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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Great!!
Great album from REM, my favorite songs are Orange Crush, Wrong Child, World Leader Pretend, Pop Song 89 and the best of all, I remember California; Peter Buck guitar style makes me feel out of this planet on that song, the chorus sang by Michael gives me goose bumps..
Rating: -
Solid Album
This album is often overlooked because of the negatives (first major label release, "Stand" -need I say more?) But any album with "you Are Everything" and "World Leader Pretend" on it has to be in your collection. These are not just two of the best R.E.M. songs, they are two of the best songs-period.
One of the other great songs isn't even on the label, so don't eject the CD from the player too fast!
Rating: -
'Green' Showcases Organic Development
'Green' has all of R.E.M's energy and virtuoso musicianship. It is a propelling and pleasing encyclopedia of pop music. The positive spirit pervades, much like 'Life's Rich Pageant,' but the richness of sound continues with the able hand of Scott Litt, who became, with of late Pat McCarthy, one of two anchor producers. The lyrics, which improved on '...Pageant' and later more consistently on 'Document' is even better this time overall.
The first half is rightly heralded as nearly flawless. "Pop Song '89," "Get Up," and "World Leader Pretend" are propulsive and lyrically skillful. "You Are the Everything" is folk-rock perfect, much like "Fall on Me" before it. Here they started a string of beautiful ballads. Then, there is novelty. But, what novelty! "Pop Song '89" is funny, but their hit song "Stand" is gourmet bubble gum. Sounding like an updated version of an old "Twister" commercial, they entertain without losing their expertise. Side Two is usually criticised, but it also a gem. "Orange Crush" follows the perfect power pop with an anthem and one of the C.D.'s very best songs. "Hairshirt" is ably written with some fine mandolin accompaniment by Peter Buck. The reference to "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" only accentuates the loneliness of the one addressed, but they still retain their originality. "I Remember California" is edgy; "Turn You, Inside-Out" is their biggest slab of hard rock; and their finale, originally named, "..." is a beautiful Beach Boys' coda, full of warmth and harmony.
Many will find fault with portions of 'Green,' but it remains a progressive and heartfelt cornerstone for R.E.M.'s portfolio of excellent albums.
Rating: 
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a mix of old and new...more new
This sounds a lot like 'Out of time', but not quite as good in some respects. 'Pop song 89' is a perfect opening to the album, it moves along nicely and is pretty catchy. Other highlights include 'World Leader Pretend', with nice percussion and steel guitars.
There are three acoustic songs which began kind of a theme on the next couple of albums. 'You are the everything' to me has absolutely no melody and moves along rather boringly. 'The wrong child' attempts to utilise harmony vocals. They are completely out of key with each other. Another poor effort. The high 'OKAYYYY' parts are unbelievably out of tune. 'Hairshirt' is third cut in the same vein as the previous two. Same chordal structure without much melody going on anywhere. Clearly, the ballads needed to be perfected.
'Orange Crush' is a more catchy tune. Mike Mills can also be heard in the chorus and, at the risk of sounding controversial, he actually has a better voice. Much purer. Why he did not sing any lead until the next album, is just unbelievable. Probably the strongest track.
The best way of summing up this album is that it consists of three types of songs...
1) The Pop songs - Pop song 89 (good), Get up (ok), Stand (rubbish), The bonus cut (ok and catchy)
2) The ballads - Mentioned above, all rubbish.
3) The rock songs - World leader Pretend (good - toes line of being a ballad also), I remember California (grundgy, not too bad), Orange Crush (very good), Turn you inside out (rubbish)
Rating: 
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I will try to sing a happy song.
I was in college when this album first came out, and I remember being disappointed overall at the effort -- GREEN was a real departure for REM at the time, insofar as that it largely left behind the jangle and obfuscation of earlier albums in favor of a big, clear and mainstream-friendly "rock" sound. I remember being turned off by what seemed (at the time) like too-obvious bids for airplay, like "Pop Song 89" and the awful "Stand." I remember the stark contrast between the gentler, more thoughtful songs - "Hairshirt," "The Wrong Child," "You Are The Everything" and the goofy, charming "Bonus Track 1" - and the rest of the album.
And, soon enough, I put the album (or, more accurately, I put the cassette) aside and largely forgot about it.
Fast forward to 2006. I'm looking through some used CDs and find a cheap copy of "Green." I figure I might as well pick it up and take a step toward completing my REM CD library. The next day, as I'm driving to work, I slip it into the car stereo.
And, halfway in, I find myself weeping uncontrollably.
In 1990, when this album was released, I'd heard "The Wrong Child" as a truly poignant and sad piece of music -- powerful enough to strike a resonant chord with me, but not one that actually related directly to my life as a college kid. In 2006, hearing "The Wrong Child" again for the first time in years, I find myself reacting as a father of a child with special needs... and I almost wish I hadn't purchased the album. It hurts that much to hear Michael Stipe offering the perspective of a chronically-ill or special needs child, yearning in the most impossible and innocent way to do the simplest things that 'normal' kids do. While he watches other kids "jump in the tall grass, leap the sprinklers," ride their bikes and play on swingsets... he is alone. Always, always alone. And isolated. And left to try to find his own kind of solace: "I will try to sing a happy song. I'll try to make a happy game to play."
I'm sitting there in my car, listening to this, and tears are suddenly streaming down my face, and I'm doing a less-than-successful job of just trying to blink them away, and then Stipe gets to the chorus:
"I'm not supposed to be like this."
And I just lose it. I completely lose it. I have to pull over to the side of the road, because I'm crying so hard. Because this isn't just a song anymore: this is something real and painful in a way I'd never hoped to experience -- these are the words of a kid who could be my kid, self-aware of his 'difference' from other kids and so, so very isolated because of it. And, despite that, a kid who still tries to "sing a happy song," because that is what kids do.
I'm a different person now than I was when I first heard this album. And I still don't like "Stand" or "Pop Song 89." But "The Wrong Child" resonated for me then, and now... I don't even know the words to describe how it makes me feel now. I'm not even sure it was a good thing to bring that song back into my life. But anything that can affect you on that deep and profound a level is the kind of art that should be recognized - and respected - as a real achievement.
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