Reckoning (R.E.M. album)
Encyclopedia
Reckoning is the second album by the American alternative rock
band R.E.M.
, released in 1984 by I.R.S. Records
. Produced by Mitch Easter
and Don Dixon, the album was recorded at Reflection Sound Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina
over 16 days in December 1983 and January 1984. Dixon and Easter intended to capture the sound of R.E.M.'s live performances, and used binaural recording
on several tracks. Singer Michael Stipe
dealt with darker subject matter in his lyrics, and water imagery is a recurring theme on the record. Released to critical acclaim, Reckoning reached number 27 in the United States—where it was certified
gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
in 1991—and peaked at number 91 in the United Kingdom.
(1983) received critical acclaim, R.E.M. quickly began work on its second album. The group wrote new material prodigiously; guitarist Peter Buck
recalled, "We were going through this streak where we were writing two good songs a week [. . .] We just wanted to do it; whenever we had a new batch of songs, it was time to record". Due to the number of new songs the group had, Buck unsuccessfully tried to convince everyone to make the next album a double record. In November 1983, the band recorded 22 songs during a session with Neil Young
producer Elliot Mazer
in San Francisco. While Mazer was briefly considered as a candidate to produce the band's next album, R.E.M. ultimately decided to team up again with Murmur producers Mitch Easter
and Don Dixon.
R.E.M. started recording Reckoning at Reflection Sound in Charlotte, North Carolina
, on December 8, 1983. The group recorded over two eight-day stretches around Christmas 1983, separated by two weeks of canceled studio time that allowed the band to play a show in Greensboro, North Carolina
, go out to see a movie, and shoot a video in the studio. While the studio diary listed 16 days for recording, the album sleeve later claimed the album was recorded in 14 days, while in interviews Buck at times commented that the album was recorded in 11 days. The producers both disputed that the sessions were that short; Dixon insisted that they were at the studio for at least 25 days (during which he worked eighteen-hour days), while Easter said, "When I read 'eleven days' I thought, what the fuck! It was twenty days, which was still short, but it's not eleven."
During recording there was pressure from I.R.S. Records to try and make the album more commercial. The label sent messages to Dixon and Easter, which the producers told the band that they would ignore. While the producers respected I.R.S. president Jay Boberg, they expressed dismay at the comments he made when he visited during the last day of sessions. Dixon called Boberg "record company clueless", while Easter said, "I got along with Jay Boberg OK [. . .] but now and again he would express an opinion that would make me think, 'holy shit', because it would strike me as really teenage." Buck said he was grateful that Dixon and Easter acted as a buffer between the band and its label. He said that "it got to the point where as much as I respected the guys at I.R.S., we basically tried to record the records so they wouldn't know we were recording them!", and explained that part of the reason why R.E.M. recorded the album so quickly was because the group wanted to finish before representatives from I.R.S. showed up to listen to it.
The recording sessions were difficult for singer Michael Stipe, who out of the band was particularly worn out by the group's 1983 tour schedule. Getting usable vocal tracks from Stipe was difficult; Dixon recalled that he and Stipe would show up around noon each day before the rest of the band, but that "he was kind of shut down, and it was difficult to get him to open up". While recording the song "7 Chinese Brothers", Stipe sang so quietly that Dixon could not hear him on the tape. Frustrated, the producer climbed a ladder to above the recording booth Stipe was in and found a gospel record entitled The Joy of Knowing Jesus by the Revelaires, which he then handed to the singer in an attempt to inspire him. Stipe began reciting the liner notes from the album audibly, which enabled Dixon to move on to recording the vocal track to "7 Chinese Brothers" properly—the initial recitation take was later released as "Voice of Harold" on Dead Letter Office
.
Dixon was enamored of the technique of binaural recording
, and used it extensively on the album. Easter recalled that Dixon "made this sort of fake binaural head out of a cardboard box and stuck two microphones in it" to record the group. In Easter's opinion, the method made drummer Bill Berry
's parts "fresher sounding". Binaural recording also allowed bassist Mike Mills
' backing vocals to be loud without covering up Stipe's lead vocals. Dixon explained, "Mike Mills was often singing 12 to 15 feet away from the microphones that were recording his part, but because it was in a studio binaural field, we would tend to hear him as behind [Stipe]."
