Green CD Review

R.E.M., 1988.

Of course the ironic beauty of this album is that it is called Green, but the cover is orange (and there is also a song called Orange Crush on it!).

Anyway...

This is transitional R.E.M., from the wispy, wiry, angular stuff of Murmur thru to the world-bestriding mega-selling celebrity-inviting tones of Out of Time.
And therefore we have some dark stuff, including I Remember California , World Leader Pretend and Orange Crush (all minor keys/modal, but you can actually hear Michael Stipe's lyrics!).

We also have POP - STAND, GET UP.

I really like the stuff with cello on it, and mandolin, AND I like STAND - wonderful, deconstructed (of course!) pop nonsense.

In terms of popularity, this group, as in the case of Queen's Sheer Heart Attack, were on the...cusp (hmm...I seem to enjoy "cusp" albums!!) of world domination.
In terms of songwriting, the darkness of the first few albums was being left behind (maybe that's what I Remember California is partly about), and sunnier thoughts began to inhabit the lyrics.

9/10.