R.E.M.
Green

THE REVIEW

1988, Warner Bros. headquarters, the Warner gentleman says, “Okay: this is the contract, 5 albums under these conditions; sign here…” Stipe & co. respond, “We set the conditions, the albums are ours, the band is ours! If that’s okay with you, fine, otherwise we’ve received many other offers... we don’t care if the Warner shield or the Universal Earth is on the back of the albums, we want to make music our way, okay?” The director thinks and says, “Okay, you have carte blanche.”, and the happy band asks, “Where do we sign?”
I've always imagined that the signing moment with Warner was like that (or almost).

“Green”: the green of nature, of ecology, of the earth, and of money; released a year after the superb “Document” it shows many sides: in the ironic pop of “Pop Song 89” Stipe enjoys mocking the banality of the pop song: “Should we talk about the weather? Should we talk about the government?”; in the amusing “Get Up” you can admire the now tried and tested overlapping vocals: two, three, four, it doesn’t matter! Then you are so happy and optimistic that nothing else matters! Here’s the first gem: “You Are The Everything” follows the trail of old acoustic songs like “Wendell Gee” or “Swan Swan H”, it gives chills; and more pop rock with “Stand”, the kind that are happy, carefree, with a summer party ending, those parties where innocent trains are made: “Stay in the place where you are” repeat Michael Stipe’s three voices. “This is my world, and I am world leader pretend” irony mixed with sadness in “World Leader Pretend”, a track that somehow talks about war, and that leaves room for “The Wrong Child” another song poor in arrangements but that gives goosebumps: a guitar, a mandolin and two Stipe voices singing the same verse in two different tones, one low and one higher, you don’t know which one to follow; but it’s time for rock with “Orange Crush” aimed at ecology, at the demolition of nature: the drums start like a machine gun and launch a rock song fit for arenas.
“Turn You Inside Out” is a good rock but it’s too reminiscent of “Finest Worksong” while “Hairshirt” imitates the previous acoustic acrobatics without much success. “I Remember California” is dragged and tired rock, the guitar plays a part that could have been assigned to strings and the bass practically holds the whole verse dictating the melody, the drum is martial. The last untitled song is the final experiment with excellent results: total exchange of instruments, Stipe now with his vocal intertwinings belongs to another dimension, the guitarist is thrown behind the drums (and comes up with a very strange rhythm), the bass takes the guitar and the drummer holds the bass, as if to say: “let’s shake up the lineup, let’s see what comes out!”

This is therefore the green of happiness, optimism, and carefreeness that was felt in those years… the story continues.