Biographer David Buckley wrote, "While the music moved away from Murmurs slightly airless feel, the subject matter was a little darker." Buck noted in a 1988 interview that water imagery was abundant in the album. Buckley interpreted that imagery as representing the change presented by the band's increasing success, as well as the changing music scene of group's Athens, Georgia
hometown. The song "Camera" addressed the death of a friend from Athens who died in a car crash. Easter said, "[Stipe's] vocal was so exposed on that track, and because of that, it could really show any technical imperfections with regard to pitch." The producer tried to get Stipe to sing a better take, but the singer was more intent on getting the feeling of the song across, and at one point refused to record further. While many of the album's songs were new compositions, some had been in R.E.M.'s show setlists for years. In particular, "Pretty Persuasion" and "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville" had been played live as far back as October 1980. The band was reluctant to record "Pretty Persuasion" as the members considered it too old, but Dixon and Easter convinced the group to do so. R.E.M. originally intended to release "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville" as a non-album single between Reckoning and its next release. When the band recorded it for the album, the group rearranged the song from its live incarnation and gave it country music
feel in tribute to its lawyer Bertis Downs, IV
, who was a country fan.
to fill in as a painting. Stipe stated that the imagery was an attempt to define the elements, explaining, "Part of it is rocks and part of it is the sun and part of it the sky." The end result was considered a disappointment, as Stipe had to work with Finster on a long-distance basis, and the reproduction of the artwork for the album sleeve was problematic. The spine of the vinyl version of the album features the phrase "File Under Water". Stipe told NME
in 1984 the phrase is the true title of the record. He added, "In America, both titles are on the spine, with nothing on the cover. Here [in the United Kingdom] they insisted on Reckoning being on the cover." Instead of labeling the sides of the record as "side one" and "side two", the sides were designated as "L" and "R", respectively.
airplay charts, whose audience had highly anticipated the album. However, the band hadn't received much exposure on commercial radio and MTV
by that point. Instead of the music industry standard of waiting for mainstream radio stations to pick up the band's music, I.R.S. hoped to "convince reluctant programmers to add the group by pointing to the press response, word-of-mouth reaction to local live performances and sales figures", according to a July 1984 Los Angeles Times
article. The album's first single, "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)
", was released in May and reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100
singles charts. A second single, "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville", came out in August; unlike its predecessor, it did not chart. Additionally, the song "Pretty Persuasion" mananged to spend a week on the Mainstream Rock Charts in early September at #44. Within a month of its release, Reckoning peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200
album chart, and it remained on the chart for nearly a year. While the album's domestic chart placing was unusually high for a college rock
band at the time, scant airplay and poor distribution overseas resulted in it charting no higher than number 91 in the United Kingdom. In 1991, the record was certified gold (500,000 copies shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of America
.
Rolling Stone
gave Reckoning a four out of five star rating. Reviewer Christopher Connelly wrote that in comparison to Murmur the "overall sound is crisper, the lyrics far more comprehensible. And while the album may not mark any major strides forward for the band, R.E.M.'s considerable strengths – Buck's ceaselessly inventive strumming, Mike Mills' exceptional bass playing and Stipe's evocatively gloomy baritone – remain unchanged". However, Connelly felt that Stipe's "erratic meanderings" were an impediment to the band that "will prevent R.E.M. from transcending cult status". Nonetheless, he concluded, "R.E.M.'s music is able to involve the listener on both an emotional and intellectual level". Joe Sasfy of The Washington Post
felt that the songs on the album "trump even Murmurs outstanding songwriting" and stated "there isn't an American band worth following more than R.E.M." NME reviewer Mat Snow wrote that Reckoning "confirms R.E.M. as one of the most beautifully exciting groups on the planet" and called the album "another classic". The album placed sixth in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop
year-end critics' poll.
