3. R.E.M Collapse Into Now
The Album Sadly, their swan song. As parting gifts go, Collapse Into Now is far from perfect. It certainly suffers from poor sequencing, but here you'll find a trove of treasures that would be hailed as immediate classics had they been produced by a younger band with a less illustrious back catalogue. I class such songs as Discoverer, All The Best, It Happened Today and Walk It Back as amongst the best they've ever done. In any case, at least we can all agree that it's better than Around The Sun.
The Cover It's the first time the three remaining members of R.E.M have appeared on a cover in a recognisable form, and it looks like a cheap fanzine from 1982. It's ugly as sin, but my main problem is with Michael Stipe's wave. He's saying goodbye. Don't go, Michael. We need you.