676. R.E.M. - eponymous

This album sums up all that REM accomplished on the IRS label, and it's pretty amazing to hear how solid of a career they had before the moved to Warner music. The disc includes "South Central Rain", "Radio Free Europe" (heard here in its original demo version), "The One I Love", "Fall On Me", "It's The End of The World" and other alternate takes. A great place to start if you want to skip over the IRS years (though you shouldn't).

8.8 out of 10