Fables of the Reconstruction [Audio CD, Original recording reissued]

R.E.M. | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 27, 1998)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002UW0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,440 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

R.E.M.'s third full-length recording, Fables of the Reconstruction delivers the purest distillation of the band's early sound. With the exception of the horn-laden, radio-friendly "Can't Get There from Here," the songs form a connected soundscape. Nearly transparent production highlights the glittering guitar arpeggios, active bass, and the disciplined, patterned drum lines, with organ and spare string arrangements adding texture to several pieces. And then there are the vocals: dense harmonies of voices calling out to each other, a rich humming and howling around Michael Stipe's central mumble. A careful listener can discern most of the lyrics, though what exactly they signify remains unclear. The album is best contemplated in its entirety, and the songs reward careful, repeated listening. This is a seminal alternative album, its material evocative, its ultimate meanings elusive. If your CD collection has room for only a few R.E.M. albums, Fables should be one of them. --Albert Massa

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life and How to Live It -- REM and the Southern experience, November 17, 1999

By A Customer

As a college student in the mid-eighties, we posed the question around the dorm room --- "Did REM make college radio, or did college radio make REM?" Fables is perhaps REM's last hurrah in the college music genre before their foray into an embracing pop culture. After Fables, gone were the twangy folk strains of Peter Buck, the driving bass of Mills, and the incoherent yet hauting howlings of Stipe. Fables is perhaps best experienced as a soundtrack of a drive through the South. The tempos of the first three tracks build to an energy-filled "Life and How to Live It" before taking a short breather with "Old Man Kensey." "Green Grow the Rushes" and "Good Advices" offer introspective commentaries in nicely sonorous melodies. Listen to this album while in a car, being sure to stay off the main roads. Best experienced in mid-summer, turn off the air conditioner and roll down the windows. Notice the landscape around rich in kudzu, Loblolly pines, and red clay. Fables is a perfect accompanyment to the passing sights, smells, and even sounds in the modern South.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still stirs emotions in me after 15 years., March 12, 2000

By A Customer

I remember the day I bought Fables. Late spring '85, a gray sky overhead with intermittent sprinkles falling, a downpour could have come at any moment, it seemed. I was outdoors, riding a ten speed five miles to the record store on release day to buy the new album by R.E.M., which had become my new favorite band after a college friend of mine introduced me to their music the summer before... Reckoning, which I loved immediately, purchased, and promptly wore the cassette out. Murmur, just the same... bought it on vinyl, made two cassette copies for myself just in case the vinyl wore out. There was such a magic about this band: the sublime melodies, the mysterious lyrics and vocals, so hypnotic you just had to listen repeatedly, yet you could never tire of hearing the songs. I had heard advance rumblings that this album was a departure from Murmur and Reckoning, and as soon as "Feeling Gravity's Pull" resonated through the headphones as I began the journey homeward (thankfully the rain did not come) it was indeed true... this was a departure. The drone of cellos, the murky aura, the downcast nature of the majority of the songs was a far cry from the generally bright and upbeat Reckoning and the rock-folk-punkiness of Murmur. But I loved it anyway, and wore out the cassette as well, and replaced it with the CD as soon as I could afford a player (they were still quite expensive in those days). I went on to purchase every R.E.M. album that followed, and after all of the years that have passed, through all of their stylistic twists and turns, Fables is the one R.E.M. album that still takes me to another place, stirs my emotions more than any of the others, even the equally somber Automatic For The People. There is distance, desperation, and longing in so many of these songs, "Feeling Gravity's Pull", "Maps And Legends", "Life And How To Live It", "Old Man Kensey", "Green Grow The Rushes", "Good Advices", and "Wendell Gee" that transcends most anything else you will hear. You can just feel the loneliness of a band that was in a dreary place during the sessions, far away from home (England), through Stipe's vocals, Buck's yearning guitar jangle, and Mills' aching harmony vocals. And you feel along with them...in fact, I still often shed tears during "Good Advices" when I hear "Home is a long way away...", the vocals are so full of loneliness you can't help but cry sometimes. Some people think of the South when they listen to this album. Yes, it does have that sound. When I listen to it, I tend to think of gray rainy days, regrets I may have, separation from the ones I love, and a longingness to go back home, wherever I may be.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Michael built a bridge...Michael tore it down", January 14, 2005

By	mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I like all of R.E.M.'s 1980s albums, but their 1985 release Fables of the Reconstruction is my favorite. It is, in my opinion, their most solid album. The other records had at least one or two tracks that I was not crazy about, but this album does not let up. If I had to pick a least favorite song, it would be the banjo-driven "Wendell Gee" which is a little slow, but I can't say it is one of R.E.M.'s weakest songs. The rest of the album is awesome.

"Feeling Gravity's Pull" and "Maps and Legends" fit well side-by-side. They both have a unique, innovative sound, especially "Gravity." "Maps" is my favorite of the two and is, perhaps, my favorite track on this album. It is very upbeat and has excellent use of backing vocals at the chorus. "Driver 8" was one of R.E.M.'s best singles. You feel like your rattling through the countryside on a train when you listen to it. It is my second favorite track off Fables and is one of my all-time R.E.M. favorites. "Life and How to Live It" is a great, upbeat track. Stipe's wailing is a little much at times but it doesn't detract from the song like the wailing on "Just a Touch" off Lifes Rich Pageant. "Old Man Kensey" is a darker, slow song with the usual beautiful guitar work.

The other single off Fables was "Can't Get There From Here" which is an upbeat, fun track. "Green Grow the Rushes" and "Good Advices" are slower, pleasant tracks. "Kohoutek" is an interesting track. It has a very full sound and a lot of depth. Each time I listen to it, I like it better. The rocker "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" is another one of my favorites. If you only have R.E.M.'s singles compilations and are thinking about buying some of their 1980s studio releases, I recommend starting with Fables of the Reconstruction. It is one of their most accessible albums and is their most solid. It will leave you wanting to get their entire 1980s back catalogue!