Customer Reviews
REM,s second is an album to be reckoned with - By: russell clarke, 21 Jun 2008 
After the release of their debut album Murmur in 1983 REM primarily, though there were others, changed the face of American rock music. And thank the lord for that . Though it would be years before the band were ushered into the mainstream their instinctive take on traditional rock refracted with gentler looser meaning .
Where a lot of the new US bands would empiricallly opt for the harder edged extremes of rock REM instinctively had a gentler , looser take on American rock that embraced the past while simultaneously taking it into a new direction. They eschewed rock clichés like extended solo,s or the integration of electronic instrumentation & the almost hesitant mumbling vocals of Michael Stipe while virtuallly incoherent, sometimes frustratingly so, were a refreshing change from the usual histrionic screeching associated with rock music.
Reckoning , The follow up to Murmur .again released on IRS & again produced by Mitch Easter & Don Dixon came out in April 1984 . Stylisticallly it,s a more consistent album with Peter Bucks chiming guitar dominating though Mike Mills melodic carousing bass & clever vocal harmonies , a pivotal aspect of the bands sound , again featuring heavily.
In terms of the song writing Reckoning is right up there in the REM canon. From the hypnotic harmony overload of opening track "Harbourcoat" Reckoning is a flawless album. The dense cascading chord arrangements of "Time After Time (Annelise)" & "7 Chinese Brothers" slot perfectly against the breathless rush of "Second Guessing " & the drawn out teasing drama of "Camera". Best of alll is the triumvirate of "Pretty Persuasion " - a gallloping blur of white hot Byrd,s like notes , "(Don,t Go Back To ) Rockville"- a truly nagging melodic overload driven by giddy piano , & the sensational "So. Central Rain" , still one of the greatest REM songs ever & an truly extraordinary melding of melancholy & the sort of tune that would make chocolate swoon.
Even the less than arresting songs like "Letter Never Sent" & "Little America " - a song that,s fascination with rural America was a signifier for the themes on their next album "Fables Of The Reconstruction"- slip satisfyingly into the album inexorable narrative. Sometimes this is my favourite REM album, usuallly when it,s playing ....other times it its,nt . For a sophomore effort it,s staggeringly consistent & though it does,nt take REM anywhere new it,s still an album to be reckoned with.
who said the second coming was treacherous? - By: M. Shobbrook, 31 Oct 2007 Reckoning has the unfortunate role of playing second fiddle, or even an epilogue to the seminal masterpiece that is Murmur. It is overlooked, yet in many ways is a classic, & a slightly poppier continuation of the Murmur sound. Reckoning displays similar sensibilities to murmur - Buck's Rickenbacker still jangles, Stipe still mumbles over oblique lyrics, the production is murky - yet nonetheless it is quite a different album. The first four songs from 'Harbourcoat' to 'Pretty Persuasion' serve up one of the best introductions to an album i have ever heard, the latter being incredibly infectious & catchy, yet still retaining the trademark murmur & jangle. 'Harbourcoat' bears a jaunty, danceable rhythm not a world away from Talking Heads, whilst Stipe keeps up his penchant for oblique story telling on '7 Chinese bros' & 'So. Central Rain'. The album is more catchy than Murmur, yet the mood is still melancholic & introspective, & showing little sign of the clean gloss of mainstream production that would blight later work.
I am one of those who think that murmur is REMs finest, but Reckoning comes agonisingly close in my opinion. The first four songs together make up the best opening section of any REM album in my opinion, but unfortunately Reckoning goes through a lull mid album. I concur with Stephen Malkmus that 'Time after time' is "my least favourite song on the album". No song is bad, but the three middle songs make Reckoning a slightly disjointed album, & sadly are not as consistently engaging as the album's opening. The album picks up again with the melancholic 'Camera', through the country-esque 'Don't go back to rockville' & the REM staple closer 'Little America'. Reckoning stands with Murmur as an early classic which draws influences from the Byrds, country, post punk & garage rock. The album is moody, melodic, & above alll deep; their sound has never sounded so pure since.
