Reviews
4 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING remains a highpoint in REM's first chapter of existence. 'Central Rain' sounds like a lost soul classic...", 5 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING, remarkably, deepened the band's mythology, projecting a kind of existential restlessness wrapped in webs of gorgeous guitar arpeggio and interweaving vocal textures.", 4 stars out of 5 -- "The powerful RECKONING established the band as bona fide leaders of the new American indie-rock underground.", "It is host to a kind of determined minimalism, each song building via subtle variations in performance and instrumentation.", 4 stars out of 5 -- "The jangle and crunch of Buck's Rickenbacker brooked no confusion; here were the seeds of every baroque experiment with mandolins and balalaikas that lay ahead...", Ranked #1 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1984"., "...RECKONING gets over on straight-up songcraft...", 4 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING aims for the gut with roundhouse drumming, sunburst guitars, Podunk country ballads...and just enough poetic vagueness...", Included in CMJ's list of "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time", "The songs betrayed a folk-country influence -- the Byrds, in particular -- resulting in an album refreshingly out of fashion for 1984."
