Customer Reviews

Eponymous

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This collection gathers the better radio tracks from REM's first (and, to these ears, best) six years together. It's hard to remember how organic and dynamic underground-turned-mainstream hits like "South Central Rain" and "Radio Free Europe" (heard here in its original demo version) were until you hear them again, especially in the 80s when alternative radio was restricted to college frequencies.

The group had already concocted muscular folk-rock melodies based on the genre's heroes. The Byrds' country and folk-rock influences all the songs, as does Alex Chilton's Box Tops and Michael Nesmith's First National Band ("Rockville" closes with a quote from Johnny Rivers' "Poor Side of Town.")Who could forget Michael Stipe's distinctive voice buried in musical quicksand, and trying to decipher his cryptic lyric images?

Highlights include the staples "The One I Love" and the fun, if silly "It's The End of The World" (the conductor, Communist, comic and critic fit together only rythmically), the gorgeous "Fall On Me" from their only Don Gehman-produced album (with softheaded Biblical imagery reminiscent of his other major client, John Mellencamp) and Bill Berry's great drumming throughout, especially on "Can't Get There From Here" and "Gardening at Night." Recommended early music from a Hall of Fame-bound rock band.

Eponymous was the final release by R.E.M. on the IRS label. Even though it was released to fulfill contractual obligations, it is a great overview of the band's work for the seminal label. There most well known songs from this era like "The One I Love", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", "Can't Get There From Here" and "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" are included. There are few treats like the original 7" Hibtone version of "Radio Free Europe", an alternative take of "Gardening At Night" and a horn mix of "The Finest Worksong". If you are only familiar with the band's Warner Brothers output, then Eponymous is a great place to start to hear what the band sounded like in their early, formative years.

Eponymous was the first R.E.M. album I purchased and it turned me into a loyal fan. I soon snatched up their entire back catalog and they were a significant part of my music listening life for years to come. That is about as good a tribute to an album I can give.

Of course, being a greatest hits compilation, all the songs here are great, but there are some alternative mixes here for fans who already have these songs on the studio releases. There is a different version of "Radio Free Europe" here although I like the one on Murmur better. The bass stands out more on the Murmur mix whereas the bass on this album's version is less prominent and seems to be covered up as well as some of the other sound details. I do prefer the different vocal mix to "Gardening at Night" than the one on Chronic Town. The Chronic Town version has very weak sounding vocals which had a negative effect on the song. The vocals here are a lot clearer so the song sounds much better. I disagree with the note on the record sleeve that the Eponymous version of "Finest Worksong" (the 12" and 7" version) is better than the original off Document. This mix has a horn section that I do not care for. A track that some R.E.M. fans may not have is "Romance." It is a very early track that surfaced on the "Made in Heaven" soundtrack (a film I have never heard of but it briefly plays this track). It turns out to be one of my favorite R.E.M. songs. The intense bass really drives the song and makes it unique. Eponymous is worth picking up for that track alone. Eponymous also includes interesting comments about each track.

Eponymous is the best CD I have ever heard. Every single song is good, and they make the word REM sound more like god in this CD. I wish all of REM's CDs were this good, and I wish that they would take the two or three best tracks from each REM CD and make a double CD greatest hits collection! That's the one thing that could be better than this incredible CD!

I want to start this review by saying that another reviewer called this album a waste to get, simply because all of the songs can be found other releases by R.E.M. This isn't a wholly true statement, though.

At the time he wrote that review, Eponymous was the only place where you could find the Hib-tone version of Radio Free Europe. That will change when R.E.M. releases a new I.R.S. years compilation a month from when this review was written. Now, the different vocal mix of Gardening At Night and the mutual drum-horn mix of Finest Worksong can be found on a couple of rare b-sides collections (namely "R.E.M. In The Attic" and "R.E.M. Singles Collected"), but the only other place you can find the song Romance is on the Made In Heaven soundtrack, which--as far as I know--has never been released on CD; only on cassette and vinyl.

So, with all that out of the way, I can move on. Eponymous was my first R.E.M. album ever. I found it one day in my brother's drawer, and I never looked back. This is a very good album for people who want to get familiar with pre-Warner Brothers R.E.M. stuff, but with that being said, it barely scratches the surface of their early work.

On the more technical side of things, the album suffers from many of the typical problems found in early CDs: not much bass, brittle treble, and rather poor dynamics. Be that as it may, it's still a good starting point for the uninitiated and a great collector's item for the die-hard fan.

For recent REM fans unfamiliar with the band's earlier work, this CD makes a good starter kit -- and it includes one previously unreleased track, "Romance", as well as different mixes of "Radio Free Europe" (original single mix) and "Gardening at Night." The CD covers the spectrum from the early melodic/jangly guitar sound of "So. Central Rain" and "Driver 8" to the hard, fast, get-up-and-dance sound of "Finest Work Song" and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)."

Rushed out to capitalize upon R.E.M.'s growing popularity in 1988 comes this "anthology" of sorts from the I.R.S. years.
R.E.M. collectors get the original Hib-Tone version of "Radio Free Europe" as well as a different vocal mix of "Gardening At Night"..both are superior to the versions already available, A hidden track "Romance" which is unmemorable and some brass and added drums tacked on "Finest Worksong". Of the rest, it's what you'd expect..the obvious, not really selected with the utmost care.
Despite it's omissions, "Eponymous" is a worthwhile, though not essential, R.E.M. release. Beginners are still advised to tackle each of the original albums. Just settling for "Eponymous" to cover those early years is doing a dis-service to both yourself and the band.

Just Buy the rest of their albums and forget this one. The music is great, but why buy twice, just buy all the rest and ,dare I say, pass on this one. This is just different versions AND some of the same versions as on the main albums. Just buy all of the other albums instead.

This R.E.M. album is not only one of the first R.E.M. albums I have ever owned, but also one of the very best. Every song on the album is awesome, and its a great reminder of what R.E.M. sounded like in the early 80s.

There's more treble to Michael Stipe's voice and a punkier flavor to the "original hib-tone" version of "Radio Free Europe," but other than that, its spunky quality has a lot in common with many of the songs on this CD: Everything sounds fresh and jangly. You can tell the band was ready to take on the world in its early days.

It's hard not to bob your head, play air drums or mimic the drummer while listening to "Gardening at Night," "So. Central Rain" and "Can't Get There From Here." Or sing along with Stipe's unique lyrics. Stipe's distinct voice has always given R.E.M. a unique flavor, and it gels beautifully with the band's tuneful musical style. Sometimes his cigarette-stained voice drones, sometimes he's clearer, sometimes he does his best Elvis impersonation and sometimes he belts out high-pitched yelps. The harmonic backing vocals on R.E.M. songs are also very commendable.

When they want to, Stipe and his mates can put across a countrylike sound, as is the case on the great "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville." Elsewhere, lesser-known tunes like "Driver 8" and "Romance" also deliver great vocals and jangly hooks.

This is great driving music and would sound perfect crossing the desert in an air-conditioned car with the vast horizon ahead and behind you. "Buy the sky and sell the sky," sings Stipe on the CD's best song, "Fall on Me." Though he's probably making a point about how everything in life is for sale, there's something about his heartfelt emotion in the song that makes one think anything is possible in life. Highly recommended.