Exceptions to the rule

The 80s sucked. Greed was supposedly good, Reagan was in the White House and bands known more for their hairstyles than their music ruled the airwaves. So, in a time when Duran Duran and A Flock of Seagulls were the big thing, it was a little far fetched that an unassuming folk-rock quartet from Athens, Georgia would be able to become America's premier rock band. But that's exactly what did happen. That band, of course, was R.E.M. \nOwing equally to the Byrds, Patti Smith and Wire, R.E.M. was a mishmash of musical ideas and personalities featuring a guitar player (Peter Buck) who favored arpeggio-style chording over soloing, a drummer (Bill Berry) who knew restraint, and a multi-talented, McCartney-esque bassman (Mike Mills) who was the glue that held it all together. Add to this an incomparable and wonderfully weird frontman in Michael Stipe, and you have the unlikely, but winning formula. \nBefore "Losing My Religion" made the band a household name in the early 90s, R.E.M. was the little band that could, touring incessantly while recording five albums in five years (83-87) for the independent label IRS. While all of those early albums are classics in their own right, it is 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant that still stands as their signature record.\nThe album begins with a bang in the twin attack of "Begin the Begin" and "These Days," both hurried anthems of controlled anger against the status quo of Reagan's America. Stipe warns of following the leader, while still proclaiming "we are hope despite the times" over Buck's minimalist riffing. \nThe album's two centerpieces are both appeals for the environment. "Cuyahoga," bolstered by one of Mills' more memorable bass lines, laments the polluted Buckeye State river, and "Fall On Me" speaks of buying and selling the sky amidst the weaving counter melodies of Stipe and Mills. \nFrom there on Pageant veers from punk energy ("Hyena," "Just a Touch") to antique acoustic balladry ("Swan Swan H") to a goofy cover of The Clique's "Superman," without betraying the band's sound or aesthetic. \nWhile they would ultimately find much larger fame later in their career, R.E.M.'s lasting impact on the music world will reside in their 80s body of work. They were a band you could admire for their own unique vision and integrity; qualities that are lacking in the music industry both then and now.