The 1992 British compact disc
reissue of the album included five bonus tracks. A 25th anniversary deluxe edition of the album, which was remastered and packaged with a bonus disc featuring a concert recorded at Chicago
's Aragon Ballroom
on July 7, 1984, was released in 2009.
medium, Stipe secured funding for a short film that would accompany music from the first half of Reckoning. Stipe's concept was to film the project at sculptor Rubin Miller's Whirlgig Farm, and he recruited Athens filmmaker James Herbert
to direct it. In March 1984, R.E.M. filmed Left of Reckoning at the Whirlgig Farm in Rabbitstown, Georgia. The short film draws its title from the fact that it is soundtracked by the six songs that appear on the "L" side of the vinyl version of Reckoning: "Harborcoat", "7 Chinese Bros.", "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)", "Pretty Persuasion", "Time After Time (AnnElise)", and "Second Guessing". In contrast to standard music video imagery, the film consists primarily of footage of the band members wandering around the farm, while Herbert utilizes close-ups, silhouettes, and slow motion footage. Herbert utilized rephotography
during the editing process, which involved taking photographs of film frames at random, while also closing in or pulling back from the image with no regard to narrative. According to Buck, "It was really inexpensive to make and kind of fun. We just asked [Herbert] to edit something to four minutes' length, but he's used to making 20-minute films, that's the length he works in. He just made this film that goes along with the first side of the record." While MTV did not air the complete film, the channel's program The Cutting Edge
(funded by I.R.S.) aired the "Time After Time (AnnElise)" segment, and the snippet featuring "Pretty Persuasion" was aired by other music programs.
, Peter Buck
, Mike Mills
, and Michael Stipe
except where noted.
Side one – Left
Side two – Right
1992 I.R.S. Vintage Years reissue bonus tracks:
2009 Deluxe Edition bonus disc (Live at the Aragon Ballroom)
A vintage radio promo for the album is hidden in the pregap
of the bonus disc.
The original pressing of Reckoning includes an extended noise collage
at the end of the album, making "Little America" 3:43; this was restored on the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs re-release of the album and on the Deluxe Edition.
Additional musicians
Production
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, released in 1984 by I.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S...
. Produced by Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
and Don Dixon, the album was recorded at Reflection Sound Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
over 16 days in December 1983 and January 1984. Dixon and Easter intended to capture the sound of R.E.M.'s live performances, and used binaural recording
Binaural recording
Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments. This effect is often created using a technique known as "Dummy head...
on several tracks. Singer Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
dealt with darker subject matter in his lyrics, and water imagery is a recurring theme on the record. Released to critical acclaim, Reckoning reached number 27 in the United States—where it was certified
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
in 1991—and peaked at number 91 in the United Kingdom.
Background and production
After its debut album MurmurMurmur (album)
Murmur is the debut album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1983 on I.R.S. Records. Murmur drew critical acclaim upon its release for its sound, defined by singer Michael Stipe's cryptic lyrics, guitarist Peter Buck's jangly guitar style, and bassist Mike Mills' melodic...
(1983) received critical acclaim, R.E.M. quickly began work on its second album. The group wrote new material prodigiously; guitarist Peter Buck
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
recalled, "We were going through this streak where we were writing two good songs a week [. . .] We just wanted to do it; whenever we had a new batch of songs, it was time to record". Due to the number of new songs the group had, Buck unsuccessfully tried to convince everyone to make the next album a double record. In November 1983, the band recorded 22 songs during a session with Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
producer Elliot Mazer
Elliot Mazer
Elliot Mazer is a producer, executive, technologist, and project leader. Elliot produced multi-platinum albums for artists including Neil Young, Janis Joplin, and Linda Ronstadt. He was the recording engineer of the live Last Waltz Concert. Meanwhile he has also built, designed, owned and operated...
in San Francisco. While Mazer was briefly considered as a candidate to produce the band's next album, R.E.M. ultimately decided to team up again with Murmur producers Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
and Don Dixon.
