Track Listing

1. Feeling Gravity's Pull
2. Maps and Legends
3. Driver 8
4. Life and How to Live It
5. Old Man Kensey
6. Can't Get There From Here
7. Green Grow the Rushes
8. Kohoutek
9. Auctioneer (Another Engine)
10. Good Advices
11. Wendell Gee

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7724 in Music
• Released on: 1998-01-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued

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R.E.M. Photos

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Lifes Rich Pageant

The Best of the I.R.S. Years: Collector’s Edition

Document

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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

Customer Reviews

Life and How to Live It -- REM and the Southern experience
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.

"Michael built a bridge...Michael tore it down"
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!

"Time and distance are out of place here..."
At first I didn't like this album. I found it too dark, too murky, too chaotic. Nowadays, I love "Fables of the Reconstruction/Reconstruction of the Fables", probably for much the same reasons. It's certainly one of R.E.M's least accessible albums - certainly not one to recommend to someone in the hope of converting them (try "Lifes Rich Pageant" or "Green" for this). "Fables" is like a good wine - it matures with age and this is perhaps the chief reason why it is so good - it stands the test of time, especially so coming from that unfortunate period known as the eighties. The opening track is stunning - the three jarring notes that open (and recur throughout) "Feeling Gravitys Pull" are indeed memorable - the song itself is filled with terrific imagery ("oceans fall and mountains drift"), seemingly about the beauty and restrictive power of nature. Thematically the rest of the album, as the circular title suggests, is about legends and tales of the deep South. There's folk rock ("Maps and Legends"), the manic "Life and How to Live It" and the cacophonic (and somewhat sluggish) "Old Man Kensey", all inspired by local personalities. "Driver 8" is gorgeous and the first single, "Can't Get There From Here" is probably the most out of place song, being upbeat, funky and happy. The songs which I always thought somewhat muddled and impenetrable, namely "Kohoutek" and "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" I now find to be really enjoyable, while "Green Grow the Rushes" and "Good Advices", two ballads which are soothing and unsettling at the same time, I have always loved. "Wendell Gee" is a song that has often been demonised, but I find it to be an appropriate ending - a quiet, folksy ditty that is a gentle way to wrap up a sometimes stressful and unnerving album, but staying faithful to the Southern theme. It is an extremely well crafted album, but one that, as is the case with my own experience, may require a few listenings to fully appreciate.