R.E.M.

R.E.M.
Album: Chronic Town
Song: 1,000,000

I've already railed at length against the cultural horror that was the early- to mid-80s; there's no need to beat that dead horse.  But let me provide one last example of what was considered musical high art from the time:



Get it?  This was the good stuff.  Synthesized sounds were the brave new world and every shitty band from here to Cucahmunga was determined to shove as much of it as possible down our throats.  Talk about suppressing the gag reflex.

Anyway, my point is that this stuff was really entrenched in the popular psyche.  The biggest selling albums, and many of the most critically acclaimed albums, were from the same basic genre as that Human League song.  I find it difficult to believe and I lived through it.  Mainstream critics really did think of this as the logical extension of rock music.

Now, I know what you're thinking.  R.E.M. featured on a blog about obscure or under-appreciated music?  And yeah, I agree with you to a certain extent.  But it's important to imagine the context in which R.E.M.'s first EP (extended play record, for you youngsters out there) was released.  The charts were dominated by these synth hacks when R.E.M. suddenly provided a ray of sunshine, the possibility of something better, on the pop music horizon.  In a way, Chronic Town was as subversive and influential as the punk scene which bubbled and roiled just under the surface of popular music.  I would argue, in fact, that it was the equal of the new wave in providing a popular alternative to synth pop.

So.  Subversive and original then, now merely well-crafted songs.  Enjoy.