R.E.M. started recording Reckoning at Reflection Sound in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, on December 8, 1983. The group recorded over two eight-day stretches around Christmas 1983, separated by two weeks of canceled studio time that allowed the band to play a show in Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
, go out to see a movie, and shoot a video in the studio. While the studio diary listed 16 days for recording, the album sleeve later claimed the album was recorded in 14 days, while in interviews Buck at times commented that the album was recorded in 11 days. The producers both disputed that the sessions were that short; Dixon insisted that they were at the studio for at least 25 days (during which he worked eighteen-hour days), while Easter said, "When I read 'eleven days' I thought, what the fuck! It was twenty days, which was still short, but it's not eleven."
During recording there was pressure from I.R.S. Records to try and make the album more commercial. The label sent messages to Dixon and Easter, which the producers told the band that they would ignore. While the producers respected I.R.S. president Jay Boberg, they expressed dismay at the comments he made when he visited during the last day of sessions. Dixon called Boberg "record company clueless", while Easter said, "I got along with Jay Boberg OK [. . .] but now and again he would express an opinion that would make me think, 'holy shit', because it would strike me as really teenage." Buck said he was grateful that Dixon and Easter acted as a buffer between the band and its label. He said that "it got to the point where as much as I respected the guys at I.R.S., we basically tried to record the records so they wouldn't know we were recording them!", and explained that part of the reason why R.E.M. recorded the album so quickly was because the group wanted to finish before representatives from I.R.S. showed up to listen to it.
The recording sessions were difficult for singer Michael Stipe, who out of the band was particularly worn out by the group's 1983 tour schedule. Getting usable vocal tracks from Stipe was difficult; Dixon recalled that he and Stipe would show up around noon each day before the rest of the band, but that "he was kind of shut down, and it was difficult to get him to open up". While recording the song "7 Chinese Brothers", Stipe sang so quietly that Dixon could not hear him on the tape. Frustrated, the producer climbed a ladder to above the recording booth Stipe was in and found a gospel record entitled The Joy of Knowing Jesus by the Revelaires, which he then handed to the singer in an attempt to inspire him. Stipe began reciting the liner notes from the album audibly, which enabled Dixon to move on to recording the vocal track to "7 Chinese Brothers" properly—the initial recitation take was later released as "Voice of Harold" on Dead Letter Office
Dead Letter Office (album)
Dead Letter Office is a rarities and B-sides collection by R.E.M., released in 1987. The album is essentially a collection of many additional recordings R.E.M. made pre-Murmur to Lifes Rich Pageant that were outtakes or released as flip sides to their singles internationally...
.
Music
With Reckoning, Dixon and Easter wanted to capture the energy of R.E.M.'s live sound. Dixon had not seen the band perform live before working on Murmur; after he had done so, he had a greater sense of the band's strengths and weaknesses. Dixon wanted the guitars to sound more like they did in concert, but at first met resistance from both the band and the label. However, by the time R.E.M. started to record, Dixon said the group "wanted to rock out a bit more".Dixon was enamored of the technique of binaural recording
Binaural recording
Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments. This effect is often created using a technique known as "Dummy head...
, and used it extensively on the album. Easter recalled that Dixon "made this sort of fake binaural head out of a cardboard box and stuck two microphones in it" to record the group. In Easter's opinion, the method made drummer Bill Berry
Bill Berry
William "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....
's parts "fresher sounding". Binaural recording also allowed bassist Mike Mills
Mike Mills
Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
' backing vocals to be loud without covering up Stipe's lead vocals. Dixon explained, "Mike Mills was often singing 12 to 15 feet away from the microphones that were recording his part, but because it was in a studio binaural field, we would tend to hear him as behind [Stipe]."
