R.E.M. ‎♫ Lifes Rich Pageant ♫ 1986 I.R.S. Records Original Vinyl LP w/Insert

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Thanks for looking!Lifes Rich PageantStudio album by R.E.M.ReleasedJuly 28, 1986RecordedApril–May 1986StudioBelmont Mall Studio, Belmont, Indiana, United StatesGenreAlternative rock arena rock jangle popLength38:23LabelI.R.S.ProducerDon GehmanR.E.M. chronologyFables of the Reconstruction (1985)Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)Dead Letter Office (1987)Singles from Lifes Rich Pageant"Fall on Me" Released: August 1986"Superman" Released: November 1986Lifes Rich Pageant is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on July 28, 1986. R.E.M. chose Don Gehman to produce the album, which was recorded at John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall Studio in Belmont, Indiana. This was the only album the band recorded with Gehman, who moved them from the more obscure and dense sound of their earlier albums to an accessible, hard rock-influenced quality. The album was well-received critically.DetailsThe album title is based on an English idiom. Its use is very old, but R.E.M.'s use is, according to guitarist Peter Buck, from the 1964 film A Shot in the Dark, minus the apostrophe:Inspector Clouseau opens a car door, falling into a fountain.Maria: "You should get out of these clothes immediately. You'll catch your death of pneumonia, you will."Clouseau: "Yes, I probably will. But it's all part of life's rich pageant, you know?"The cover of the album is a photograph of drummer Bill Berry, on the upper half, and a pair of bison, signifying an environmental theme, on the lower half. It also alludes to Buffalo Bill.With R.E.M.'s fan base beginning to grow beyond its college rock boundaries, Lifes Rich Pageant proved at the time to be the band's most commercially successful album in the United States, peaking at number 21 on the Billboard charts and heralding the band's first gold record. In the UK, the album managed a number 43 peak.Slant Magazine listed the album at #52 on its list of "Best Albums of 1980s" saying "Lifes Rich Pageant stands as a nearly seamless transition between the band's formative period and their commercial dominance."In 2000, it ranked at number 162 in the list of Virgin's All-Time Album Top 1000 List.The ecologically conscious "Fall on Me" (a personal favorite of frontman Michael Stipe) and a cover of the Clique's "Superman", sung by bassist Mike Mills, were the only singles released from the album (the single version of the latter removed the sample from one of the Godzilla movies that began the album version).Another ecologically minded song, "Cuyahoga", refers to the once heavily polluted Cuyahoga River that flows into Lake Erie at Cleveland, Ohio. The song includes the lyric we burned the river down, which refers to the several occasions (most famously in 1969) when the river actually caught fire.At the end of "Just a Touch" Michael Stipe can be heard screaming the line "I'm so young, I'm so goddamn young", quoting longtime influence Patti Smith's live cover version of The Who's "My Generation" released on the b-side of her 1976 single "Gloria", which she also uses at the end of her cover version of "Privilege (Set Me Free)" from her 1978 album Easter.ReceptionProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusicChicago TribuneChristgau's Record GuideB+The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicEntertainment WeeklyAThe GuardianPitchfork8.8/10QRolling StoneThe Rolling Stone Album GuideUncutAccording to the review aggregator Metacritic, Lifes Rich Pageant received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 93 out of 100 from 20 critic scores. PopMatters included it in their list of the "12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums".Anthony DeCurtis, writing a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, called it "brilliant and groundbreaking, if modestly flawed", praising it as "the most outward looking record R.E.M. has made." It "carries on...the dark Southern folk artistry of last year’s Fables of the Reconstruction" and "paints a swirling, impressionistic portrait of a country at the moral crossroads". Robert Christgau gave the album B+ in a dismissive review that complained of a lack of progress from earlier albums.Retrospective reviews of the album in the context of the band's later work (beginning with the following original studio album, Document) have been positive. Gavin Edwards, writing in 2003, gave it four stars, praising "Fall on Me" in particular as "the finest song in the R.E.M. canon. A lullaby of modern anxiety, it's flexible enough to serve as a potent metaphor for acid rain, nuclear warfare, satellite surveillance or any other modern phobia you choose". Stephen Deusner, writing for Pitchfork, calls it "invigorating", citing it as R.E.M.'s first transitional album, simultaneously their "most pop-oriented and accessible album up to that point" and "most overtly political collection, with songs addressing environmental crises and political malaise". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian says it "may represent the band at their absolute zenith... imbued with a swaggering confidence absent from its murky predecessor". Petridis also singles out "Fall on Me" for its "beautiful opacity" and the "sumptuousness of its melody". Andrew Mueller in Uncut argues that it represents R.E.M. embracing the mainstream: "For the first time, it had occurred to REM that they had a constituency – and, indeed, that it might be possible and desirable to build on that" with an album where "Every note... fizzes and crackles with the urgency of people who’ve made their minds up".Both DeCurtis and Deusner praise the production work of Don Gehman, comparing it favorably to their previous album Fables of the Reconstruction. DeCurtis said Gehman "has done an outstanding job of hardening R.E.M.’s sonic jolt" while Deusner stated of Gehman that by "giving the melodic leads their own space, he emphasizes the muscle in Berry's beats and the intricate interaction between the rhythm section".Track listingAll songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, except where noted.Side one – "Dinner side""Begin the Begin" – 3:28"These Days" – 3:24"Fall on Me" – 2:50"Cuyahoga" – 4:19"Hyena" – 2:50"Underneath the Bunker" (unlisted on packaging) – 1:25Side two – "Supper side""The Flowers of Guatemala" – 3:55"I Believe" – 3:49"What If We Give It Away?" – 3:33"Just a Touch" – 3:00"Swan Swan H" – 2:42"Superman" (Mitchell Bottler and Gary Zekley) (unlisted on packaging) – 2:52

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