Green (R.E.M. album)

Untitled

Green is R.E.M.'s sixth album, and their debut major label release for Warner Bros., released in November 1988. Featuring a slick production, Green transformed R.E.M. from a college radio band to a major league group.

Background and recording

With the release of Document in 1987, R.E.M. had fulfilled its contract with I.R.S. Records. The band decided to switch to a major record label due to the lack of adequate promotion outside of the United States. In 1988, R.E.M. signed a $10 million contract with Warner Bros. Records for their next five albums. Under the terms of the contract, the group was given complete ownership of the songs.

Green was R.E.M.'s first album for Warner Brothers, and took a total of four months to record and mix, and was released in November 1988 to coincide with the 1988 presidential election. The members of R.E.M. consciously changed their usual recording practices in order to avoid falling into the trap of putting out the same album year after year. Bill Berry, Peter Buck and Mike Mills learned each other's instruments and frequently switched roles during the recording. Michael Stipe also partook in the new songwriting process. Instead of writing lyrics to go with completed songs as he had done on previous albums, he began writing the lyrics during or before the songwriting.

The band's new approach to recording led to different instrumentation from previous albums. The songs "You Are the Everything," "The Wrong Child" and "Hairshirt" were the first to feature Buck's mandolin, which would later become part of the band's signature sound. Buck also played the drums on the untitled final track of the album. Mills played keyboards on several songs, a role he would return to in subsequent albums. The song "Orange Crush" featured Stipe singing though a megaphone. He would later use the same technique in the world tour to promote the album. The hard rock of "Turn You Inside-Out" seems to presage Monster, which was released 3 albums later. Several songs, "Pop Song 89," "Get Up" and "Stand" seem like quirky R.E.M versions of commercial, upbeat pop.

Reception

With warm critical reaction and the conversion of many new fans, Green ultimately went double-platinum in the U.S., reaching #12, and peaked at #27 in the UK. It was R.E.M.'s first gold album in the UK, making it their European breakthrough. The band would tour extensively in support of the album throughout 1989, before beginning work on 1991's Out of Time.

Green's featured hits are "Orange Crush" and the U.S. Top 10 smash "Stand." "Pop Song 89" also received a measure of success, as did "Turn You Inside-Out" which was consistently played to favorable stadium crowds on tour supporting the album.

Album art and packaging

The cover art was painted by New York City minimalist line painter Jon McCafferty.

The original pressings of the album and cassette tape covers had the number 4 spot varnished over the R in both "Green" and "R.E.M." In return, "R. Stand" appears instead of "4. Stand" on the track list on the back cover. The album was the first by the band to feature printed lyrics, although only the lyrics to "World Leader Pretend" appeared.

Single Action Green, a box set containing several singles from Green, was released to promote the album. This is considered to be the first special edition release by the band. R.E.M. would go on to create a special edition version of each subsequent album they released.

Although the title of the album is "Green," the cover artwork is orange in color. The reason for this is that, if one stares at the orange image for several seconds and then closes his eyes, the negative image he will then see on his eyelids is green. When viewed negatively in this manner, the cover art appears to depict green grass.

In 2005, Warner Brothers Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of Green which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. The CD (as with all in this series) is not remastered.

Tour

The "Green" world tour began in 1989 and took place in arena-sized venues. The tour was much larger in scope than the "Work" tour that supported the previous album. This was especially true in venues outside of the United States due to Warner Brother's ability to market the band overseas. On the final night of the 11-month trek to support Green, the band performed the album in order, from start to finish. It marked the only live performance of "The Wrong Child," and one of the few live performances of "Hairshirt." Having spent close to a year touring, the band decided not to tour in support of their subsequent two albums.

Some songs from Green, such as "Pop Song 89" and "Orange Crush," had appeared occasionally on the "Work" tour in 1987. Though the lyrics were embryonic, the melodies and arrangements were remarkably similar to those that appeared on the finished record.

Track listing

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

1. "Pop Song 89" – 3:04
2. "Get Up" – 2:39
3. "You Are the Everything" – 3:41
4. "Stand" (listed as track number R on CD case) – 3:10
5. "World Leader Pretend" – 4:17
6. "The Wrong Child" – 3:36
7. "Orange Crush" – 3:51
8. "Turn You Inside-Out" – 4:16
9. "Hairshirt" – 3:55
10. "I Remember California" – 4:59
11. "Untitled" – 3:10

Personnel

• Bill Berry – drums, backing vocals, bass on 3, 6 & 9
• Peter Buck – guitar, mandolin, drums on 11
• Mike Mills – bass, keyboards, accordion, backing vocals
• Michael Stipe – vocals

Additional personnel

• Jane Scarpantoni – cello on 5
• Keith LeBlanc – percussion on 8
• Bucky Baxter – pedal steel guitar on 5

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1988	The Billboard 200	12 (40 weeks on chart)
1988	UK Albums Chart	27 (22 weeks on chart)

Singles

Year	Song	Chart	Position
1988	"Orange Crush"	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	1
1988	"Orange Crush"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
1988	"Pop Song 89"	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	16
1988	"Stand"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
1988	"Stand"	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	1
1989	"Pop Song 89"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	14
1989	"Stand"	Billboard Hot 100	6
1989	"Turn You Inside-Out"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	7
1989	"Turn You Inside-Out"	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	10
1989	"Stand"	UK Singles Chart	51
1989	"Orange Crush"	UK Singles Chart	28
1989	"Stand" (re-release)	UK Singles Chart	48

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – U.S.	Gold	January 10 1989
	Platinum	February 14 1989
	Double Platinum	August 17 1994
BPI – UK	Silver	February 1 1989
	Gold	June 28 1989
	Platinum	May 1 1994

External links

Green at MusicBrainz