![]() ![]() Michael Stipe had begun to expose his political activism, referencing themes such as exploitation, colonialism, working class train conductors and carpenters, and Baptist reverends. It was R.E.M.'s first foray into incorporating storytelling elements more perceptively, having already sized up with tales such as West of the Fields, Harborcoat, and Little America. ![]() Fables was a do or die attempt for R.E.M to challenge themselves with their most revelatory tactic - instead of creating another cerebral set of Byrdsian inspired jangle, the emotional core of the band would lead the way to awaken a creative chapter they hadn’t discovered yet.įables opener Feeling Gravity’s Pull instantly threw a curve, featuring dark and brooding overtones about questioning one’s unconsciousness, referencing Man Ray among a backdrop of string arrangements. The Athens foursome knew that they couldn’t repeat a pattern when their heart was really somewhere else, even if that formula had proved to be successful. Twenty-five years later, the one main argument that’s usually made about Fables of the Reconstruction is that, like the work of R.E.M's iconic counterparts, it merely hinted the promise of better things to come. Beneath the glamorous exterior, it was also a noticeable transitional phase for many of today’s most regarded artists: Little Creatures was the Talking Heads’ most accessible album yet, Flip your Wigcleaned up Husker Du's buzz tone garage, and even The Smiths’ Meat is Murder proved to be a muddled effort that never really shook its mid-tempo groove. ![]() Charity singles came and went, Frankie goes to Hollywood kept releasing rehashes of Relax because nobody was interested in listening to Welcome to Pleasuredome, and contrived new wave was all the craze. When making assumptions about 1985’s place in music history, there’s always the idea that the decade’s middle half is remembered for obviously planting consciousness. ![]() Fables of the Reconstruction (Capitol/I.R.S.) ![]()
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