Lifes Rich Pageant by R.E.M.

Lifes Rich Pageant, R.E.M.'s fourth studio album, came out on I.R.S. on July 28, 1986, and it's the moment R.E.M. came up for air. They picked Don Gehman to produce, the only time they worked with him, and cut it at John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall Studio in Belmont, Indiana. Gehman hauled them out of the murk of their earlier records and into something clearer, punchier and more accessible, with a hard-rock kick in its step.

You can hear it in "Begin the Begin", a charging, confident rocker with guitars that bite rather than blur. "Fall on Me" is ringing, open-hearted jangle pop with harmonies that soar, and "Cuyahoga" rolls along with a hymn-like pull. "The Flowers of Guatemala" is gentle and shimmering, "These Days" rushes along with urgent, bright-eyed energy, and "Superman" is a wink and a grin. It still sounds like R.E.M., jangling and elusive, but now you can make out what they're saying, and they sound like they mean it. Critics took to it warmly.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.