Consumer Guide Album

R.E.M.: Eponymous [I.R.S., 1988]
Though the cruder original "Radio Free Europe" and clearer original "Gardening at Night" obscure the evolution slightly, you can hear them change. At first, with Peter Buck pouring out cunning hooks and sweet rondels, Bill Berry locomotivating past any hint of wimp, Mike Mills forthrightly tuneful, and Michael Stipe moaning and mumbling and emoting as if he knows exactly what he's singing about, rock and roll is all they need--it's poetry, it's energy, its beauty, it's meaning enow. Yet only as they decide that maybe rock and roll isn't enough after all does their music embrace the brains and muscle of the real thing. Divided into "early" and "late" sides that acknowledge this dichotomy, with a train song from their fuzziest regular-release album kicking off side two, this compilation does nicely by the lyricism and depends too heavily on Document for the rock and roll, but their longstanding avant-singles commitment justifies the package. A−