In 1987, with the release of their marvellous Document album, REM fulfilled their contract with indie label IRS Records and began shopping around for a new buyer of their wares. Signing to Warner Bros for a reported $6 million and €12 million because of the label's allowance of total creative freedom, REM released Green in 1988 and entered Phase Two of their career. Ditching the minor key, mid-tempo templates of previous albums for major key rock songs and a few acoustic flourishes, Green stands as a pivotal, game-changer for the band – not least because it broke through commercially in Europe, which resulted in the fracturing of their "critics-darlings" status. Remastered here for its 25th anniversary (and adding as a bonus the Live in Greensboro 1989 album), Green still sounds like the semi-classic it was on first release – fine, robust and ridiculously melodic.
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