Rate and Rank All R.E.M.'s Studio Albums

As the title says: Rank and rate all R.E.M.'s full length studio albums, plus Dead Letter office. (16 total) Rank them in order and also assign a rating from 1 to 5. (5 being the best)

16) Around the Sun - 1.5
15) Reveal - 2.5
14) Up - 2.5
13) Accelerate - 3.5
12) Collapse Into Now - 3.5
11) Dead Letter Office - 3.5
10) Out of Time - 4
9) Monster - 4
8) Green - 4.5
7) Life's Rich Pageant - 4.5
6) New Adventures in Hi-Fi - 4.5
5) Document - 4.5
4) Reckoning - 5
3) Automatic For the People - 5
2) Fables of the Reconstruction - 5
1) Murmur - 5

I know I have Fables much higher than most but it was my first R.E.M. and no other album puts me more in a physical place (the deep South in this case) or brings better mental imagery to me than Fables does. I've always loved the darkness and uneasiness of it as well.

4 through 8 are so close. I could agree on any order between them.

Dead Letter Office is tough to rank. I'm not sure anything they ever did is better than "Chronic Town" (Which is included on the CD version) but there's also some fat on it.

 

Chronic Town E.P. - 5
Murmur - 5
Reckoning - 4.5
Fables - 5
Pageant - 5
Dead Letter Office - 2.5
Document - 3.5
Green - 3.5
Out of Time - 3.5
Automatic - 4
Monster - 5
New Adventures - 5
Up - 3.5
Reveal - 3.5
Around The Sun - 4.5
Accelerate - 3.5
Collapse - 3

 

1. Reckoning - 5
2. Life's Rich Pageant - 5
3. Fables of the Reconstruction - 5
4. Murmur - 4.5
5. Document - 4.5
6. Out of Time - 4.5
7. Green - 4.5
8. Automatic for the People - 4
9. Accellerate - 4
10. New Adventures in Hi-Fi - 4
11. Monster - 4
12. Up - 4
13. Reveal - 3.5
14. Collapse Into Now - 3.5
15. Around the Sun - 3

 

16.) Around The Sun - 2/5
15.) Reveal - 2/5
14.) Accelerate - 2.5/5
13.) Collapse Into Now - 3/5
12.) Dead Letter Office - 3/5
11.) Monster - 3.5
10.) Up - 3.5
9.) Out Of Time - 4/5
8.) Fables Of The Reconstruction - 4/5
7.) Green - 4.5/5
6.) Document - 4.8/5
5.) New Adventures In Hi-Fi - 5/5
4.) Automatic For The People - 5/5
3.) Life's Rich Pageant - 5/5
2.) Murmur - 5/5
1.) Reckoning - 5/5

 

1. document 4
2. life's rich pageant 3.5
3. automatic 3.5
4. murmur 3
5. new adventures 3
6. fables 3
7. reckoning 2.5
8. green 2.5
9. out of time 2.5
10. monster 2
11. up 1.5
12. reveal 1.5
13. accelerate 1
14. around the sun 1
15. collapse into now 1

 

Cronic Town (EP) - 5
Murmur - 5
Reckoning - 5
Fables of the Reconstruction - 3
Life's Rich Pageant - 3
Document - 4
Green - 4
Out of Time - 4
Automatic For the People - 5
Monster - 3
New Adventures In Hi-Fi - 5
Up - 3
Reveal - 3
Around the Sun - 4
Accelerate - 3
Collapse Into Now - 3

I haven't heard all tracks from "Dead Letter Office", so I skipped rating it.

 

Murmur - 5
Reckoning - 5
Fables of the Reconstruction - 4
Life's Rich Pageant - 4

Everything else is a 3 or below.

 

Fables 5
Reckoning 5
Murmur 5
Monster 5
Automatic 5
Up 5
Pageant 4
Out of Time 4
Green 4
Document 4
Accelerate 3
Collapse Into Now 3
Reveal 2
NAIHF 2
Dead Letter 2
Around Sun 1

 

1. Automatic 4.8 CD
1. Lifes 4.8 CD
3. Murmur 4.7 CD
4. Out of Time 4.4 V
5. Green 4.2 CD
6. Fables 4.0 V
7. Reckoning 3.8 CD
8. Document 3.5 V
9. Monster 3.2 CD
10. New Adventures 3.0
11. Up 2.9
12. Reveal 2.5
13. Around n/h
13. Accelerate n/h
13. Collapse n/h

 

That's too much math for me, but here are my faves:

Murmur
Lifes Rich Pageant
Chronic Town
Document
Reckoning

* also, Accelerate is much better than anyone had a right to expect it to be, imo.

 

1. Murmur
2. Automatic For the People
3. Life's Rich Pageant

 

Chronic Town E.P. - 5
Murmur - 5
Reckoning - 4
Fables - 4
Pageant - 5
Dead Letter Office - 4
Document - 4
Green - 3.5
Out of Time - 4
Automatic - 3
Monster - 2
New Adventures - 2
Up - 2
Reveal -
Around The Sun -
Accelerate -
Collapse -

 

Lifes Rich Pageant
Document
Fables (for Wendell Gee)
New Adventures in Hi Fi
Up ( for Falls to Climb)

 

16 Around The Sun
15 Accelerate
14 Collapse Into Now
13 Dead Letter Office
12 Document
11 Green
10 Reckoning
9 Reveal
8 Fables Of The Reconstruction
7 New Adventures In Hi Fi
6 Up
5 Monster
4 Lifes Rich Pageant
3 Murmur
2 Out Of Time
1 Automatic For The People

That's a very approximate order (particularly from 7-10, and then 11 and 12 could be ranked in either order). Yes, I love Monster and Up. I wasn't a fan of their 2000s albums, but I have to concede, I've rarely listened to them (especially ATS and Accelerate). I know Out Of Time isn't often held in particularly high regard by R.E.M. fans, but I've always loved it. I'm in the minority who like "Radio Song" and "Shiny Happy People", and the rest of it is truly brilliant. Murmur is a masterpiece and in the past I've always ranked it next to Automatic as my personal R.E.M. top two, but if I'm being totally honest, I just enjoy OOT slightly more nowadays. Automatic, however, is untouchable at No. 1.

