Fables Of The Reconstruction
by R.E.M.
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R.E.M. bestography
Fables Of The Reconstruction is ranked 10th best out of 36 albums by R.E.M. on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by R.E.M. is Automatic For The People which is ranked number 45 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 18,510.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Fables Of The Reconstruction on YouTube
Fables Of The Reconstruction track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Fables Of The Reconstruction rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | juanr1096 | Top 48 Music Albums of 1985 | 25/48 | 3 |
| 2026 | Foxforce5 | Top 34 Music Albums of 1985 | 5/34 | 4 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Greatest Music Albums: 301-400 | 67/100 | - |
| 2026 | Foxforce5 | REM. Studio albums, rated. | 7/12 | - |
| 2026 | Moondance | Top 100 Music Albums of 1985 | 64/100 | 2 |
| 2026 |  slatsheit | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 82/100 | 19 |
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 50 Music Albums of 1985 | 7/50 | 4 |
| 2026 | Olli | Top 100 Music Albums of 1985 | 35/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | cobbo95 | Top 92 Greatest Music Albums | 17/92 | 80 |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 74 Music Albums of 1985 | 2/74 | 5 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 333 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,739 | |||
Fables Of The Reconstruction collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 243 members
Fables Of The Reconstruction ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 495 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/24/2026 03:11 |  JR | 1,124 | 81/100 |
| ! | 09/04/2026 19:01 |  Tamthebam | 23,301 | 69/100 |
| ! | 08/22/2026 13:13 |  Milhaud | 2,161 | 71/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.3/100, a mean average of 75.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.3.
Fables Of The Reconstruction favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 67 members
Fables Of The Reconstruction forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 14 hours ago in Monthly overall chart movements BestEverAlbums 38 hours ago in Chart of the day (#5452): By LittleM1971 BestEverAlbums 09/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movementsFables Of The Reconstruction comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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REM's third album is actually my favourite of their early records, it has a very rustic feel, their first genuine Americana moment, featuring tales of the great outdoors, of railroads, and, old men with stories to tell. It's REM as The Band. It's got some of their best early songs, feeling gravitas pull, driver 8, and, old man Kensey, are all great, as are, green grow the rushes, and, maps and legends. In fact It's all great, the most atmospheric of the band's early records. It ends nicely with the beautiful, Wendell Gee. It all sounds like it was recorded in a barn, or around a campfire. This is REM in the great wide open. Brilliant. (Edited)
I just signed up so that I can set the record straight about Fables...This is a beautiful album! It has several outstanding tracks, the best of which is "Life and How to Live It". "Maps and Legends", "Driver 8", "Can't Get There From Here", "Green Grow the Rushes", "Wendell Gee", hell the whole album is fantastic. This is where in my opinion the band really found their sound that would catapult them into the one of the best artists on the planet for the next decade or so. I feel FOTR is highly undrrated by both this site and other members. (Edited)
Brad1770 TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/31/2017 09:38 | #196998 | TOP COMMENT
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Brilliant, the album that made me fall in love with REM & follow their entire career as my all time favourite band . What a trilogy REM produced beginning with Fables , into Lifes Rich Pageant and closing with Document a 3 album masterpiece only bettered by The Fab Four . The tension between band members is palpable on this album best demonstrated by the off key guitar separation which brings Feeling Gravitys Pull to a close . Breath taking album (Edited)
I think the most underated of R.E Ms 80's albums, only tapers off a bit towards the end but as good as any other than the big 3 (AFTP, Murmur and LRP) im my mind. (Edited)
The idea that this isn't rated as one of their top 3 best is ridiculous. Perfect representation of REM just perfectly in between Indy and sold-out genres.
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