Track Listing

1. Feeling Gravity's Pull
2. Maps And Legends
3. Driver 8
4. Life And How To Live It
5. Old Man Kensey
6. Can't Get There From Here
7. Green Grow The Rushes Oh
8. Kohoutek
9. Auctioneer (Another Engine)
10. Good Advice
11. Wendell Gee
12. Crazy
13. Burnin' Hell
14. Bandwagon
15. Driver 8 (2)
16. Maps And Legends (2)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19819 in Music
• Released on: 1997-09-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

CD Description
FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION finds R.E.M.'s star rising fast. With major label world domination still comfortably off in the future, the band was still experimenting; their janglyfrenetic sound was deepening by fathoms, and Michael Stipe's formless rants were solidifying (his diction was improving, too, which only served to clarify his prodigious poetic gift). The album featured some of the group's most solid pop songcraft to date, as well as some pretty heady meandering ("Feeling Gravity's Pull").
FABLES produced some important hits for the group at this crucial juncture of its career. Radio staples like "Driver 8" kept them popular with the increasingly important college crowd (heretofore their bread andbutter), while the crisp, jumpy and irresistibly catchy "Can't Get There From Here" brought them to a new level on the now-essential music video playlists. Diehard fans, however, were drawn to some quintessential R.E.M. moments--the overlapping vocals of "Maps And Legends" and the wistful, soaring "Wendel Gee", the album's real gem, a disarming, dreamy, instant classic.

Customer Reviews

THE DEFINITIVE "NEW SOUTHERN ROCK"
The Reconstruction was the name given to a (largely abortive) plan to rebuild the economy and society of the Southern States following the end of the American Civil War (1861-1865), the bitter brother-against-brother conflict in which nearly three quarters of a million died in battle and over three quarters of the nation was left in ruin. For all the initial good intentions, the so-called "reconstruction" quickly degenerated into a long period of intense exploitation in which millions of newly emancipated African American slaves found that little had really changed, the Indian Nations were decimated, and inaction by the Federal government laid the ground for many of modern America's most stubborn political and social problems. It is only really since World War II that a New South has been recreated, and old social and political divisions still run deep. (For further reading: "The Battle Cry of Freedom" by James M. McPherson or "The Penguin History of the USA" by Hugh Brogan)

It is against this background that a "New Southern Rock" grew up, starting in the seventies with bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the B-52s. R.E.M. were only the foremost of a whole generation of bands that blended exploration with traditionalism. They were college boys from the provincial university town of Athens, Georgia, itself a hybrid of industrialism and old world classicism. They were the product of a new industrial middle class that had the capital to educate its kids and the confidence to explore its own cultural identity. And they were obsessive rock fans who even in stardom never attempt to conceal the homage they still pay to their own heroes.

Heated debate over the quality of R.E.M.'s last few albums has tended to eclipse what used to be one of the key disputes among the Athens band's hardcore fanbase: Was Fables a flop? Or was it a masterpiece? "Fables rocks" and "Fables s*cks" were two of the competing slogans around at the time. Stories began to circulate about civil war in the London studio where the album was cut, between the band and the established folk-rock producer overseeing the project. Comments in the media gave fans the impression (justified or not) that the band had virtually disowned "Fables", and this in turn put many of their most loyal fans off the album.

In fact at least one member of the band has more recently admitted that it was a "great" album, and this later assessment is much fairer than any of the dismissive remarks made back in the eighties when tempers were still running high. This truly is a great album, the most perfect distillation of the lyrical, musical and sonic approach that first earned R.E.M. a global cult following.

That's not to say it's easy. The sound is murky. The vocals are indistinct. There is a mixture of clashing compositional styles ranging from the sweetest pop to the most jarring angry garage rock. And yet there is so much magic, and there isn't a single song on here that doesn't worm its way into the affections (even the less than universally acclaimed 'Wendell Gee'). Such of the lyrics you can make out are among Stipe's most obliquely deep and meaningful. Many of them revolve round his long-term fascination with the myths, legends and stereotypes of the American South (that's were the above historical intro comes in). The fact that the album title is printed in such a way that it can alternatively be read as "Reconstruction of the Fables" speaks volumes about the spirit in which this has been undertaken.

