Reckoning: An Album Review

It was only a matter of time until R.E.M. earned an album review; the only question was which masterpiece I would start with. After much debate, I'm starting with the album that got me hooked: Reckoning, R.E.M.'s second studio album, released two years before they really struck gold with Life's Rich Pageant (foreshadowing?) Reckoning contains my all-time favorite R.E.M. track and a few more that are quite high on the list. It's been awhile since I did an album review that I was genuinely excited to undertake, so let's get right into it!

Harborcoat -- 3:53

Fair warning: the vocalist and primary songwriter for R.E.M., Michael Stipe, wrote notoriously obscure lyrics, especially towards the beginning of R.E.M.'s discography. That means most of these tracks are virtually impossible to decipher, so if that's not appealing to you, don't worry about the lyrics. The music is good enough without understanding what it means.

With that being said, this track starts off with a now-classic R.E.M. jangly guitar sound and the following verse:

They crowded up to Lenin with their noses worn off

A handshake is worthy, if it's all that you've got

Metal shivs on wood pushed through our back

There's a splinter in your eye and it reads 'react'

Maybe we're in Russia, or maybe the Communist regime is a metaphor for something. Either way, I find beauty in the vocals of Harborcoat not through the lyrics, but through the layering of different vocal lines. During the verses, Stipe soars above a brisk, thin guitar line and some economical drumming. As the second verse hits, a background vocalist (presumably bassist Mike Mills) joins him with completely different lyrics that align oddly with the main vocal line. This contrast is exacerbated in the first chorus, as yet another vocalist joins with other, rhythmically unaligned lines. This trend continues throughout Harborcoat, building an uncomfortable tension with each passing chorus, as if bystanders simply chime their voices in and beg for the unnamed recipient of this song to "find my harborcoat", as they "can't go outside without it". The layering is masterfully evocative of desperation and futile searching for something that cannot be found. If you listen closely, you can pick out individual words but not full lines, adding to the muddiness of the situation.

Harborcoat is a tight, quick, unsettling track. It's a masterclass in vocal layering and doing more with less on the instrumental side, and it's an excellent representation of this album as a whole. As you'll see in future album reviews (hopefully), R.E.M. excels at changing their sound album-to-album, but within one album, the sound is remarkably consistent without producing a bunch of cookie-cutter tracks. Harborcoat is the establishment of the Reckoning sound.

(Also, harmonica solo! Can't go wrong).

7 Chinese Bros. -- 4:18

I won't bother trying to decipher the verse on this one. I've been trying for months and I can't get anything out of it. Fun note, however: in the first two verses, Stipe delivers the line, "Take in one symphony now". In the third verse, "now" is changed to "Mao", the second reference to a Communist dictator in just the first two tracks of this album. Reckoning-era R.E.M. is far from the most politically charged iteration of this band, but it's interesting to see the roots of that eventual development.

As far as the chorus goes, it's not my favorite on the album, but it definitely conveys general love and loss emotions with a cryptic reference to a Chinese children's book, telling the cautionary tale of some brother who drowned because his brother could not hold the entire sea within him for long, and he ignored his warnings. It's a wild story, but why does Stipe reference it?

Seven Chinese brothers swallowing the ocean

Seven thousand years to sleep away the pain

She will return

She'll return

My theory? Stipe is telling the story of someone who coveted their love too greatly, who held them too close; they left, and he figuratively 'drowned'; now he has "seven thousand years to sleep away the pain," but his desperate infatuation with her has him constantly repeating the refrain, "she will return". Perhaps he realizes his mistakes, or perhaps not; either way, the only hope he can find is in her return.

That's probably not based on a true story, but either way, Stipe exhibits masterful storytelling in those four simple lines. More beautiful vocal layering plays into it, certainly, but this time without extra, differing lines. Similarly to Harborcoat, the guitars behind the vocalist steadily escalate in intensity, while the drums remain as steady and sparse as ever. You hear just a hint of distortion sneaking into some of the guitar riffs, foreshadowing a future sound. Seven Chinese Bros. is a solid follow-up to Harborcoat, although I personally prefer the latter.

