Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
Christgau's Record Guide	B+
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
Pitchfork Media	8.8/10
Q
Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Uncut

Lifes Rich Pageant is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1986. R.E.M. chose Don Gehman to produce the album, which was recorded at John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall Studios in Belmont, Indiana. This was the only album the band recorded with Gehman, who moved them from the more obscure and dense sound of their earlier albums to an accessible, pop rock-influenced quality. The album was well-received critically.

The source for the title of the album is based on an English idiom. Its use is very old, but R.E.M.'s use is, according to guitarist Peter Buck, from the 1964 film A Shot in the Dark, minus the apostrophe:

The missing apostrophe in the title is deliberate. Nearly all contractions used by R.E.M. lack apostrophes, though "life's" in this case is a possessive. Peter Buck once stated, "We all hate apostrophes. Michael insisted and I agreed that there's never been a good rock album that's had an apostrophe in the title."

The cover of the album is a photograph of drummer Bill Berry on the upper part of the cover and a pair of bison, signifying an environmental theme, on the lower part. It also alludes to Buffalo Bill.

With R.E.M.'s fan base beginning to grow beyond its college rock boundaries, Lifes Rich Pageant proved to be at the time the band's most commercially successful album in the US, peaking at number 21 on the Billboard charts and heralding their first gold record. In the UK, the album managed a number 43 peak.

Slant Magazine listed the album at #52 on its list of "Best Albums of 1980s" saying "Lifes Rich Pageant stands as a nearly seamless transition between the band's formative period and their commercial dominance."

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