NAKED LOVES : R.E.M. - GREEN (1988)

It seems only fitting that R.E.M.'s 1988 album Green be added to the NAKED wishlist of vinyl records we want to eco-press, because apart from the unbeatable collection of songs that populate both sides of Green, it was thanks to comments and interviews given by the bands singer Michael Stipe that I first became interested in recycling and sustainability.

Let me explain...

Michael Stipe definetly had recycling on his mind during 1988/9, as he explained to one interviewer how he was giving a disposable razor he had been using a new lease of life by wearing it on a necklace whilst the band criss-crossed the globe on their extensive Green tour. The idea behind this stuck with me and I started thinking about other ways to dispose of my unwanted plastic items rather than just dump them in a bin.

Green was the first R.E.M. album to be released by a major record company after a fautless run of records on established indie I.R.S. Moving to a major was a BIG deal back in the late eighties because long before grunge and Nirvana blew the doors off corporate U.S labels, R.E.M. were the forebearers of infiltrating the mainstream through a combination of great music, faithful support from college radio and endless cycles of touring.

In short, R.E.M. did it the hard way.

So there was a lot of expectation resting on the shoulders of this album, and its release was heavily anticipated by the indie music press. What became apparent very quickly was that R.E.M. had not sold out and taken the Warners big bucks and gone soft. Green is a peculiar record and in places you can almost taste the dry southern dust. It is entirely its own beast and emphatically not something dreamt up around a corporate desk merely to shift a few million units.

I had been following the rise of R.E.M. since 1984's 'Reckoning' inadvertently got left behind following a friend's birthday party. Thanks to a lack of information about the band (these were internet-free times, folks!) and a raft of highest calibre pop hooks, R.E.M.'s rise had been slow but steady. This was made all the more remarkable as their videos (low budget and art-house, to say the least) were decidedly odd and out of step with those flashy MTV-times. Band members often failed to appear in these films and to fans in the U.K. the band seemed mysterious and mythical. On top of this were Michael Stipe's lyrics, beguilling and thought-provoking. Dare I say that R.E.M. resembled a long lost obscure act dropped by Island Records sometime around 1979 more than a standard issue eighties guitar act?! All I really knew was that Athens, Georgia must be some kind of town if both The B-52's and R.E.M. hailed from there.

Green begins with Pop Song 89 which quite brilliantly kills the elephant in the room regarding R.E.M's plush new surroundings at Warner Records. Although the song is indeed a moment in pop, the lyrics are oblique, pondering as they do what exactly the band should be singing about in 1988. 'Should we talk about the weather - should we talk about the government' could be construed as climate change concerns a very long time before the climate actually became a thing. Whatever the truth, it's a masterstroke of an introduction that neuters detractors from the very first (pop) song. Get Up and Stand are also stellar radio songs which introduce R.E.M. as real contenders for the Billboard crown. But look deeper into the album and you will find songs like You Are The Everything, World Leader Pretend, and The Wrong Child.  Two are almost completely acoustic and showcase Peter Buck's then new-found love of the mandolin, an instrument the band would often return to on future records, often with dizzying results. The third track, World Leader Pretend is certainly more traditional in its guitar, bass and drums set up but the lyric is a glorious broadside against the brutal Regan era and one wonders what the men in suits at Warners really made of this track.

And so it continues across Side Two with the abrasive Orange Crush revisiting the Vietnam mindset and quickly establishing itself as a live favourite as the Green World tour progressed into 1989. I recall the band performing this single on 'Top of the Pops' and couldn't help but think the world was theirs for the taking. Something had shifted and this most unlikely of bands were suddenly poised to become the biggest group on the planet. How had this happened? The album moves on with Turn You Inside Out which is basically a bar room brawl waiting to happen, whilst album soft focus highlight I Remember California closes proceedings with a peculiar nineteen seventies vibe. Topped off by a brooding Peter Buck guitar solo this song has some serious emotional heft and was the perfect way to sign-off their first major label album...except that this wasn't the case at all, as an untitled final song appears out of nowhere to deliver yet another glorious three minutes, years before artists started hiding tracks away at the end of their CD's. Apparently all four members of R.E.M. swapped instruments to record this untitled number, but even this couldn't disguise the fact that it could only be an R.E.M. song. Green remains a truly remarkable record.

The sleeve was simple and direct, draped in Stipe's choice of earthy tones. A burst of orange against bold, black type. Tree bark and branches. The Planet Earth and the number '4'. But no Bono-style sloganeering. Everyone is free to make up their own minds here, but know that the record is called 'Green' for a reason.

Thank you R.E.M. and in particular, Michael Stipe for this introduction to planetary concerns. Over 30 years later NAKED Record Club would be born to try and change the way vinyl records are made. It's our way of looking out for the world we live in.

We hope that this album can be added to our eco-friendly catalogue before too long.

Now that would be perfect...