With the tension of everyday life you tend to forget the wonderful and beautiful things that life can bring you. REM's music is one of those wonderful things that some can overlook. But no wonder I bought almost all their cassettes when I was a teenager. Out of all the groups I used to listen to 16 years ago I can honestly say, REM has got to be the best. I still own the tape to this album, and decided to own it on CD. The sound just blows me away, it is so well put together and I must say that at some point this album was my favorite. I even liked this album more than I liked "Out Of Time" at certain point. This is just one of the best from REM. Wonderful group UNMATCHED by anyone else. I am sure you will enjoy just as much.

REM promised that Green would be a brilliant artistic masterpiece and while it is a very solid project many fans were disappointed. While the band was a little more creative (gotta love that slide guitar on World Leader Pretend) the album was far from groundbreaking. To me, this album is the middle album between the old REM and the new. Fans of either era should embrace this one. 4 Stars.

This is the first album REM recorded on the Warner Bros. label after their departure from IRS records. While their albums were quite good before this one, this album represents REM's first real big-time commercial success (after having success with Document..."The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World..."), although this is the album that helped propel them into greater stardom. It's true to REM form but shows a little more experimentation with arrangement "Orange Crush", and the lyrics are sharper. The themes of songs become more evident, too, and songs like "You are the Everything" and "World Leader Pretend" show the greatness that became "Losing My Religion" later. REM's (then)four members showed promise from the beginning, but the music became sharper and more coherent as time went on. In fact, it is arguably one of the first albums that skeptics were able to listen to all the way through. Although they have had some trouble holding onto fans since the departure of Bill Berry, the old albums are all essential to any collection. While "Best of" albums contain some hits and B-sides, there is nothing that is a proper substitute of the entire catalogue. Start with Murmur and work up to "New Adventures"; try "UP" if you're feeling a bit more adventurous. The others that follow can be left alone.

This is essential REM, and it rocks.