R.E.M. - Green

3x****
Sad this record comes down to the big singles and the filler. "Get Up" wants to be a single, but 'get up' yelps and the overly artsy way the chorus ends and "Hairshirt" spoil the necessary flow, and "You Are Everything" foreshadows the over-produced rustic vibe of subsequent Out Of Time. The obtuse poetry and subtle hooks of "World Leader Pretend" may fit on Document better, while "Turn You Inside-Out", at least sonically, is a partial recycling of "Finest Worksong". Also filling in this transitional album is mysteriously bucolic "The Wrong Child", an ambitious study in atonality and mandolin. Also worth mentioning is "I Remember California", whose somber, angular riffs recall tracks from Fables. But "Pop Song 89"****, "Orange Crush"****, and "Stand"**** hold up as well as ever, and completely overshadow the experiments and re-hashes brought along for the ride.

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