the listener in too many directions. Whilst variety is good, it just doesn't seem sufficiently cohesive to be a truly outstanding album.

Chloe's rating: 7
Chloe's favourite track: 4. Stand
Olly's rating: 7
Olly's favourite track: 10. I Remember California

Next week's album is 380. Oxygene by Jean-Michel Jarre. Given my love of synth and prog, I think I'm looking forward to this more than Chloe...