R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant on Numbered-Edition 180g 33RPM LP from Mobile Fidelity: Audiophile Pressing Is Out of Print

1986 Landmark Finds R.E.M. Blossoming Into Iconic Artists: Arguably the Quartet’s Finest-Ever Outing, Includes Hit Singles “Fall on Me,” “Superman,” and “Begin the Begin”

1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to analog console to lathe

Few albums are regularly credited with changing people’s lives. R.E.M.’s Lifes Rich Pageant is one of them. For a generation that came of age in the 80s, as well almost everyone that came within earshot of its contents, the Georgia band’s 1986 landmark effort remains an utterly distinctive sonic blend of elegance and whimsy, seriousness and humor, artfulness and accessibility. It’s here that R.E.M. evolves beyond its college-rock identity albeit retains its youthful innocence, here where Michael Stipe’s enigmatic vocals finally attain the same level of prominence as the group’s potent rhythm section.

Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g LP of this masterwork allows the record’s expressive punchiness, dynamic extension, treble-driven jangle, and more forceful playing to be experienced as originally intended. Indeed, Lifes Rich Pageant is notable for its production: Board operator Don Gehman lends the group a harder edge and cleaner sound than it had in the past. On this audiophile-grade reissue, the results come to the fore in the form of contemporary-sounding arrangements, cohesive structures, and cleaner tonalities. If anything, this LP helps make the case for the many that Lifes Rich Pageant—not Murmur or Reckoning—stands as the band’s finest hour.

Lyrically, R.E.M. hits upon more concrete themes, and while Stipe’s occasionally mumbled singing still lacks clear enunciation—a trait that adds to the songs’ mystique and surrounding textures—there’s no mistaking the overt political and environmental sentiments in tunes such as the hit “Fall on Me” and gorgeous “Cuyahoga.” Similarly, “Flowers of Guatemala” epitomizes R.E.M.’s hallmark ability to turn allegory into dreamy poetry, the counterpoint melodies, atmospheric guitar fills, and majestic bridges all enchanting devices of a band that manages to get its point across via spiritual performances and indirect suggestiveness.

Such qualities lie at the heart of Lifes Rich Pageant, on which subtle details and concerted purposes unite to make transcendent, lasting art. Bolder, more pronounced, refined, and immediate than that on previous efforts, Mike Mills’ bass lines and Peter Buck’s swelling guitar passages augment the hard-driving beats as well as Stipe’s increasingly upfront vocals. Disposing with the intentional murkiness and subconscious approach of earlier records, R.E.M. goes in attack mode here, with even mellow numbers resonating with an attention-getting kick. It doesn’t hurt that the band covers the field with expertly executed songs that comprise garage rock, jangle pop, rustic country, and more. What a record.

"Original IRS pressings are not hard to find for a few dollars, making this reissue seem curious -- until you hear it. The difference in volume between old and new is immediately apparent, the original LP sounding much louder. Its compression and resulting lack of dynamic shading are obvious. The reissue is far more nuanced and layered, the jangly guitars and cryptic vocals sounding better delineated and more intelligible. The surfaces are much quieter as well, the 180-gram MoFi LP possessing an eerie, digital-like absence of noise."
--Marc Mickelson, The Audio Beat, February 6, 2012

"Faulty title punctuation aside, this album is a standout among many as it marked a definite transition accompanied by a whiff of doubt."
--Ken Kessler, Hi-Fi News, August 2012, 86% Sound Quality rating