by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
As far as major-label debuts by underground bands go, Green is fairly uncompromising. While it displays a more powerful guitar sound on &Get Up,& &Turn You Inside Out,& and &Orange Crush,& it also takes more detours than , whether it's the bizarrely affecting contemporary folk of &The Wrong Child& and &You Are the Everything,& the bubblegum of &Stand& and &Pop Song 89,& or the introspection of the lovely &Hairshirt& and &World Leader Pretend.& But instead of presenting a portrait of a band with a rich, eclectic vision, Green is incoherent. While its best moments are flat-out great, the band has bitten off more than it can chew; many of the songs sound like failed experiments, and its arena-ready production now sounds slightly dated. Nevertheless, half of the record is brilliant, and it certainly indicates that R.E.M. are continuing to diversify their sound.