R.E.M. · 1984 Spin it Again - Recorded in two weeks with no compression, it's the sound of a band figuring out pop songs without losing the static.

R.E.M. · 1983 Spin it Again - Peter Buck's Rickenbacker jangles through a fog of reverb, Mike Mills's bass rumbles like a train in the next county, and Michael Stipe sings about—well, nobody really knows.