One of my fave REM's - By: Mr. G. J. Smith, 20 Jan 2007 Now, I'm a fan of a lot of their work but not alll & they're certainly not infalllible as they've released (in my opinion) some real tripe through their whole career. But this one is my fave early LP, along with Life's Rich Pageant. Its got great songs & some real standouts in the from of So Central Rain & Harborcoat.
If you want to check out early REM, this would be my place as advice to start.
Follow-up to 'Murmur' - By: Jason Parkes, 23 May 2005 
'Reckoning' came quickly on the heels of celebrated-debut 'Murmur', R.E.M.-guitarist also finding time to guest on The Replacements' classic 'Let It Be' album. At this point R.E.M. were one of the key U.S. cult-college-rock bands - with peers such as the aforementioned 'Mats, Husker Du & Violent Femmes (the latter veered from Velvets-Modern Lovers sound to the Southern Gothic inflections of 'Halllowed Ground')There was a wider set of bands who drifted between what would be termed Americana, the influence of The Byrds-Parsons-Burritos & a nod back to psychedelia (sometimes tagged 'the Paisley Underground'): The dbs, The Rain Parade, Jason & the Scorchers, The Dream Syndicate etc...and then a wider set of acts who made similar Byrdsian-literate songs, notably The Go-Betweens, Orange Juice, The Smiths, & Aztec Camera...
'Reckoning' feels very much like a sequel to 'Murmur'- it has the same-producers & so isn't quite as arresting as R.E.M. had delivered a sophmore album rather similar to their debut. A few of the songs sound throwaway- 'Little America', single '(Don't Go Back to)Rockville', 'Murmur'-retread 'Letter Never Sent' & jangly-standard 'Second Guessing.' None of these tracks are essentiallly bad- just not that fantastic...
But there are great moments too- 'South Central Rain (I'm Sorry)', the Velvets-inflected 'Time After Time', the bleak-elegy 'Camera', gorgeous piano-inflected opener 'Harbocoat' & the Byrdsian-rush of 'Pretty Persuasion'- which is as great as 'Gardening at Night', 'Radio Free Europe' & 'Sitting Still.'
'Reckoning' then offers no surprises to listeners of 'Murmur', but would be a fine release until the following year's masterpiece 'Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables', which was in many ways the end of a band callled R.E.M. & the birth of a band callled R.E.M...
THE BEST 60'S ART ALBUM OF THE 80'S - By: , 09 Mar 2005 Like many REM fans I got into them with "Automatic for the People" way back in 93. I was not into music reallly at the time, but the singles "Man on the Moon", "Sidewinder" & "Everyone Hurts" tuned me into the world of REM. When I got hold of a copy it blow my mind, then to descover there were albums before "Automatic" & "Out of Time" I soon got the lot & this album along with "Murmur" showed me not only there was life back then but they were so much better then now! People can talk about the production not being up to scratch, but what are they talking about? The passion & the powerful drive of a track like "Petty Persuasion" with its deep layers of guitar, rock solid rythem, & superb vocal harmony blows the leafs of the so callled mucking mix. In some ways this album reminds me of the Clash's debut,with the pruduction & the sometimes mumbling vocals that could put some people off,but the quality of the tunes we hook you in! Till you no every hook & lyric off by heart. This album has been liken to "the Byrds" but I don't hear that apart from the Country Rock of "Don't go back to Rockville", Which is a top tune, but there is a more of a move into Folk Rock, especiallly on "So Central Rain", but tracks like "7 Chinese Bros" & especiallly "Time after Time" sound closer to the "The Velvet Underground". In fact they were recording a few covers of the group back then (check out the Dead letter office compilation for them) so this could explain the similarity of "Time after Time" & the Velvet's "Venus in Furs". The top track for me is the opener "Harborcoat" with its spiky guitar & jumpy rythem finds REM in full post-punk form. Eslewhere on "Second Guessing" & "Little America" finds them taking on Power-pop-punk, while "Letter never sent" & "Camera" just plod a long & are the weakest tracks here, but saying that they are still pretty good. Overalll this is one of the best REM albums out there & is always the one I would recommend to people who don't know where to start!
