GREAT album.. I LOVE REM and MICHAEL STIPE is so COOL with his POLITICS.... Too bad they don't do all their old songs anymore. And tour SPORADICALLY....

I think Monster is one of REM's most underrated albums. Most critics and fans tend to consider it their worst CD, however, I'd definitely place it somewhere in my top 5 REM albums. I really like the little stylistic left-turns that the album took (glam in "Crush With Eyeliner", 70's soul in "Tongue") and I really like the distorted guitar sound that permeates the album. The Kurt Cobain tribute ("Let Me In") ranks up there among the band's most touching work, and despite the fact that "Strange Currencies" is a direct rip of "Everybody Hurts", I think I prefer the former. BTW my favorite REM CD is New Adventures in HiFi, which took the best aspects of Monster and Automatic For The People and blended them together.

You can usually find Monster for under $3 in a used CD store. It's definitely worth your $2.50 to check out.

Green is really good. I gotta start playing my cds again... Which album is Orange Crush on?
[Edited 11/29/05 18:30pm]

Zelaira said:

Orange Crush is also on the Green album, as well as one of my favorite songs from that album, "World Leader Pretend."

As for "Monster", I really liked that album, but apparently it was a huge departure from their usual sound. I like the fact that it rocked hard, was raw and unpolished. Michael Stipe had said at that time that it was his tribute to Kurt Cobain and the whole grunge/alternative scene, which was quite ironic coming from the band most people consider to be the godfathers of alternative music.