Biographer David Buckley wrote, "While the music moved away from Murmurs slightly airless feel, the subject matter was a little darker." Buck noted in a 1988 interview that water imagery was abundant in the album. Buckley interpreted that imagery as representing the change presented by the band's increasing success, as well as the changing music scene of group's Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
hometown. The song "Camera" addressed the death of a friend from Athens who died in a car crash. Easter said, "[Stipe's] vocal was so exposed on that track, and because of that, it could really show any technical imperfections with regard to pitch." The producer tried to get Stipe to sing a better take, but the singer was more intent on getting the feeling of the song across, and at one point refused to record further. While many of the album's songs were new compositions, some had been in R.E.M.'s show setlists for years. In particular, "Pretty Persuasion" and "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville" had been played live as far back as October 1980. The band was reluctant to record "Pretty Persuasion" as the members considered it too old, but Dixon and Easter convinced the group to do so. R.E.M. originally intended to release "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville" as a non-album single between Reckoning and its next release. When the band recorded it for the album, the group rearranged the song from its live incarnation and gave it country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
feel in tribute to its lawyer Bertis Downs, IV
Bertis Downs, IV
Bertis Edwin Downs IV originally provided legal counsel and then became both counselor and manager for the rock band R.E.M., taking over from the band's long-term manager Jefferson Holt...
, who was a country fan.
Packaging
For the cover of Reckoning, Stipe drew a picture of a two-headed snake, which he then gave to artist Howard FinsterHoward Finster
Howard Finster was an American artist and Baptist reverend from Georgia. He claimed to be inspired by God to spread the gospel through the environment of Paradise Garden and over 46,000 pieces of art. His creations overlap folk art, outsider art, naïve art, and visionary art...
to fill in as a painting. Stipe stated that the imagery was an attempt to define the elements, explaining, "Part of it is rocks and part of it is the sun and part of it the sky." The end result was considered a disappointment, as Stipe had to work with Finster on a long-distance basis, and the reproduction of the artwork for the album sleeve was problematic. The spine of the vinyl version of the album features the phrase "File Under Water". Stipe told NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
in 1984 the phrase is the true title of the record. He added, "In America, both titles are on the spine, with nothing on the cover. Here [in the United Kingdom] they insisted on Reckoning being on the cover." Instead of labeling the sides of the record as "side one" and "side two", the sides were designated as "L" and "R", respectively.
Release and reception
Reckoning was released on April 9, 1984 in the United Kingdom, and on April 17 in the United States. The album quickly reached the top of the college radioCampus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...
airplay charts, whose audience had highly anticipated the album. However, the band hadn't received much exposure on commercial radio and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
by that point. Instead of the music industry standard of waiting for mainstream radio stations to pick up the band's music, I.R.S. hoped to "convince reluctant programmers to add the group by pointing to the press response, word-of-mouth reaction to local live performances and sales figures", according to a July 1984 Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
article. The album's first single, "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)
So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)
"So. Central Rain " is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M.. It was released in May 1984 as the first single from the group's second studio album Reckoning . "So. Central Rain " became the second R.E.M. single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 85.R.E.M...
", was released in May and reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles charts. A second single, "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville", came out in August; unlike its predecessor, it did not chart. Additionally, the song "Pretty Persuasion" mananged to spend a week on the Mainstream Rock Charts in early September at #44. Within a month of its release, Reckoning peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart, and it remained on the chart for nearly a year. While the album's domestic chart placing was unusually high for a college rock
College rock
College rock is a term that was used in the United States to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. The term's use of the word "college" refers to campus radio stations located at institutions of higher education in Canada and the United States, where...
band at the time, scant airplay and poor distribution overseas resulted in it charting no higher than number 91 in the United Kingdom. In 1991, the record was certified gold (500,000 copies shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
.
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave Reckoning a four out of five star rating. Reviewer Christopher Connelly wrote that in comparison to Murmur the "overall sound is crisper, the lyrics far more comprehensible. And while the album may not mark any major strides forward for the band, R.E.M.'s considerable strengths – Buck's ceaselessly inventive strumming, Mike Mills' exceptional bass playing and Stipe's evocatively gloomy baritone – remain unchanged". However, Connelly felt that Stipe's "erratic meanderings" were an impediment to the band that "will prevent R.E.M. from transcending cult status". Nonetheless, he concluded, "R.E.M.'s music is able to involve the listener on both an emotional and intellectual level". Joe Sasfy of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
felt that the songs on the album "trump even Murmurs outstanding songwriting" and stated "there isn't an American band worth following more than R.E.M." NME reviewer Mat Snow wrote that Reckoning "confirms R.E.M. as one of the most beautifully exciting groups on the planet" and called the album "another classic". The album placed sixth in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
year-end critics' poll.