So. Central Rain -- 3:16 So. Central Rain is a beautiful summation of the emotional manipulation prevalent in a toxic relationship. The narrator oscillates between betrayal and guilt throughout the track; verse to chorus, verse to chorus.

Did you never call? I waited for your call,

These rivers of suggestions are driving me away

The trees will bend, the cities wash away (third verse: trees will bend, the conversation's dimmed)

The city on the river, there's a girl without a dream

The chorus, of course, is simply Stipe repeating "I'm sorry" over the introductory guitar riff, a representation of the narrator's guilt that accompanies a sense of betrayal. It's a very contradictory track, brilliantly displaying love's nature as a contradictory emotion. It's also one of the first R.E.M. songs I listened to consistently.

So. Central Rain is more of the quintessential Reckoning guitar sound with a bit of an edge compared to the previous two tracks

Pretty Persuasion -- 3:53

I read an article from a guitar-centric music outlet that referenced Pretty Persuasion as an essential R.E.M. track for any guitar players to listen to as a good intro to R.E.M. Yeah, it's a good song, but I don't know that this is anywhere near the best track on this album, even if it's one of the more influential ones. The guitar riff is full-bodied and catchy now, less jangly and thin than previous tracks on Reckoning; that change, along with the much catchier, less complex chorus, gave Pretty Persuasion life as a pop-type track that did well over radio.

Still, Pretty Persuasion has less going on, comparatively (not to say that any tracks on Reckoning are particularly esoteric). It can lean a bit more on the contrived side for me, but then again, this is one of R.E.M.'s first studio albums, so a little cliche here or there is to be expected. Pretty Persuasion still holds its own.

Time After Time (Annelise) -- 3:32

One of only two Reckoning tracks that I don't actively listen to, but the more I listen to it now, the more I think it merits another look. Time After Time is a rare slow song on Reckoning; in this case, I think that grants it a gravitas that other tracks lack, a bit more of an impact compared to quick, easy tracks like Pretty Persuasion.

One of the reasons I like this switch is a bit more emphasis on the drums. Bill Berry gets no love as the heartbeat of R.E.M. for a long time because he's not a flashy player, and while that remains the same here, a slower tempo means each drumbeat means that much more. The song steadily moves and escalates with each chorus, culminating before the second half in a thin guitar-drum combo that gives the song a dramatic, non-Reckoning feel. It's the only time I can think of on this album where the guitar takes a backseat to the drum set, and for that alone Time After Time deserves more respect.

Outside of the drums, though, Time After Time holds its own. The lyrics are simple and sparse, but Stipe delivers them with characteristic emotional appeal. Time After Time is perhaps the most forward-thinking track on Reckoning.

Second Guessing -- 2:51

We return to raucous Reckoning with Second Guessing, characterized by another simple chorus improved with excellent vocal layering and powerful drumming/guitar. If there's a track on Reckoning that could be called a cookie-cutter track, it's Second Guessing; that's not to say that it isn't high-quality, and that I won't listen to it. To the contrary, I love listening to Second Guessing, and it's a worthwhile addition, but I don't think there's all that much to say about it. Jangly guitar, powerful drumming, solid vocal layering and relatively obscure verses. It's solid.

Letter Never Sent -- 3:02

Hot take alert! (Can it be a hot take if nobody else cares?) Letter Never Sent is the best song on Reckoning, in my opinion. It's not even in the top 5 most streamed tracks on the album, but Letter Never Sent has the most character and variation on the album, and I don't think it's particularly debatable. The guitar riff is iconic and the bassline adds a whole dimension to the sound of the track. But the spotlight, of course, must rest on the lyrics and the vocals. Each chorus and the bridge is a beautiful mix of Stipe and Mills, with Mills singing rhythmically agreeable lines behind Stipe throughout the chorus. It's impossible to fully encapsulate the pre-chorus, but I'll put the lyrics below, sung by Mike Mills with Stipe oh-ing in the foreground.

