Episodes 294 and 295 - The Unsung History of REM (Side A and Side B)

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Welcome to part ones an two of our short series on R.E.M. So, as fans of the show know, the general thrust of Unsung is that each week we choose a record by a band. That record is either a classic by an unsung artist, or an unsung classic by a well known (and we take a fairly liberal view on what "well known" actually means) artist.

The catalyst for this series is that Chris has chosen the album New Adventures in Hi-Fi by R.E.M. as an unsung classic. But before we even get to the album (coming next week in part four) we need to do our due diligence and take a quick glance over their entire discography.

And folks, for R.E.M., it's a big ol discography. With fifteen albums, there's a lot to wade through, which is why this is a series in four parts, as opposed to one episode.

In Side A, we give some context on why R.E.M. Chris talks about his affection for R.E.M., why he picked New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and we do a little bit of background on the band's pre-history. We also talk about our overall impressions of the band, what it was like to get to grips with the back catalogue. We also talk about Elizabeth Wurtzel's 1993 article "R.E.M. for The People", a key text for this series.

In Side B, we dive headlong into their discography. We talk about all the records the released on I.R.S., and also dispense some trivia about the band during the time on the label. We talk about Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Lifes Rich Pageant and Document, discussing our highlights, lowlights, and our overall impressions of the band's early output.