The 1992 British compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
reissue of the album included five bonus tracks. A 25th anniversary deluxe edition of the album, which was remastered and packaged with a bonus disc featuring a concert recorded at Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Aragon Ballroom
Aragon Ballroom (Chicago)
The Aragon Ballroom is the name of a ballroom in Chicago, Illinois.Located on West Lawrence Avenue approximately five miles north of downtown in the Uptown neighborhood, it was built in 1926 and designed in the Moorish architectural style with the interior resembling a Spanish village and named...
on July 7, 1984, was released in 2009.
Left of Reckoning
Eager to explore the music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
medium, Stipe secured funding for a short film that would accompany music from the first half of Reckoning. Stipe's concept was to film the project at sculptor Rubin Miller's Whirlgig Farm, and he recruited Athens filmmaker James Herbert
James Herbert (director)
James Herbert is an American painter and director most known for directing a series of classic music videos for the band R.E.M.. He has also made over forty short films, including John Five and Jumbo Aqua , and directed four independent features: Scars , Speedy Boys , Rabbit Pix and Abandoned...
to direct it. In March 1984, R.E.M. filmed Left of Reckoning at the Whirlgig Farm in Rabbitstown, Georgia. The short film draws its title from the fact that it is soundtracked by the six songs that appear on the "L" side of the vinyl version of Reckoning: "Harborcoat", "7 Chinese Bros.", "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)", "Pretty Persuasion", "Time After Time (AnnElise)", and "Second Guessing". In contrast to standard music video imagery, the film consists primarily of footage of the band members wandering around the farm, while Herbert utilizes close-ups, silhouettes, and slow motion footage. Herbert utilized rephotography
Rephotography
Rephotography is the act of repeat photography of the same site, with a time lag between the two images; a "then and now" view of a particular area. Some are casual, usually taken from the same view point but without regard to season, lens coverage or framing. Some are very precise and involve a...
during the editing process, which involved taking photographs of film frames at random, while also closing in or pulling back from the image with no regard to narrative. According to Buck, "It was really inexpensive to make and kind of fun. We just asked [Herbert] to edit something to four minutes' length, but he's used to making 20-minute films, that's the length he works in. He just made this film that goes along with the first side of the record." While MTV did not air the complete film, the channel's program The Cutting Edge
I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge
I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge was a music program that aired on MTV from March 1983 to September 1987, on the last Sunday of every month. The first year of the show featured a variety of hosts including Jools Holland, Jeffrey Vallance, and Wazmo Nariz before settling on Peter Zaremba,...
(funded by I.R.S.) aired the "Time After Time (AnnElise)" segment, and the snippet featuring "Pretty Persuasion" was aired by other music programs.
Track listing
All songs written by Bill BerryBill Berry
William "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....
, Peter Buck
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
, Mike Mills
Mike Mills
Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
, and Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
except where noted.
Side one – Left
- "Harborcoat" – 3:54
- "7 Chinese Bros." – 4:18
- "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)"So. Central Rain " is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M.. It was released in May 1984 as the first single from the group's second studio album Reckoning . "So. Central Rain " became the second R.E.M. single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 85.R.E.M...
" – 3:15 - "Pretty Persuasion" – 3:50
- "Time After Time (AnnElise)" – 3:31
Side two – Right
- "Second Guessing" – 2:51
- "Letter Never Sent" – 2:59
- "Camera" – 5:52
- "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" Rockville" was the second and final single released by R.E.M. from their second studio album Reckoning. The song failed to chart on either the Billboard Hot 100 or the UK Singles Charts....
