I have "weird" taste in R.E.M. This is probably because I was buying the albums as they were coming out, starting with Reckoning, and none of them ever lived up to the magic of that record.
01. Reckoning (A+) (my first R.E.M. purchase)
02. Murmur (A) (bought about a week later)
03. Fables of the Reconstruction (B+) (a dip, but I was still on board)
04. Out Of Time (B) (I like it because of my girlfriend at the time)
05. Automatic For The People (B) (obviously good, but not the same as my old R.E.M.)
06. Life's Rich Pageant (B-) (this is where I started to jump off the train)
07. Document (B-) (meh)
08. Green (B-) (meh)
09. New Adventures in Hi-Fi (B-) (Another good record, but one that was still not "my" R.E.M.)
I don't like any other R.E.M. records. I'm sure most R.E.M. fans will find this list annoying, but that's how it goes when you really really love a band early in their career and then they inevitably let you down. I'm not against bands growing, I just don't like what R.E.M. grew into.
Ah R.E.M., one of my five favorite bands of all time.
Albums
The Classics
1. Murmur (*****)
2. Reckoning (*****)
3. Chronic Town (*****)
4. Automatic for the People (****1/2)
5. Fables of the Reconstruction (****1/2)
6. Life's Rich Pageant (****1/2)
7. Document (****)
The strong albums
8. Reveal (****)
9. New Adventures in Hi-Fi (***1/2)
10. Up (***1/2)
The uneven but still worthy albums
11. Green (***)
12. Out of Time (***)
13. Collapse into Now (***)
14. Monster (***)
