Reviews

As far as major-label debuts by underground bands go, {^Green} is fairly uncompromising. While it displays a more powerful guitar sound on {&"Get Up,"} {&"Turn You Inside Out,"} and {&"Orange Crush,"} it also takes more detours than {^Document}, whether it's the bizarrely affecting {\contemporary folk} of {&"The Wrong Child"} and {&"You Are the Everything,"} the {\bubblegum} of {&"Stand"} and {&"Pop Song 89,"} or the introspection of the lovely {&"Hairshirt"} and {&"World Leader Pretend."} But instead of presenting a portrait of a band with a rich, eclectic vision, {^Green} is incoherent. While its best moments are flat-out great, the band has bitten off more than it can chew; many of the songs sound like failed experiments, and its arena-ready production now sounds slightly dated. Nevertheless, half of the record is brilliant, and it certainly indicates that {$R.E.M.} are continuing to diversify their sound. [{^Green} was reissued as part of {@Warner}'s 2005 {$R.E.M.} reissue series. Each album was presented in a double-disc digipack, containing a CD on the first disc and a DVD-A version of the album on the second. The DVD for {^Green} includes a 5.1 Surround mix of the album, a "video documentary," lyrics, a photo gallery, and a preview of the {#Tourfilm} DVD, including two live songs, but none of the promo videos from the album.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide