Needles & Grooves

I've listened to What's the Frequency, Kenneth maybe 50 times the last couple weeks.

Most people feel “Monster” was where the band jumped the shark, sold out or whatever. Maybe…but I’m still a fan of that album. And I think “New Adventures” is their best record.

I luckily don't have any of the baggage or context of the time and just the music. As it is, I love what I've heard of Monster. Great guitar tone.

I'm likely the minority camp - I think everything leading up to and including Monster is the pinnacle. Enjoy the exploration. It'll be a fun one.

+1 on New Adventures being their best (or at least top 3)

I did this a few years ago but couldn't really scratch the surface beyond the singles. Outside of a few albums their singles always felt like singles and everything else mostly felt like filler. Reckoning is their best album IMO.

A fun rabbit hole awaits! Enjoy it!

They snuck up on me. I became aware of them during the “Losing My Religion” era but didn’t really begin to follow them as a band until Automatic For The People and it wouldn’t be until much later that I would work back through a deep dive of their earlier work, after learning that they were basically The Michael Jordan of Underground Rock.

It's a really fun journey. I was always aware of REM growing up, but I never took the time to listen to them deeply until I was much older. I went through all their albums in random order and found so much to love. I still think Murmur is my favorite even though it doesn't sound like most of their catalog. But New Adventures in Hi-Fi is great, as is Document. Those three might be my favorites overall.