" – 4:32 - "Little America" – 2:58
1992 I.R.S. Vintage Years reissue bonus tracks:
- "Wind Out" (With Friends) – 1:58
- "Pretty Persuasion" (live in studio) – 4:01
- "White Tornado" (live in studio) – 1:51
- "Tighten UpTighten Up (Archie Bell & the Drells song)"Tighten Up" was a 1968 song by Houston, Texas based R&B vocal group Archie Bell & the Drells. It reached #1 on both the Billboard R&B and pop charts in the spring of 1968. It is ranked #265 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is one of the earliest funk hits in music...
" (Archie BellArchie BellArchie Lee Bell is an African-American solo singer and former lead singer of Archie Bell & the Drells.-Background:...
and Billy ButlerBilly ButlerWilliam Butler was an English professional footballer who was most famously a winger for Bolton Wanderers in the 1920s....
; cover of Archie Bell & the DrellsArchie Bell & the DrellsArchie Bell & the Drells was a R&B vocal group from Houston, Texas, and one of the main acts on Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records...
, 1968) – 4:08 - "Moon RiverMoon River"Moon River" is a song composed by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini in 1961, for whom it won that year's Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was originally sung in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn, although it has been covered by many other artists...
" (Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
and Johnny MercerJohnny MercerJohn Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
; cover of Audrey HepburnAudrey HepburnAudrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, 1961) – 2:21
2009 Deluxe Edition bonus disc (Live at the Aragon Ballroom)
- "Femme FataleFemme Fatale (song)"Femme Fatale" is a song by The Velvet Underground from their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. At producer Andy Warhol's request, band frontman Lou Reed wrote the song about Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick...
" (Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
; cover of The Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
, 1967) – 3:19 - "Radio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe (song)"Radio Free Europe" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. "Radio Free Europe" was released as R.E.M.'s debut single on the short-lived independent record label Hib-Tone in 1981...
" – 3:54 - "Gardening at NightGardening at Night"Gardening at Night" is a song by R.E.M. It was recorded in 1982 for the band's EP Chronic Town.The song is said to have been written on a mattress in the front yard of the Oconee Street church in Athens, Georgia...
" – 3:38 - "9–9" – 2:48
- "Windout" – 2:13
- "Letter Never Sent" – 3:03
- "Sitting Still" – 3:13
- "Driver 8Driver 8"Driver 8" was the second single from R.E.M.'s third album, Fables of the Reconstruction. Released in September 1985, the song peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart...
" – 3:28 - "So. Central Rain" – 3:23
- "7 Chinese Bros." – 4:27
- "Harborcoat" – 4:34
- "Hyena" – 3:26
- "Pretty Persuasion" – 3:49
- "Little America" – 3:23
- "Second Guessing" – 3:07
- "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" – 4:30
A vintage radio promo for the album is hidden in the pregap
Pregap
The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...
of the bonus disc.
The original pressing of Reckoning includes an extended noise collage
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
at the end of the album, making "Little America" 3:43; this was restored on the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs re-release of the album and on the Deluxe Edition.
Personnel
R.E.M.- Bill BerryBill BerryWilliam "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, and backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Peter BuckPeter BuckPeter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Mike MillsMike MillsMichael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and backing vocals - Michael StipeMichael StipeJohn Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
– lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
Additional musicians
- Bertis Downs – backing vocals on "Wind Out" (With Friends)
- Jefferson HoltJefferson HoltJefferson Holt is the founder of and former manager of rock band R.E.M., often referred to as the band's "fifth member," from 1981-1996.In 1996, Holt and R.E.M. parted ways. When asked about leaving the band he offered this statement to Chuck Philips, L.A.Times Staff Writer:"I've agreed to keep...
– lead vocals on "Wind Out" (With Friends)
Production
- Don Dixon – co-producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Mitch EasterMitch EasterMitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
– co-producer - Howard FinsterHoward FinsterHoward Finster was an American artist and Baptist reverend from Georgia. He claimed to be inspired by God to spread the gospel through the environment of Paradise Garden and over 46,000 pieces of art. His creations overlap folk art, outsider art, naïve art, and visionary art...
– art direction
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
27 |
| UK Album Chart | 91 |