We all go back to where we belong.

I have no memory of buying Chronic town. I'm not even sure where I bought records then. I fear it was Georgia Square Mall, because I don't remember a Turtles or Peaches or what ever they were called by  1982 around Athens. I am not going to be cool enough ( part lies ) to think I got a used copy at Wuxary, even though I was from early on buying used comic books there, and our pal Pete was the check out guy. ( yes, I was icy cool!.... UK imports of The Clash or The Jam - no, tattered copies of some 1972 Green Lantern? you bet )
Full blown memory of waiting for the store to open ( again at a mall, this one the even more tragic  Hatcher Square.) for Reckoning. The first cd I ever bought was the day the little CD store in Vahi opened, Corner CD. Claire and I were his very first customers, don't remember what she got, I bought Reckoning, again. Right now, this second, I am buying my last REM CD. Interesting, that's all.  I may even go as far as buying a hard copy of this one... but I don't really know where to do that these days.

Lies , Heart, Truth, Garbage

Right off the bat, I thought the little icons on top were just little dots, until I blew it up. Was Chronic town released first on a cassette tape? A live recording or something? The very first Indigo Girls was on cassette, but that was years later. Progression.

 Greatest hits/ retrospective/ lifes work, to date. What to leave in, what to leave out ? I mean, it has been thirty years, Candy.

1. Chronic Town (August 1982 )
2. Murmur ( April 1983 )
3. Reckoning ( April 1984 )
4. Fables of the Reconstruction/ Reconstruction of the Fables ( June 1985 )
5. Lifes Rich Pageant ( July 1986 )
6. Dead Letter Office - Chronic Town on CD ( April 1987 )
7. Document ( September 1987 )
8. Eponymous " They airbrushed my face " - hib tone Radio Free Europe on CD ( October 1988 )
9. Green ( November 1988 )
10. Out of Time ( March 1991 )
11. Automatic for the People ( October 1992 )
12. Monster ( September 1994 )
13. New Adventures in Hi Fi ( September 1996 ) [ last with Bill Berry ]
14. Up  ( October 1998 )
15. Reveal ( May 2001 )
16. Around the Sun ( October 2004 )
17. Accelerate ( April 2008 )
18. Collapse into Now ( March 2011 ) 

A lot to chose from.

1. Gardening at Night , only.... could have included the entire ep. I mean, in most folks minds its all one song. Your brain goes from the last beat of  one song to the next, shuffle just messes with your head.
2. Radio Free Europe, Talk about the Passion, Sitting Still. I would have included Perfect Circle, just because I love that song so much, but good choices.
3. South Central Rain, Don't go back to Rockville. wow.... really would have put Harborcoat and 7 Chinese Brothers on this one. The later , if only for Voice of Harold.
4. Remember when Fables was called the "artsy " record ? Driver 8 and Life and how to live it. Wendell Gee would have been on the list for me, again, as with all the top 5, the whole lp.
5. Begin the Begin and Fall on Me ( REM on the radio!  ) .. leaving out I Believe, Swan Swan H, and the un-rem written Superman.
6. completion
7. Finest Work Song, EOTWAWKI, The One I Love ( the big hit ) , would have added King of Birds, a great song
8. completion
9. Stand, Pop Song 89, Get Up, Orange Crush. Never a big fan of Stand or Orange Crush.. but they were hits... Love The Wrong Child and World Leader Pretend.. the slower songs on this record.
10. Losing My Religion, Country Feedback, Shiny Happy People... the year we started having to share REM with the masses....
11. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, Everybody Hurts ( a song, written by Bill Berry, that I just do not understand why folks like...) and Man on the Moon ( a song I love ) and Night Swimming. Find the River is a great song.. Drive is a fun song... 
12. only Whats the Frequency Kenneth.... 
13. New Test Leper, Electrolite.... no Ebow the letter, no how the west was won - I really like this record, so I would have included more. Odd really, that they did not call me for some input.
14. only At My Most Beautiful... I LOVE this record, would have included more, the song Hope, written with Leonard Cohen is a personal fave....
15. Only Imitation of Life... a better video than song... a couple of highlights on this one, but near the bottom of the pack . BAD DAY , from the greatest hits , REM 1988 - 2003 record is on here . It's a fun song.
16. Only Leaving New York.. a song I like, but I live in New York. I liked this record.. I was in the minority.
17. Living Well is the Best Revenge, Supernatural/Superserious.. this record is kind of a blur to me. I need to listen to it more.
18. Uberlin, Oh My Heart ( the new UGA theme song on gamedays ) Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter... I haven't played this record enough to say if I would want more on here, but LOVE Uberlin ( and the video) the Oh My Heart is a new Classic, IRS worthy...

There are three new songs from here, but I have not heard them, because it is playing as I write this, and we have not got there yet... but I will get back to you. ( We are only on Country Feedback right now..) So far its mostly upbeat songs... as you would expect.
It really is sort of a little time machine in my head, listening to this in order - which I never do on my ipod/iphone. Most all of these songs have a set place in my brain....