 

Chronic Town E.P. - 5
Murmur - 5
Reckoning - 5
Fables - 5
Pageant - 5

That's as far as I go with them, but that's a hell of a run not too many bands can match.

 

1. Murmur 5
2. Fables of the Reconstruction 4.5
3. Life's Rich Pageant 4
4. Document 4
5. Reckoning 3.5
6. Chronic Town 3.5
7. Automatic for the People 3.5
8. Green 3
9. Out of Time 3
10. Monster 2
11. New Adventures in Hi Fi 2

 

1. Automatic For The People 5
2. New Adventures In Hi-Fi 5
3. Out Of Time 4.5
4. Up 4.5
5. Lifes Rich Pageant 4.5
6. Reveal 4
7. Around The Sun 4
8. Green 4
9. Document 4
10. Murmur 4
11. Collapse Into Now 4
12. Monster 3.5
13. Fables Of The Reconstruction 3.5
14. Accelerate 3
15. Reckoning 3
16. Dead Letter Office 3

 

No half votes.

1. Automatic for the People - 5
Murmur - 5
Lifes Rich Pageant - 5
Fables of the Reconstruction - 5
5. Document - 4
Reckoning- 4
New Adventures in Hi-Fi - 4
Green - 4
Collapse Into Now - 4
Monster - 4
Out of Time - 4
12. Accelerate - 3
Up - 3
Reveal - 3
Dead Letter Office - 3
Around the Sun - 2

 

Cronic Town (EP) - 5
Murmur - 5
Reckoning - 5
Fables of the Reconstruction - 5
Life's Rich Pageant - 5
Document - 3
Green - 3
Out of Time - 2
Automatic For the People - 4
Monster - 1
New Adventures In Hi-Fi - 3
Up - 1
Reveal - 1
Around the Sun - 1
Accelerate - 1
Collapse Into Now - 1

 

• Chronic Town (11)
• Murmur (9)
• Reckoning (9)
• Fables of the Reconstruction (7)
• Lifes Rich Pageant (10)
• Document (7)
• Green (5)
• Out of Time (5)
• Automatic for the People (8)
• Monster (3)
• New Adventures in Hi Fi (10)
• Up (8)
• Reveal (3)
• Around the Sun (7)
• Accelerate (10)
• Collapse into Now (7)

 

Fave to least fave, but I've got time for all of them, even the bottom ones:

Out of Time (my way in back in, what, 1991? - adore every bit, except Low which stops it being perfect. Still my favorite album by them - although caveat in my blurb for Lifes...)
Lifes Rich Pageant (every song has bits to look forward to, like the bridge in The Flowers of Guatemala, or Mike Mills' backing vox in These Days. Could possibly be #1)
Fables of the Reconstruction (love the southern gothic murk)
Accelerate (awesome, exciting, etc)
Chronic Town (contradicts my comment below about Murmur but I adore this)
Document (would be even higher if more consistent - side two is not as strong - and I love weirder music so it's not that)
Reckoning (stronger, deeper version of Murmur)
Automatic For The People (lower as Everybody Hurts annoys me and Sidewinder Sleeps is silly and grating - but not good-silly like Shiny Happy People. The best songs are transcendent though - Sweetness Follows, Find The River, Try Not To Breathe. In fact in writing those, it makes me think this album should be higher)
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (love the songs but the production makes it all a bit leaden)
Collapse Into Now (It Happened Today is a masterpiece though)
Green (great songs, bit over-glossy in the production)
Up (if I put it on now I might remember that I like it more than I think - Walk Unafraid... nice)
Murmur (shocking, eh? Still great, but a bit basic)
Reveal (pretty good, for sure, not remarkable)
Around The Sun (although the refrain 'but I don't understaaaaand' gives me goosebumps - saw them on this tour in Madrid, Spain)
Monster (used to, etc, now find it a bit too contrived. Saw the show at Milton Keynes Bowl)

 

This is likely true for me as well. It's probably been at least 10 years or more since I've heard it.

 

Chronic Town - 5
Murmur - 4 (if only because of the weaker version of "Radio Free Europe")
Reckoning - 5
Fables - 6 (my fave R.E.M. album)
LRP - 5 ("Flowers Of Guatemala" is my favorite R.E.M. Song)
Document - 4
Green - 3
Out Of Time - 3
Automatic - 4
Monster - 2
New Adv. - 4

Post-Berry - an average of 2 or 3, with Reveal being my favorite, I'd give that a 4.

 

Damn, they really had a great run those first 10-12 years.

 

The bridge in "Flowers Of Guatemala"...good lord that is beautiful. My other favorite moment like that is the bridge in "Imitation Of Life".