"Fables" may not grab you on first hearing, but it is the definitive early R.E.M. album. Like all truly classic releases it amply repays the commitment involved in getting to know it well. And I would say that of all R.E.M.'s dozen or so albums, it is the one I am least likely ever to get tired of.

REM Strike Gold 7 Years Before Automatic'
Fables is undoubtedly REM's finest moment on record (except perhaps "Fall On Me" on Lifes Rich Pageant). It somehow manages to sound so quintessentially Southern, but at the same time retains that underground, dreamy feel of the first two albums. Imagine Pavement doing "The Night they drove old Dixie down" and you've an idea of how splendid this album is. Every song has its merits, from the lush meloncholy of "Maps and Legends" through the Byrds-like jangle of "Driver 8" to the sorry tale of the crackpot "Wendell Gee". The added outtakes and live reworkings on this reissue, only add to strengthen an already perfect collection of songs. More people should recognise the genius of this album and the other 4 that they recorded for IRS. There's more to life than Automatic and Out of Time!!

REM triumph over adversity
After recording their first two albums with the same producers( Mitch Easter and Don Dixon) and mining a inchoate but wonderful brand of American independent rock the band decided to record their difficult third album in London , overseen by folk producer Joe Boyd. As it turned out their difficult third album was indeed difficult. The band hated the miserable winter weather, were unsure about Boyd and this air of fractious disharmony meant the band started to rub each other up the wrong way . The reviews for the album were mixed and one or two of the band confessed to hating it (Bill Berry even went as far as to say "it sucked") but for all that the album has undergone deserved widespread re-appraisal. Michael Stipe has even gone as far as to say that he thinks it contains some of their best songs.
Fables is virtually a concept album exploring the mythology and landscape of the Southern United States .It makes references to Southern life- the trains on the hectic jangles of "Driver 8" the migrant farmers of the Byrdsian "Green Grow The Rushes" the story telling references in "Life And How To Live It" . The slightly comic "Can't Get There From Here" not only reveals a more playful side to the band with Stipes affected vocal , but uses a popular Southern saying for it's title.
All of the composite elements of the usual REM sound were present for Fables, but there are flirty bursts of brass in "Can't Get There From Here" and the use of banjo in "Wendell Gee" is a further nod to it's Southern inspiration. Peter Bucks silvery jangles are still utilised extensively but there is less of Mike Mills melodic bass counterpoints and his backing vocals are more subdued , though in Wendell Gee they are crucial to the songs structure. Excellent opening track the vivid striking "Feeling Gravity's Pull" ushers in menacing violin and cello for the songs last third.
The extra tracks for this CD edition are worth hearing too. A series of b-sides their cover of Pylon's "Crazy" has true chromatic energy. "Burning Energy" is redolent of the undiluted honest rock of "Document" .Only the jingle/jangle by numbers of "Bandwagon" fails to live up to what has gone before.
Many are critical of the albums muddy sound and the albums more oblique textures yet in some ways the album improves on their previous two albums. Stipes vocals are more distinct , he is far less inclined to mumble like a guilty teenager , and the album see's a tangible progression for them with supplementary variety in the songs and the arrangements.
Fables Of The Reconstruction isn't REM ,s greatest album -I prefer the first two , "Life's Rich Pageant " and "Automatic For The People" but it's way better than it's reputation and it's way way better than anything they have done since Automatic. It's also far superior to over lauded albums like "Green " and the most over lauded of the lot "Out Of Time". Taken away from the context of REM ,s catalogue Fables Of The Reconstruction is a great album in it,s own right and actually gives weight to that hoary old saying -A triumph over adversity .