Favorite REM album?

Murmur
Document
Fables
Reckoning

Life's Rich Pageant

And then they're all about the same which is good-great. The only one I don't care for too much is Out of Time. But deep down I think even they were mocking themselves with that album. Automatic got them back on track. I never owned Monster but it's decent. Never got in to Hi-fi or Up but Reveal and Around the Sun aren't too bad.

Life's Rich Pageant
Green
Fables of the Reconstruction

Dead Letter Office and Eponymous deserve mention.

i appreciate you mentioning monster...a much better album than a lot of people give it credit for.

for years, my first pick would've been either 'life's rich pageant' or maybe 'reckoning'. but after revisiting their albums not too long ago, i have to go with 'new adventures'. it's aged much more gracefully than many of their other albums IMO. i suspect my love for some of their earlier albums are being viewed with "nostalgia/soundtrack of my college years"-tinged glasses, and i wonder what i'd think of 'em if i heard 'em for the first time today. not trying to diss those albums, 'cuz they're (still) quite valuable to me....all i'm saying is in hindsight, the material on 'new adventures' really does stand on its own IMO...