Chronic Town: Encyclopedia - Chronic Town

Chronic Town

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Chronic Town is an EP released by the band R.E.M. in 1982 for I.R.S. Records. Chronic Town is the first illustration of R.E.M.'s signature musical style: jangling guitars, chords played in arpeggio, murmured vocals, and lyrics that completely avoid the standard topics of popular music - love and relationships.

The band was unhappy with the sound of the record when it was released, although fans and critics hailed it as a great achievement. As a result of the critical appraisal, I.R.S. gave R.E.M. the green light to record their debut album, Murmur, which would be released in 1983.

In 1987, Chronic Town was added to the CD edition of the rarities compilation album, Dead Letter Office, its only current source of availability.

Chronic Town - Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

1. "Wolves, Lower" – 4:10
2. "Gardening at Night" – 3:29
3. "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)" – 3:54
4. "1,000,000" – 3:06
5. "Stumble" – 5:40

Chronic Town - Personnel

• Peter Buck – guitar
• Mitch Easter – producer, engineer, mixing
• Mike Mills – bass
• Michael Stipe – vocals
• Bill Berry – drums

Nathan December | Buren Fowler | Peter Holsapple | Barrett Martin | Scott McCaughey | Bill Rieflin | Ken Stringfellow | Joey Waronker
Joe Boyd | Don Dixon | Bertis Downs, IV | Mitch Easter | Don Gehman | Jefferson Holt | Scott Litt | Pat McCarthy

Categories: R.E.M. albums | 1982 albums

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Chronic Town", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki