It was hard to process an album by
one of my rock heroes, Alice Cooper, receiving a one star review and I really
needed this next album to be a good one. Thankfully it didn’t disappoint.
Disc 662 is…. Life’s Rich Pageant
Artist: REM
Year of Release: 1986
What’s up with the Cover? I call this cover the Nickel. It has two sides – a
giant human head and a picture of some buffalo, just like a Canadian nickel. I
guess this is early in REM’s career, before they could splurge on an elk or
something.
How I Came To Know It: I like REM on my own, but it is Sheila that bought
most of the early stuff in her collection. I know this one through her as well,
although I used to hear these songs a lot at the University pub back in the day.
How It Stacks Up: We have six REM albums, and although I originally
ranked “Automatic for the People” and “Document” 1-2, I think “Life’s Rich
Pageant” is going to take over the #2 spot from “Document.”
Rating: 4 stars
Who knew
university protest rock could be this good? Not me back in 1986, but thanks to
both my wife Sheila and my buddy Casey I’ve had a slowly growing appreciation
for “Life’s Rich Pageant.” For the last two days I’ve immersed myself in this
album and finally internalized how good it was.
Like a
lot of really good records, “Life’s Rich Pageant” grows on you over time. On a
casual listen it might just feel like any ho hum radio rock, but once you bend
both ears toward it, you realize the artistry behind the songs.
I don’t
know REM’s first three albums but “Pageant” feels a bit folksier than what
would come later. Not folk, but you can hear this sound echo through folk bands
like Spirit of the West as much as you’ll hear it in the clarion nineties rock
of bands like Cracker. It feels like “Pageant” had an impact on a lot of what
followed in both genres.
The music
has a vibrating tone that makes the air thick with sound but it never feels
muddy or overdone. The way the simple structures of each instrument alone combine
into something greater feels a lot like modern indie music.
What “Pageant”
has that a lot of modern indie music is lacking is an emotional core. The
record is driven by Peter Buck’s guitar first and foremost. Buck is content to lay down a simple riff that the
songs construct themselves around. It is the stem that supports the flower of each
song.
The brightest
part of those flowers is Michael Stipe’s vocals. His vibrato style rings out
like a broken bell announcing revolution. His delivery is a mix of hope and
frustration that defines the protest music of the day. It is a necessary
element, because many of these songs are angry songs, and they would come off
overwrought in lesser hands.
The
album isn’t without its warts – the strangely placed tango “Underneath the Bunker” just doesn’t fit
with the rest of the album. It creates a division of sound for the ear about
halfway through, but I think the songs are strong enough to stand without such
a musical caesura.
In fact
a much better break would be the next song, “The Flowers of Guatemala.” This song is a peaceful mantra about the
beauty of Guatemala. It is all the more poignant given that country was in the
midst of a decades-long civil war when the album came out. There’s always
beauty to be found, even in dark times. If nothing else, there are flowers.
In other
places, Stipe’s weirdness takes over the vocals and makes me wonder what the
hell he is on about. “Swan Swan H”
(the H is for hummingbird or hoorah – not sure which) is a great example:
“Night wings, or hair chains?
Here's your wooden greenback,
sing
Wooden beams and dovetail sweep
I struck that picture ninety
times”
This
stuff seems really important, but I can’t for the life of me tell you exactly
what he is going on about. Ronnie James Dio would be proud.
The
album ends with “Superman” the anthem
that would finally make REM reasonably famous. Ostensibly a song about
confidence and empowerment, the song has a core of doubt. REM delivers it in a
way that encourages you to sing along triumphantly, but leaves you aware of the
ironic consequences of your happiness.
Much
more telling is “These Days”:
“All the people gather, fly to
carry each his burden
We are young despite the years
We are concern, we are hope
despite the times
All of the sudden, these days
Happy throngs, take this joy
wherever, wherever you go”
REM
celebrates hope despite the times. It
is still a celebration, but they don’t want you to feel too satisfied, so they
make you wait to feel like Superman until the end of the record, when you’ve
heard everything else they’ve got to say. It’s a slow burn, but worth the
journey. Much like my re-kindled appreciation for “Life’s Rich Pageant.”
Best tracks: These Days, Fall on Me, Cuyahoga,
Flowers of Guatemala, I Believe, Superman
1 comment:
I love this record. My favourite by REM.
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