Retro Spins: R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant

   

After taking a break from touring, R.E.M. returned to the studio revitalized, and eager to keep pushing their music in new directions. While they enjoyed the adoption of new instrumentation from their previously released Fables Of The Reconstruction, they wanted this next piece of work to have more energy and be less murky in tone. For this, they moved on to producer, Don Gehmen.

Despite their eagerness to work with Gehmen, the band was skeptical at first of his recording style. The band had never experienced what the producer called the normal recording process, and at first didn't embrace him spending time on the arrangement, layer in the overdubs and comping the vocals. When they saw that this approach didn't take away from the end result, but actually positively added to it, they fully embraced the style.

Lifes Rich Pageant became the band's fourth consecutive hit album, peaking at number twenty-one on the Billboard 200, while once again also charting in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. Though this time it would also chart in new territories; Australia and Norway. With it would come singles, Fall On Me, and Superman, which would peak on the Billboard Hot 100 at ninety-four and seventy-four, respectively. However, the two would fare better on the Mainstream Rock charts, where they landed at five and seventeen.

We're now very much so in the era of R.E.M. that sounds like their greatest commercial success, which was just on the horizon. It's full-on alternative rock, and becoming more mainstream radio friendly, though not the style most people were into yet in 1986. I dare say if this was released in 1991 or 1992 that it would have skyrocketed into the top ten.

Begin The Begin and Fall On Me were the two standout tracks for me, and at this point, I'm just happy to say that there was something I would bother to listen to again in the future. This iteration of R.E.M. I can endorse, but at the same time, I still wouldn't call myself a major fan by any stretch of the imagination.

The band would follow-up with their first top ten album, Document, in 1987. It would become their first platinum seller and fully lay the foundation for the band's popularity on mainstream radio and MTV. It's also the first Retro Spin I did on them, back in 2021. As such, I'll be skipping over it, and heading right into their final album of the decade, Green (1988).

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And now, 31 Days Of Halloween!

With Scream being a massive success in the 90's, the slasher genre was reinvigorated. With it came a slew of new franchises, including I Know What You Did Last Summer. I saw the first two in theaters and didn't bother with any others. They were generic at best. An excuse to put pretty boys and girls on the screen, each having no further character development then their persona; athlete, jerk, heartthrob, etc. I often mock the series, stating the next sequel will be, "Who Gives A S**t What You Did Last Summer?"

Retro Spins: R.E.M. - Fables Of The Reconstruction

   

Before I start, I'd like to give a shoutout to the robots. Nobody has ever said anything so kind about my blog than them. So, thanks!

Fables Of The Reconstruction saw R.E.M. taking their established sound from its two predecessors and adding in elements of folk and darker toned lyrics. With it came new instrumentation for the band, including strings, brass, and banjo. Though critically well received, the band has vocalized mixed opinions of it since its release.

The album would prove to be another success for the band, peaking at number twenty-eight on the Billboard 200, while also charting in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. Though it wouldn't produce any Billboard Hot 100 singles, both Can't Get There From Here, and Driver 8 would land on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts at number fourteen, and twenty-two, respectively. Wendell Gee would also be released as a single, but only chart on the UK Singles at number ninety-one.

The new sound is very obvious from the starting gate, and quite honestly, I dig it a lot more than their previous releases. It showcases the sound that R.E.M. was soon to be associated with, but not quite there just yet.

Starting tracks, Feeling Gravitys Pull, Maps And Legends, and Driver 8 made me want to consider being a fan, even if the remainder of the album took a back seat for the most part. Mind you, it's not bad, but those three were definitely the standouts. In retrospect, I'm wondering if it was because things sounded fresh at first. Perhaps this just wore off fast. I don't honestly know.

What I do know is that as a whole, the album is still pretty mediocre. I don't see myself picking it up again or even wanting to hear the aforementioned tracks for a second time. As a whole, I'm just not all that into R.E.M., and it's a bit of a slog getting through their albums. Regardless, my next stop is 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant.

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And now, 31 Days Of Halloween!

House and House II are underrated hidden gems in the horror genre. The first one takes you on a somewhat action-adventure akin to that of your average Schwarzenegger or Stallone films, but with a massive zombie villain. Meanwhile, the second one adopts a more comedy horror script.

Part three serves as a standalone film, but with four, we're returned to the life of Roger Cobb, last seen in the first installment. It serves as not only a direct sequel to the original film but also wraps up Cobb's story.

Retro Spins: R.E.M. - Reckoning

   

Today I'm circling back to R.E.M. to go through their remaining discography of the 80's. I touched on them way back in 2021 when I played through 1987's Document, and again in 2025 when I went into their 1983 debut, Murmur. It's during the latter that I touched on the band's initial history, so unfortunately, there's not much groundwork to include here.

Much like its predecessor, Reckoning found its success on college radio stations, but remained relatively ignored on mainstream airwaves, including MTV. Despite this, it did manage to have the minor Billboard Hot 100 hit, South Central Rain (I'm Sorry), which peaked at number eighty-five. The album itself also reached number twenty-seven on the Billboard 200.

