The Big Mates discuss Blink-182, Nick Drake, One Direction, and Fables of the Reconstruction by R.E.M.Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their deep dive into the career and discography of R.E.M. by starting their track-by-track analysis on the band's third studio album, released in 1985. They talk about the writing and recording process, the context surrounding the songs, and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspectives on music, from being deeply into analysis and music, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between.They touch on how the band changed their process for the recording of this album, from using a studio far from home, in a different climate, to changing their collaborators, and even changing how they write songs. They also discuss the place that Fables has in the band's overarching discography, the deliberately confusing artwork, the tracklisting, the liner notes, and what the album may or may not be called! How did the band face a British winter? What's the title of this album? Is the album weird? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?Our next episode is out on Monday February 12th and will conclude our track-by-track analysis of Fables of the Reconstruction.Join the conversation on:Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatismusicpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpodE-mail: whatismusicpod@gmail.comGet access to more shows, exclusive bonus content, ad-free episodes of this show, and more music discussion by subscribing to our Patreon!Head to patreon.com/whatismusicpod and receive up to two new episodes of our various shows every week (including shows about Manic Street Preachers and monthly themed playlists!), ad-free archives of What Is Music?, and access to our Patron-only Discord server for even more music (and non-music) discussion!Support our show when starting your own podcast!By signing up to Buzzsprout with this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=780379Check out our merch!https://whatismusicpod.redbubble.comDonate to our podcast!https://ko-fi.com/whatismusichttp://whatismusic.buzzsprout.com/Support the show