REM ? Lifes Rich Pageant ? Rare 1986 IRS Robert Ludwig Master 1st Press Vinyl LP

$

100

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Lifes Rich Pageant Studio album by  R.E.M. Released July 28, 1986 Recorded April–May 1986 Studio Belmont Mall, Belmont, Indiana, United States Genre Alternative rock Length 38:23 Label I.R.S. Producer Don Gehman R.E.M. chronology Fables of the Reconstruction
(1985) Lifes Rich Pageant
(1986) Dead Letter Office
(1987) Singles from Lifes Rich Pageant

1. "Fall on Me"
   Released: August 1986
2. "Superman"
   Released: November 1986

Lifes Rich Pageant is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on July 28, 1986. R.E.M. chose Don Gehman to produce the album, which was recorded at John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall Studios in Belmont, Indiana. This was the only album the band recorded with Gehman, who moved them from the more obscure and dense sound of their earlier albums to an accessible, hard rock-influenced quality. The album was well-received critically.

Details

The source for the title of the album is based on an English idiom. Its use is very old, but R.E.M.'s use is, according to guitarist Peter Buck, from the 1964 film A Shot in the Dark, minus the apostrophe:

The cover of the album is a photograph of drummer Bill Berry on the upper part of the cover and a pair of bison, signifying an environmental theme, on the lower part. It also alludes to Buffalo Bill.

With R.E.M.'s fan base beginning to grow beyond its college rock boundaries, Lifes Rich Pageant proved at the time to be the band's most commercially successful album in the United States, peaking at number 21 on the Billboard charts and heralding the band's first gold record. In the UK, the album managed a number 43 peak.

Slant Magazine listed the album at #52 on its list of "Best Albums of 1980s" saying "Lifes Rich Pageant stands as a nearly seamless transition between the band's formative period and their commercial dominance."

In 2000, it ranked at number 162 in the list of Virgin's All-Time Album Top 1000 List.

The ecologically conscious "Fall on Me" (a personal favorite of frontman Michael Stipe) and a cover of the Clique's "Superman", sung by bassist Mike Mills, were the only singles released from the album (the single version of the latter removed the sample from one of the Godzilla movies that began the album version).

Another ecologically minded song, "Cuyahoga", refers to the once heavily polluted Cuyahoga River that flows into Lake Erie at Cleveland, Ohio. The song includes the lyric we burned the river down, which refers to the several occasions (most famously in 1969) when the river actually caught fire.

At the end of "Just a Touch" Michael Stipe can be heard screaming the line "I'm so young, I'm so goddamn young", quoting longtime influence Patti Smith's live cover version of The Who's "My Generation" released on the b-side of her 1976 single "Gloria", which she also uses at the end of her cover version of "Privilege (Set Me Free)" from her 1978 album, Easter.

Reception

In 2020, PopMatters included it in their list of the "12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums".

Track listing

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

Side one – "Dinner side"

1. "Begin the Begin" – 3:28
2. "These Days" – 3:24
3. "Fall on Me" – 2:50
4. "Cuyahoga" – 4:19
5. "Hyena" – 2:50
6. "Underneath the Bunker" (unlisted on packaging) – 1:25

Side two – "Supper side"

1. "The Flowers of Guatemala" – 3:55
2. "I Believe" – 3:49
3. "What If We Give It Away?" – 3:33
4. "Just a Touch" – 3:00
5. "Swan Swan H" – 2:42
6. "Superman" (Mitchell Bottler and Gary Zekley) (unlisted on packaging) – 2:52