Reviews
Ranked #88 in AP's list of the `Top 99 Of '85-'95' - "...FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION follows the also moody and sublime RECKONING with its dark, backwoods wanderlust and a labyrinth of lyrics woven through banjo, cello and violin....FABLES is like a dark cloud in the band's discography: Full of stormy rhythm, trademark guitar jangling and box-car philosophy...", "...FABLES... is both REM's most impenetrable and fulfilling release to date....FABLES... is...etched with paranoia, slooooowly-strangled guitars and...the sound of four young Athenians who were neither shiny nor happy., 5 stars out of 5 -- "The tension between rock kineticism and hermetic atmosphere makes FABLES... continue to ring loud and clear.", Ranked #4 in Cmj's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1985in, "R.E.M. doubled down on death, darkness, and Southern gothic mystery for their third record, a haunting collection of Americana tales." -- Grade: A, 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Vague, spellbinding music that floats in the space between history and memory.", "A great and inspired album....FABLES is a dark and murky set with a textural palette close to the muted earth tones of its packaging.", 5 stars out of 5 -- "There are hymns to a vanishing America like impressionistic travelogue 'Driver 8'..."
