R.E.M.'s Reckoning at 40: A Quick Look at the Band's Seminal 1984 Record

On their sophomore release the college rock pioneers hit their stride.

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Good Morning!

Today we’re taking a quick look at R.E.M.’s ‘Reckoning’ as it turns 40.

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'Here we are!' declares R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe on 'Second Guessing' from the band's 1984 LP, Reckoning. He wasn’t kidding. 

Following the success of its predecessor Murmur, the band was looking to find lightning in a bottle a second time while taking care not to rehash covered ground–a habit of shapeshifting that they would continue through the rest of their discography.

With the benefit of hindsight, we know that now. At the time, we only knew that Reckoning was a break from the styling(s) of Murmur. 

"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."

~Peter Buck

The band was on a creative roll then, with new ideas and songs coming from every corner. In fact, at one point, Buck had made the case that this should be released as a double LP, but was ultimately voted down. 

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They crowded up to Lenin with their noses worn off
A handshake is worthy if it's all that you've got
Metal shivs on wood push through our back
There's a splinter in your eye and it reads, "React"

'Harborcoat'

Yes, those really are the first lines we hear on the record. Stipe's lyrics have always bent toward the cryptic, and his mumbling on Murmur certainly didn't help. It would be a few more records before we'd get any real vocal clarity from Stipe, but the vocals here are much clearer than their predecessor. Water is a recurrent metaphor, and the themes are clear: longing, opportunities missed, love lost. 

Even at this early stage, Stipe had seen some things. 

Musically, the band took a similar path. While Murmur feels murky, as if cloaked in fog you can't entirely cut through, Reckoning brings a (relatively) more direct approach, opting to go long on jangle and brighter sounds while playing to each member's strengths. Again, it would have been easy to stamp out another "Radio Free Europe" or two, but that's not what the band preferred, much to our benefit. 

Instead, we get a cohesive janglepop sound. Guitarist Peter Buck flourishes here, while Mike Mills and Bill Berry do well keeping things on track. Producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon deserve a lot of credit here, with the band returning them after an unsuccessful recording attempt with Elliot Mazer in San Francisco. 

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Hoping to recreate the band's live sound, the duo used binaural recording throughout the record. The result is a record with (IMO) a very North Carolina feel, infused with an Americana and tobacco country backroad vibe that would've been lost if recorded in the Bay Area. This is the understated genius of the album. It takes a lot of work to make something look easy, and here R.E.M. (and Easter & Dixon) put on masterclass. There are little flourishes all the way through the record, but listening to some live versions of these tracks, I'm always taken by how well they work outside the studio. 

The recording was blisteringly fast; Buck has previously claimed it only took 11 days, while Easter and Dixon have both pegged it at closer to 3 weeks. Incredibly fast either way. Part of that stemmed from the band having much to say and wanting to get it out. Part of it came from the group wanting to complete the sessions before label reps from I.R.S. records could hear what they'd done. This was the start of the band pushing back on demands for a more commercial sound. Another habit of the group we would only fully know much later. This group's biggest chart success came from a song with a mandolin in it, after all. 

The record spawned two singles; 'So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)’ had a cup of coffee on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #85, and ‘(Don't Go Back To) Rockville,’ which didn't chart. As with many R.E.M. records, there is gold in the deeper cuts. On Reckoning, the previously mentioned 'Second Guessing' is a rollicking good time. Despite its abstract lyrics, 'Harborcoat' is a fan favorite, as is 'Pretty Persuasion.' 

I love making lists and ranking records, but objectively trying to do so with R.E.M. is a fool's errand¹; there are too many styles of R.E.M. records to make direct comparisons. Ask ten fans to name their favorite record, and you'll usually get 11 answers.

What I will say is that Reckoning is one of the more energetic, spry releases in the band's discography–certainly of the I.R.S. era. 

So, after all this time, does Reckoning hold up? On the closing track, 'Little America,' Stipe sings, 'Jefferson, I think we're lost,' a line that feels like droll wit or an inside joke that I didn't get at the time. It also seems incorrect. Forty years later, Reckoning is a statement record from a band that knew exactly where they were, where they wanted to go, and how to get there.

It’s a record letting us know they’ve arrived; any second-guessing them would be unwise.

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Listen:

R.E.M. | Reckoning, 1984

Click the record to listen on the platform of your choice.

What are your thoughts on this record? Do you have any favorite tracks or memories associated with it? Where does it land on your list of R.E.M. albums? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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More of the band here:

Let's Active

Revisiting REM's "Airportman"

R.E.M.

R.E.M.

Liner Notes 20.Oct.2022

Even further: Friends of On Repeat

Matty C

and

Matt Berenson

share their rankings of R.E.M.’s discography here.

Thanks for being here,

Kevin—

1. Of course, I did it anyway! Earlier this year, I put it at 4th.