Review Summary: Wait, wasn't Monster released in 1994 and not 1983? Who cares, it's a fresh, upbeat, and heavy trip down through the archives and guts of R.E.M.'s trademark sound and style.
The thought of R.E.M. releasing a lo-fi album that 'throws' back to classic 'indie' releases like
Lifes Rich Pageant back in 1994 was most likely a dirty, nasty rumor until it actually happened, with the release of
Monster. The rumors came true, and kind of left R.E.M. fans (most notably post-
Green fans) scratching their heads. "Where was the catchy melodies, light-hearted jangle pop anthems like
Man on the Moon? The song
Star 69 was released this year by a band with as much success as R.E.M.?", they were most likely thinking.
The rumors all came true.
Monster is undoubtedly the most controversial R.E.M. album, and in fact, is one of their best. The heaviness works, and very well at that. Kind of like the appeal surrounding the lo-fi indie bands like Dinosaur Jr., R.E.M. successfully showed their fans that jumped on the bandwagon with the hit
The One I Love that R.E.M. is, and will always be a rock band at heart; an indie one at that.
Outside of
Lifes Rich Pageant.
Monster is the R.E.M. album I listen to the most. The album's heavy, distorted riffs fused with lo-fi appeal makes
Monster a worthwhile listen. Michael Stipe takes a back seat to the instruments for the most part as well, as the album seems a bit more focused on the melodic riffs and distortion than Stipe's crooning vocals. That's a good thing, as it all works, and gives the album a feel that R.E.M. hasn't had since
Murmur. Songs like
What's the Frequency, Kenneth? and
Star 69 make the album a worthwhile listen just by themselves. Where
What's the Frequency, Kenneth? was a bit more melodic and traditional to R.E.M. than the rest of the album, the song by itself let's you know how much R.E.M. has changed with this album pretty quickly. Opening up with a layered, distorted guitar riff it quickly springs into action with Stipe's traditional melodic, yet plain vocals pretty quickly even if you get a sense of the older stuff's catchiness. The guitar tracks don't overpower Stipe's voice, which is a rare occurrence on this album, but it all works in most likely, the album's best song.
There's plenty more to like about this album, like
Crush With Eyeliner, another catchy, yet radically different R.E.M. track that is excellent, fun, catchy, and heavy, all in the same time. Featuring some of
Monster's trademark rough, layered guitar tracks below a moderately standard R.E.M. chorus and verse works out fairly well, but the album truly shines with
Star 69 which has some of the most radical hooks, punk influences, and dominating guitar tracks R.E.M. has ever released under their name. Kicking off with some heavily distorted riffs spearheaded by echoing, at times random vocal tracks courtesy of Michael Stipe, the album seems to have a distinct lo-fidelity sound and feel about it, as well as a 'punk' feel and vibe that comes strongly mostly from Stipe's vocal attack and the guitar drive.
The album works together, and keeps a solid, echoing, and heavy vibe that is only overshadowed by a few recurrences where R.E.M. brings in some of their older styles and sounds like in
I Don't Sleep, I Dream or
Strange Currencies, The album is still a pretty radical album, but it shows that Michael Stipe still had it in him to challenge the listeners and to help silence the die-hard fans who insisted R.E.M. had sold out. You can't help but notice the jump R.E.M. takes from
Automatic for the People to
Monster, and be shocked at how much progression and change they went through in the span of one album gap. At the end of the day,
Monster is an excellent album that continued to expand R.E.M.'s horizons.
DOWNLOAD:
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
Crush With Eyeliner
Star 69
