Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.

R.E.M.’s ascent or descent (depending on how you look at it) into the mainstream was building slowly with singles like “It’s the End of the World” and “The One I Love”, but by the time Green came out, it seemed like there was no turning back. “Stand” established the band as a household name, which makes it easy to overlook the fact that some of the band’s best songs are on this album, including “Get Up”.

Michael Stipe names it as one of his favorite R.E.M. anthems. And it’s one of mine as well for a few reasons. First, it’s compact. I think the band’s best songs are all under three minutes. Second, here was an example of the band taking proprietary elements like their mid-tempo melodies, backing vocal chants and Buck’s signature riffs and combining them with brand new elements, most notably the use of music boxes to create a vivid dream world for its fans.

“Dreams, they complicate my life. Dreams, they complement my life.”