reckoning

R.E.M. sought to recreate their live sound in the studio with rivers of suggestion that coalesced into this persuasive pop prognostication.  The band was a bit flabbergasted with the massive critical success of their debut.   Michael Stipe reflects:   "'Murmur' was our first album.  It was named the Record of the Year by Rolling Stone and the Village Voice- the two most important music magazines at the time.  Record of the Year over Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'; which I don't think any one remembers except me.  I was twenty-three at the time and Michael Jackson had been a hero since I was very young; and that was a little bit of a wake up call for me:  'What on Earth is this?'    So with 'Reckoning', we were trying, I think, because 'Murmur' was so well received, and we were still really figuring out what it is that we do, and this beautiful record just kind of fell out of us.  'Reckoning' we recorded and mixed very fast; so that we could hopefully bypass the sophomore jinx that we wouldn't try to make 'Murmur part two' and we wouldn't go off on some insane tangent that was a reaction to 'Murmur'.  Instead we just took the songs that we had and we recorded them in the most basic way that we could...Part of it was financial; part of it was just get in there -economy-  get in there, do it, get out." 

'Reckoning' was produced by Don Dixon and Mitch Easter at Reflection Sound in Charlotte, North Carolina with Bill Berry on drums, percussion, and backing vocals;  Peter Buck on guitar;  Mike Mills on bass guitar, piano, and backing vocals;  and Michael Stipe on lead vocals and harmonica.   The recording took place over sixteen days in December of 1983 and January of 1984.  During the sessions Dixon fashioned a makeshift binaural heads using a cardboard box and two microphones to create a three dimensional stereo sound.  The result is a much cleaner sound that brings together the experimental feel of 'Murmur' with the pop sheen of their EP 'Chronic Town'. 

Mills reveals:    "We wanted to make records that were timeless, and we rejected anything that would make them sound dated. When we made 'Murmur' and 'Reckoning', every band in the world was using a Yamaha DX7, which we despised. The sound of it was just miserable. While I love a lot of that popular synthetic music, we didn't want to sound like that, because when you hear it now you think, 'Oh, 1983!'  We wouldn't be who we are without I.R.S. Records, but when we were making 'Murmur', they put a little pressure on Mitch Easter and Don Dixon to add some of that contemporary sound. But when Peter and I got the mix, we said, 'No fucking way.' So we went back up and sat with Mitch and Don and forced them to remix the songs. In the end, we pretty much got what we wanted."

Buck considers:    "We wrote the whole album in two weeks between tours...It was just serendipity. My Telecaster got stolen, and I went to Chick Piano in Athens, which is run by this nice family, and they had three used guitars. I pulled out the Rickenbacker because it had this great neck. After I got that guitar, suddenly everything seemed to come together, soundwise ... Part of the thing about liking us is that we're not a really obvious band in a lot of ways.  You have to think a bit, to throw away your preconceptions about what rock 'n' roll can be...But there aren't that many misconceptions about us basically because there are no conceptions. Just confusion."

The working title of the album was 'File Under Water' which appears on the spine along with 'Reckoning' on US pressings.  Howard Finster did the cover art based on a sketch that was provided by Stipe.  Instead of side one and two, the record designated them as Left and Right.  'Reckoning' went to number ninety-one in the UK, twenty-seven in the US, and twenty-three in New Zealand.  The album was eventually certified gold.  Athens filmmaker James Herbert directed a short film 'Left of Reckoning' that features the band wandering around folk artist R.A. Miller's Whirlgig Farm in Rabbittown, Georgia set to the music of the first half of the album.  







http://remhq.com/




















"Harborcoat" 



"7 Chinese Bros." 



"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" 



"Pretty Persuasion" 



"Time After Time (AnnElise)" 




"Second Guessing" 





"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"




"Little America" 










'Reckoning' 
full album:
https://myspace.com/rem/music/album/reckoning-deluxe-edition-12637774

http://www.last.fm/music/R.E.M./Reckoning


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

Side one – Left
"Harborcoat" – 3:54
"7 Chinese Bros." – 4:18
"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" – 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" – 4:55
"Little America" – 2:58


bonus tracks
"Wind Out" (with friends) (Jerry Ayers, Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) – 1:58
"Pretty Persuasion" (live in studio) – 4:01
"White Tornado" (live in studio) – 1:51
"Tighten Up" (Archie Bell and Billy Butler) – 4:08
"Moon River" (Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer) – 2:21




bonus disc 
(Live at the Aragon Ballroom)



"Femme Fatale" (Lou Reed) – 3:19
"Radio Free Europe" – 3:54
"Gardening at Night" – 3:38
"9–9" – 2:48
"Windout" – 2:13
"Letter Never Sent" – 3:03
"Sitting Still" – 3:13
"Driver 8" – 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