Green (R.E.M. album)

Last updated
Green
R.E.M. - Green.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 7, 1988 (1988-11-07)
RecordedMay–September 1988
Studio
Genre Experimental rock [1]
Length41:01
Label Warner Bros.
Producer
R.E.M. chronology
Eponymous
(1988)
Green
(1988)
Pop Screen
(1990)
Singles from Green
  1. "Orange Crush"
    Released: December 1988
  2. "Stand"
    Released: January 1989
  3. "Pop Song 89"
    Released: May 1989
  4. "Get Up"
    Released: September 1989

The cover art was painted by New York City minimalist line painter Jon McCafferty. Promotional copies of the album were housed in a mauve, cloth-covered Digipack, with the title and artist debossed and a number "4" embossed over both of the "R"s. The color and texture are made to imitate tree bark.

The original pressings of the album and cassette tape covers had the number 4 spot varnished over the R in both "Green" and "R.E.M." In return, "R. Stand" appears instead of "4. Stand" on the track list on the back cover. Allegedly, this was a product of an early typing mistake: due to "4" being a number very close to "R" on the keyboard, "Green" was once misspelled "G4een", and the mistake was adopted this way. The album was the first by the band to feature printed lyrics, although only the lyrics to "World Leader Pretend" appeared.

Green is the first R.E.M. album to also be released in a special edition version, though it was only released as a promotional CD. R.E.M. would go on to create a special edition version of each subsequent album they released, with the exception of their final studio album, 2011's Collapse into Now .

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [12]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
NME 9/10 [14]
Pitchfork 8.4/10 [15]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [16]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [17]
Uncut 9/10 [18]
The Village Voice B+ [19]

Green was released on November 7, 1988, in the United Kingdom, and the following day in the United States. R.E.M. chose the American release date to coincide with the 1988 presidential election, and used its increased profile during the period to criticize Republican candidate George H. W. Bush while praising Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis. [20] With warm critical reaction and the conversion of many new fans, Green ultimately went double-platinum in the US, reaching number 12, and peaked at number 27 in the UK. "Orange Crush" became R.E.M.'s first American number one single on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Tracks charts. It was the band's first gold album in the UK, making it the quartet's European breakthrough. "What I love about it is the immensely unlikely lyrics," remarked Neil Hannon, frontman of The Divine Comedy, "and, in the mandolin on 'You Are The Everything' and 'The Wrong Child', it's got a bit of what comes later but in a much purer way. It's so small and intense, it's amazing." [21] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau praised the first half of the album, calling it "rousing, funny, serious, elegiac" while panning the second half for "dubious poetry and heavy tempos." [19]

Some advance promo cassettes of the album, dating from September 1988, contained alternate mixes of "World Leader Pretend" (with different intro), "Turn You Inside-Out" (with different ending), and the untitled eleventh track (different drum mix). All of these mixes are otherwise unreleased.

The band would tour extensively in support of the album throughout 1989, before beginning work on 1991's Out of Time . Green has gone on to sell four million copies worldwide. [22]

R.E.M. supported the album with its biggest and most visually developed tour to date, featuring back-projections and art films playing on the stage. [23] The tour was much larger in scope than the "Work" tour that supported the previous album. This was especially true in venues outside of the United States due to Warner Bros. Records' ability to market the band overseas. On the final night of the 11-month trek to support Green, at the Fox Theater, in Atlanta, Georgia, the band performed their first full-length album, Murmur , in order, from start to finish, followed by Green, in order, from start to finish. The night was concluded by an encore set performed by Microwave & the Melons—the road crew led by guitar tech Mark "Microwave" Mytrowitz. It marked the only live performance of "The Wrong Child," and one of the few live performances of "Hairshirt." After the Green tour, the band members unofficially decided to take the following year off, the first extended break in the group's career. [24]

Some songs from Green—such as "Pop Song 89" and "Orange Crush"—had appeared occasionally on the "Work" tour in 1987. Though the lyrics were embryonic, the melodies and arrangements were similar to those that appeared on the finished record. Similarly, the band began playing versions of "Low" and "Belong" in the later part of the Green Tour, both of which would appear on their next album Out of Time.

