REM

I got into REM around the early 90s. High school and into college. Eponymous was my first album. A good beginner's course, she said. I moved on to Green, then Pageant and then the earlier offerings. I was mesmerized to be sure. The voice. The lyrics I couldn't define. The sweetness of the Rickenbacher. This is about the time I started writing and playing guitar. No coincidence I'm certain.

After the massive success of Out of Time, that was about it for me. A few good songs here and there, then Berry's decision to become a civilian, and that was it for me. I just couldn't get the newer stuff - newer being anything after 1991. My younger brother at the time had the back of his car covered in band stickers. My favorite was the hardware store-bought single letters that spelled EARLY REM. And he was right. For me, "early REM" includes the trifecta of Reckoning, Fables and Pageant. That's when REM became REM. Chronic Town was impossibly good, but it was also the prelude to what was possible.

I put the Athens quartet on the shelf for many years as I explored jazz, folk, Pixies, Nirvana and indie pop. But then I heard - and I mean really heard - track one of Reckoning. That naturally led to Fables, which led to Pageant. These albums matter. They matter more now than when they were recorded. They're better now, to me, and for me. They speak and confirm and grace and hypnotize like so few pieces of music truly can. They inspire and delight. What was old, is new again.