Following on from working my way through all of Bruce Springsteen's studio albums in January, and inspired by a chat with @DanPatonMusic, I'm going to do the same for R.E.M. The usual rules apply: one studio album per day from Murmur to Collapse Into Now. https://twitter.com/thomasmessenger/status/1212805025820491777

R.E.M. are one of my favourite bands and it remains a huge regret that I didn't see them live in 2005 or 2008 when I had the chance to. Their musical style changed significantly throughout their time as a band and I'm looking forward to delving deep into their back catalogue.

This time I'm going to include a number of studio EPs and relevant compilations in my run through as these feel particularly important to the band's history. Specifically Chronic Town, Dead Letter Office, Eponymous, and the unreleased tracks from In Time and Part Lies.

1. Chronic Town [EP] (1982): The debut you would expect from a college rock band recording with a lo-fi sound in the early '80s. More upbeat than what would come with their debut album, this EP sounds unfinished but that's okay. A solid start and 21 minutes well spent. 7/10.

2. Murmur (1983): Atmospheric, mysterious and haunting long after you've finished listening, Murmur is an enviable debut that contains hints of the traits that would come to define R.E.M. in the decades to come: jangly guitars, incomprehensible lyrics, and earworm melodies. 8/10.

3. Reckoning (1984): Much more upbeat and musically interesting than Murmur, this was the album which established R.E.M. as a bastion of college rock. Stipe still sings with an incomprehensible mutter but the jangly guitars and unrelenting melodies drive the album forward. 8/10.

4. Fables of the Reconstruction (1985). I've never understood the animosity towards Fables. While not as strong as its predecessor, it still contains some stand-out tracks that mark a new direction for the band. The harsh opening of 'Feeling Gravitys Pull' is unexpectedly...

...complemented with haunting strings, soon paving the way for what we now recognise as the quintessentially R.E.M. 'Maps and Legends', 'Driver 8' and 'Green Grow the Rushes'. The punchy 'Cant Get There From Here' and piano drenched 'Wendell Gee' further signal the new direction.

That's not to say that Fables is perfect. Some of the instrumentation is harsh (see 'Old Man Kensey' and the U2-esq 'Auctioneer') and the conflicting styles don't always gel leading to a less cohesive record. But overall a solid entry and an enviable third outing. 7/10.

5. Lifes Rich Pageant (1986). The album where R.E.M. transition from murky college rock to the superstars they would become. At a brisk 30 minutes, this is R.E.M.'s first overtly political album and one where Michael Stipe's singing is no longer a mumble, bur rather a revelation.

Stipe's vocals are the highlight of everything to do with R.E.M. and they're now full-bodied and centre-stage. More musically interesting than what came before, highlights are the wonderful 'Fall on Me', the driving 'These Days' and the environmentally-charged 'Cuyahoga'. 9/10.

6. Dead Letter Office (1987): A selection of B-sides and odds and sods, this ridiculously fun but entirely shambolic collection fittingly arrived just before Document propelled the band into the mainstream. It's a worthy conclusion to R.E.M.'s formative years.

While the material is far from their best, there’s a handful of half-decent to very good songs on here (‘Crazy’, ‘Burning Hell’ and ‘Ages of You’ come to mind). But mostly this collection just sums up the fun the band could have in the studio and on stage during the IRS years.

Particular highlights (if that's the right word) are ‘Voice of Harold’, which features Michael Stipe reciting the liner notes from a gospel album to '7 Chinese Bros.', the bizarre restaurant commercial of ‘Walter’s Theme’, and the chaotic cover of ‘King of the Road’. 6/10.

7. Document (1987): As we come to the end of the IRS years, R.E.M. deliver both their most overtly political and, ironically, their most downright fun album yet. This is a band who are now entirely comfortable with themselves and their musical direction, if not the wider world.

Written in response to the rising tide of American exceptionalism, parts of this album feel both quaint in 2020 and worryingly relevant. But it remains a great listen, leaping seamlessly from rock to folk to country to rockabilly. The saxophone’s surprise appearance on...

‘Fireplace’ makes you wish R.E.M. had discovered it sooner. This is also the album where R.E.M. hit the mainstream with ‘The One I Love’ - a misinterpreted dark tale of manipulation, or is it? The haunting story of ‘Oddfellows Local 151’ fittingly closes out the indie years. 9/10

8. Green (1988): R.E.M. hit the mainstream with a goofily happy album which also continues the political theme from Document. Green is a bit hit and miss for me. There’s some great songs which pave for the way for the band’s output in the early ‘90s (the achingly beautiful...

‘You Are the Everything’ and the still relevant ‘World Leader Pretend’), while others hark back to the band’s mid-‘80s output (‘Orange Crush’ and ‘Turn You Inside Out’), but amongst this are self-deprecating kitsch pop and mandolin numbers which don’t quite do it for me.

However, the great benefit of this album is that it allows the band to experiment and marks the transition from the indie years to the giants they would become in the 1990s and, for that reason, it is potentially their most important record. 7/10.

9. Out of Time (1991): Entering the '90s, R.E.M. delivered their most commercially successful album yet and, with it, introduced themselves to a legion of new mainstream fans, while also keeping those first introduced to the band during the indie years onside.

There's some dated elements. The less said about the 'Radio Song' rap the better, and while 'Shiny Happy People' has charm, the less polished pop songs from Green are stronger. But overall, this is a cracker of a record. Home to 'Losing My Religion', one of the band's greatest...

...singles, the haunting 'Country Feedback' (one of my favourite R.E.M. songs), the joyous 'Near Wild Heaven', and 'Half a World Away' which showcases the band at their most moving. Different but also unmistakably R.E.M., this is one of the best albums of the '90s. 9/10

10. Automatic For the People (1992): R.E.M.'s finest and one of my personal favourite albums of all time, Automatic For the People features the band at their absolute best. In many ways, Automatic is a summation of what went before. We have sweeping ballads, punk rock, pop...

...folk, and instrumentals spread across the album's twelve tracks, each representing a different slice of R.E.M. history. The sequencing is perfect and the sound, particularly through the continuous presence of strings, is unified across the album. 'Nightswimming' and...

'Find the River' are two of the greatest R.E.M. songs and close out the album perfectly. It's also home to the wonderful 'Drive', 'Everybody Hurts', and 'Man on the Moon'. If you listen to one R.E.M. record, make it this one. It's one of the best releases of the '90s. 10/10