The Big Mates discuss time travel, big diving, line dancing, and Reckoning by R.E.M. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of R.E.M. by continuing and concluding their track-by-track analysis on the band's second album, released in 1984. They talk about R.E.M. going "full country," recording songs as in-jokes, and provide some more thrilling entries into the Water Watch series, before figuring out what they think of the album as a whole, how it was received at the time, and the legacy it holds in today's musical landscape. They also talk about the writing and recording process, the context surrounding the songs, and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspectives on music, from being deeply into analysis and music, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between. How does Reckoning stack up against the debut? What kind of font does Michael Stipe sing in? Could our Dads physically lift us? Find out on this episode of What Is Music? Our next episode is out on Monday January 22nd and will see us provide insightful commentary for R.E.M. live at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic on June 9th 1984. Join the conversation on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatismusicpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpod E-mail: [email protected] Get access to more shows, exclusive bonus content, ad-free episodes of this show, and more music discussion by subscribing to our Patreon! Head to patreon.com/whatismusicpod and receive up to two new episodes of our various shows every week (including shows about Manic Street Preachers and monthly themed playlists!), ad-free archives of What Is Music?, and access to our Patron-only Discord server for even more music (and non-music) discussion! Support our show when starting your own podcast! By signing up to Buzzsprout with this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=780379 Check out our merch! https://whatismusicpod.redbubble.com Donate to our podcast! https://ko-fi.com/whatismusic http://whatismusic.buzzsprout.com/ Support the show