And it's so far

It's so dark

I'm so lost

(repeat, enter chorus)

[Stipe is main, Mills in parentheses]

Heaven is yours (Another story)

Heaven is yours (Another story for a while)

Heaven is yours where I live (Someone, show me)

Letter Never Sent is intended to be a representation of Stipe's frustration with constant movement, and the stress that leaving his hometown of Athens, Georgia causes him and his bandmates. It's an incredible song that I cannot fully describe; if you listen to any track on Reckoning, make it Letter Never Sent.

Camera -- 5:51

Another slow one, this time dedicated to the late Carol Levy, the band's photographer and Stipe's girlfriend at the time, who died in a car accident during a tour. Camera is the other track I didn't spend much time on upon first listen, but it definitely deserves more attention. The length is the first thing that should catch your eye; Camera is by far the longest track on Reckoning, a sign that Stipe and his bandmates intended to draw special attention to honoring Carol's memory.

The lyrics of Camera are especially evocative and especially gut-wrenching.

Alone in a crowd

A bartered lantern borrowed

If I'm to be your camera,

Then who will be your face?

Lots to unpack there. Stipe uses the "bartered lantern borrowed" to represent the nature of life as fragile; the idea of living on borrowed time is one you're probably familiar with. You may also know the idea of light representing life; when light is extinguished, so is life. Stipe integrates both of those concepts into that one line, one's borrowed light extinguished in death. The last two lines refer to Stipe's promise to act as a camera for Carol, to record all the things she will miss; but, of course, Stipe was always the subject of Carol's camera, so if he's the camera now, who will be her face to record? It's an impressive song, the most emotionally impactful and lyrically moving track on Reckoning, but definitely be wary of listening to it if you don't want some of that sadness to rub off on you. Still, certainly worth a listen.

(Don't Go Back To) Rockville -- 4:33

I've certainly exhausted this track on my blog, having posted it to every social that I know. It's my most listened to track on Spotify this year, and one of the first R.E.M. tracks that hooked me and did not let go. The guitar is as jangly as it gets, but also slightly less abrasive than the general Reckoning guitar sound. The bass and vocals take center stage; fitting, considering that Rockville was written by R.E.M.'s bassist and occasional vocalist, Mike Mills. Mike's new girlfriend is leaving for her hometown of Rockville (portrayed very inaccurately in the lyrics of the song); Mills trys desperately to convince her not to go with a very direct plea.

Instead of saying more about lyrics that I've analyzed a million times myself and on my blog at least once, I'll leave you with an article written by Ingrid Schorr, the subject of (Don't Go Back To) Rockville. It's a fascinating read, and it's funny to think that Mills thought this song had any chance of convincing Ingrid to stay. As far as the song itself goes, it's a catchy, well-composed, classic R.E.M. track and my personal favorite.

Little America -- 2:58

Rounding out the album is Reckoning's least streamed song on Spotify, a testament to the quality of this album. Its rollicking and jangly, per usual, and the lyrics are impossible to understand. I challenge you to listen to the verses in this song without reading the lyrics and try to guess what he's saying. Then, I challenge you to listen to the chorus and try to interpret what the lyrics mean.

Things get a bit more electric in the back half of this track, and there's a cool little guitar breakdown over one of the later choruses. Definitely another of the less intriguing tracks on Reckoning, but still a high-quality track with a lot to enjoy.

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If I tried to rate every song on this album, I'd end up giving out an unfair amount of 8s and 9s. In the interest of not wasting my time, I'll simply rank the tracks from, in my opinion, best to "worst".

1) Letter Never Sent

2) (Don't Go Back To) Rockville

3) Harborcoat

4) 7 Chinese Bros.

5) So. Central Rain

6) Time After Time (Annelise)

7) Camera

8) Little America

9) Pretty Persuasion

10) Second Guessing

This was a fun little finals-week break! More R.E.M. album reviews to come.

Emory