Portions of the tour would be filmed for the band's first live video album Tourfilm .

The album was remastered in 2013 for its 25th anniversary, adding the bonus live album Live in Greensboro 1989 by Rhino Records; was released on May 14. [25] Additionally, the EP Live in Greensboro EP was released on April 20 as a promotion for Record Store Day.

Nirvana singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain listed it in his top 50 albums of all time. [26] In 1989, Sounds ranked the album at number 62 in its list of "The Top 80 Albums from the '80s."[ citation needed ] In 1993, The Times ranked the album at number 70 in their list of "The 100 Best Albums of All Time." [27] In 2013, NME ranked it at number 274 in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[ citation needed ]

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe.

Side one – "Air side"

  1. "Pop Song 89" – 3:04
  2. "Get Up" – 2:39
  3. "You Are the Everything" – 3:41
  4. "Stand" – 3:10
  5. "World Leader Pretend" – 4:17
  6. "The Wrong Child" – 3:36

Side two – "Metal side"

  1. "Orange Crush" – 3:51
  2. "Turn You Inside-Out" – 4:16
  3. "Hairshirt" – 3:55
  4. "I Remember California" – 4:59
  5. "Untitled" – 3:10

Notes

Personnel

R.E.M.

Additional musicians

Production

Chart positions

Singles

YearSongChartPosition
1988"Orange Crush"Billboard Modern Rock Tracks1 [36]
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks1 [36]
"Pop Song 89"Billboard Modern Rock Tracks16 [36]
"Stand"Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks1 [36]
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks1 [36]
1989"Pop Song 89"Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks14 [36]
Billboard Hot 10086 [36]
"Stand"6 [36]
"Turn You Inside-Out"Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks7 [36]
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks10 [36]
"Stand" UK Singles Chart 51 [37]
"Orange Crush"28 [37]
"Stand" (re-release)48 [37]

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [38] 2× Platinum200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [39] Gold7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [40] Gold50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [41] Platinum300,000^
United States (RIAA) [42] 2× Platinum2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

In 2005, Warner Bros. Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of Green which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix by Elliot Scheiner, lyrics, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes.

Green

RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
United KingdomNovember 7, 1988 Warner Bros. vinyl LP WX 234
Compact Disc 7599-25795-2
United StatesNovember 8, 1988Warner Bros.LP1-25795
Compact Disc2-25795
cassette tape 4-25795
CanadaNovember 8, 1988 Warner Music Canada LP1-25795
Compact Disc2-25795
cassette tape4-25795
GermanyNovember 11, 1988 Warner Music Germany Compact Disc7599-25795-2
JapanDecember 10, 1988 Warner Music Japan Compact Disc25P2-2389
Argentina1988Warner Bros.LPWEA 80127
Brazil1988Warner Bros.LP6708035
Greece1988Warner Bros.LP925795-1
Israel1988Warner Bros.LPBAN 925773-1
Mexico1988Warner Bros.LPLXWB-6813
Peru1988Warner Bros.cassette tapecn-wbr-0257945-4
South Africa1988Warner Bros./Tusk LPWBC 1654
Compact DiscWBCD 1654
Australia1995Warner Bros.Compact Disc9257952
United States2005Warner Bros.Compact Disc/DVD-Audio DualDisc 73948
United StatesMay 14, 2013Warner Bros.Compact Disc8122796570††

Note

Box sets

RegionDateLabelFormatCatalogNotes
Australia1995Warner Bros.Compact Disc box set 9362460742Packaged with Out of Time
Argentina1998Warner Bros.Compact Disc box set9362 47180-2Packaged with New Adventures in Hi-Fi , entitled "Doble Dosis"
France1998 WEA Compact Disc box setWE 872Packaged with New Adventures in Hi-Fi

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