For me, it's a relatively forgettable experience. Beyond South Central Rain (I'm Sorry) there was nothing that really stood out as necessarily good or noteworthy. Not that it's a terrible album. It's just not for me. Then again, I didn't really expect it would be. R.E.M. is a band that made its way to my discography after a used CD store run, and not necessarily because I was actively seeking them out.

I can definitely see the appeal to the college radio scene. It's layered with hints of post-punk and alternative rock, something which appealed greatly to the young adults of the time bucking against traditional conformist mainstream sounds. Personally, I never fell into that landscape.

Even when R.E.M. took off in the early 90's, I never really got onboard with them. So, I honestly don't have a lot of expectations for any of the albums I'm about to go through. But I suppose without expectations things can only have a chance to exceed them. My next stop is 1985's Fables Of The Reconstruction, and we'll see what happens from there.

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And now, 31 Days Of Halloween!

As my teenage self-grew into my twenties, my VHS collection of the time continued to expand as well. Soon, Hellraiser was added to the fold, mainly as a result of me finishing my viewing sessions of the complete (at the time) Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street franchises.

Admittedly, I've only seen the first four, with the latter being one I saw in the theater. I think I may be among the few who really liked Bloodline. I thought it was a great origin story for the box.

Retro Spins: Poison - Open Up And Say...Ahh!

   

Way back in 2019, I fired up my first Poison Retro Spin with their 1986 debut, Look What The Cat Dragged In. Today, I'm finally catching up with their 1988 released, Open Up And Say...Ahh!

When it first hit store shelve, it immediately drew negative attention for its demonic cover. Though tame by today's standards, this clashed heavily with conservative sensibilities of parents and major retailers in the late 80's. Corporations, such as Wal-Mart, refused to stock the record, forcing the label to reissue the album with a revised cover.

Despite this initial backlash, Open Up And Say...Ahh! has become the band's most successful album of all time, reaching multi-platinum status in the USA, Canada, and Australia, while also going platinum in New Zealand, and gold in the UK. It spawned four Billboard Hot 100 singles, which included Fallen Angel, which peaked at number twelve, Nothin' But A Good Time, which reached number six, Your Mama Don't Dance, which hit number ten, and the smash number one hit, Every Rose Has Its Thorn.

It's great to hear Bret Michaels and the boys again. Like old friends coming to visit. There's a little bit of what you knew from the past to revisit, while also a bit of "new" to get caught up on.

Naturally, the hits are the bread and butter of the whole thing, but the remainder is also enjoyable. Admittedly, this probably benefits from the familiarity aspect of it all, but it's still good music overall.

Poison entered the 90's poised for continued success, which came with their 1990 album, Flesh & Blood. Fun fact, it too drew controversy for its cover, which featured a bloody tattoo logo.

Unskinny Bop became their next biggest single, peaking at number three, but with it would also come tensions between guitarist C.C. DeVille, and Michaels. Things would come to a head at the 1991 MTV Music Awards, where Poison took the stage to perform the single. However, a drunken DeVille, who kept no secrets for his hate of the song instead launched into Talk Dirty To Me.

The crazy part about this is that if you were watching the event from home, you'd have no clue there was a problem on stage. The band stayed utmost professional, adapting immediately to DeVille's playing, not skipping a beat. It wasn't until they left the stage that tempers would explode, and fists would be thrown, leading to C.C. being fired.

Though they carried on without him, releasing Native Tongue in 1993, but a serious car accident for Michael abruptly halted what would have become their next release, Crack A Smile. Even after finally returning to the studio, it would ultimately be shelved until 2000, where it was released as Crack A Smile...And More! Unfortunately, this late return to record stores would result in low sales, and minimal chart success.

Leading up to its release, C.C. DeVille and Michaels would patch up their differences, with the guitarist being brought back into the band. As such, he too contributed to the aforementioned album. With the original quartet back in place, Bret Michaels, C.C. DeVille, Bobby Dall, and Rikki Rockett released 2002's Hollyweird, and 2007's Poison'd!

Since then, the band has not released any new studio albums, with Michaels stating that he didn't believe they could produce anything that would match their heydays. Further, while they continued to tour, as of 2023, this appears to have ended as well. The band never formally broke up. Rather, their schedules seem to conflict, not allowing them to coordinate further shows together. As a result, both Rockett and Michaels focus mainly on their own projects, Bret with his solo career, and Rikki with his new band, Rockett Mafia.

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And now, 31 Days Of Halloween!

After making my way through the Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street movies, my horror itch needed a good scratching. For this, I turned to two more 80's franchises. One of these was Halloween. What stood out about these was the story they kept building with each installment, well, with exception of number three.

That one took a different direction when John Carpenter felt the Myers story to be over after part two, and envisioned the series becoming anthology based moving forward. That kind of backfired on him after the poor reception of Season Of The Witch, which resulted in the return of Michael Myers, for the better.

Personally, I wrapped up the series with The Curse Of Michael Myers. For me, there was no reason to go beyond that.