Reckoning R.E.M.

• 1 Harborcoat 03:57
• 2 7 Chinese Bros. 04:15
• 3 So. Central Rain 03:16
• 4 Pretty Pursuasion 03:53
• 5 Time After Time (Annelise) 03:34
• 6 Second Guessing 02:50
• 7 Letter Never Sent 02:59
• 8 Camera 05:51
• 9 (Don't Go Back To) Rockville 04:33
• 10 Little America 03:42
• Total Runtime 38:50

Info for Reckoning

The murmuring continued with this, R.E.M.'s second album, recorded in only two weeks, and yet critical acclaim and a growing fanbase had not made the music any less elusive. From the cover depiction of a winding river/snake, the jangly music within was similarly ambiguous, drenched in alternately murky, then dazzlingly clear, images. The water theme predominates throughout side one's five-song suite, with talk of harbours, oceans and water towers, crowned by the sublime lament of 'So. Central Rain.' Later, the melancholic eulogy of 'Camera' sits comfortably beside the cod-country of '(Don't Go Back To) Rockville' and the brisk but disillusioned tour around 'Little America.' An astonishingly assured and uncommercial half-sibling to MURMUR: file under water.

'RECKONING, remarkably, deepened the band's mythology, projecting a kind of existential restlessness wrapped in webs of gorgeous guitar arpeggio and interweaving vocal textures.' (Uncut)

„The songs betrayed a folk-country influence -- the Byrds, in particular -- resulting in an album refreshingly out of fashion for 1984.' (Spin)

Michael Stipe, vocals
Mike Mills, vocals, bass
Bill Berry, vocals, drums
Peter Buck, guitar

Recorded December 8-10, 12-15, 1984 and January 10-16, 1985 at Reflection Sound, Charlotte, North Carolina
Engineered by Don Dixon and Mitch Easter
Produced by Don Dixon and Mitch Easter

Digitally remastered

No biography found.

This album contains no booklet.