Music, Open Threads

The Night Thread Ranks R.E.M.’s Albums: #14

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of R.E.M.’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.)

#14: Monster.

This comes with a caveat, which I’ll get into below. I don’t like the sound of the album. It’s fuzzy and blurry and doesn’t sound like R.E.M. most of the time.

SAVING GRACE: Some of the songs are killer.

BEST SONGS: What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?, King of Comedy, I Don’t Sleep, I Dream, Bang And Blame.

WORST SONGS: Not crazy about Crush With Eyeliner or You.

CAVEAT: For its 25th anniversary, Monster was rereleased along with a remix by producer Scott Litt. If they had released the record with this mix originally, it would be significantly higher on my rankings.

By far my favorite track, and one of those not improved in the remix. (The other being What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?)