The album that changed Paul Rudd forever: “Very important”
A young band getting to grips with their sound can be a meaningful soundtrack for other artists who are just starting off. For Paul Rudd, the early days of his acting career were marked by none other than REM.
The alternative band, slowly making their music’s way out of Athens, Georgia, showed listeners a more reflective side of their sound on the album that stuck with Mr Ant-Man. On being asked to put his MP3 on shuffle back in the iPod era of 2006, Rudd was to explain his choices for each of the songs that would be coming up.
When REM’s ‘Camera’ started to play, the Clueless actor told The AV Club: “This is off of Reckoning, which I think is a great record, and a very important record in my development. I would say that Reckoning was the first record that came out that started getting me off of synth-pop and into jangly guitars… which is an important move that everyone has to make.”
Aside from his very wise distinction between the electronic pop music that characterised the 1980s and the more melodic, sophisticated rock REM was making, the New Jersey actor had justly noted the potent effect of such a meditative piece of work. The masterful album proved the new kids on the block had definitive range, taking listeners from eclectic major-key energies to plundering all their excitement in sudden turns of melody – from slow to spooky to ephemeral to upbeat.
The album really mirrored the life of the struggling young musicians in every way, starting from its budget. The quartet had just finished their debut album Murmur in 1983, and upon warm critical reception, immediately got started on Reckoning – mostly from bassist Mike Mills’ living room.
The band worked with such passion that, as their guitarist Peter Buck recalled, “We were going through this streak where we were writing two good songs a week… We just wanted to do it; whenever we had a new batch of songs, it was time to record.” Yet once in the studio, the band only had the money to use it for 16 days of uninterrupted recording.
Few artists showed such excitable output at the start of their careers, and REM’s passion is evoked in every note. The album seeks to particularly capture their eager on-stage performances, since their energy had begun catapulting the imagination of young rockers all over the country. Although ‘Camera’ is especially well-achieved in that regard, a lot of the album’s content results to be a little unvarying if listened to continuously. But if the REM experience seeks to assimilate a listening experience into a trance, the album’s experiment was a success.
Michael Stipe’s shy vocals are gradually becoming more distinguishable in this album, as his lyrics of water imagery fluidly shift between timid reservation and outbursts of clarity. That gave Mike Mills’ singing the chance to come to the fore, adding flourish to Stipe’s usually melancholic vocal efforts.
Rudd’s coming of stage, don’t mind the pun, was quite delayed, since his start in movies had a stronger focus on comedies and The 40-Year-Old Virgin-esque efforts. Once he matured into his The Perks of Being A Wallflower and The Fundamentals of Caring days, it was easy to distinguish that he’d finally lived his Reckoning.
