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Home > Atlanta Music Scene > Archives > 2007 > October > 04 > Entry
R.E.M.’s “Automatic” turns 15
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Oct. 5, a Georgia masterpiece turns 15. Though R.E.M.’s “Automatic for the People” (released Oct. 5, 1992) was largely recorded in Bearsville, N.Y., it still has plenty of that Southern peaches-and-kudzu feeling running through it.
To celebrate the anniversary, the music blog Stereogum has gathered a group of indie rockers to record new versions of all the songs on the album. Among the participants: the Meat Puppets, the Wrens, Rogue Wave, Dr. Dog and the Shout Out Louds. You can download them all for free at Stereogum.
“Automatic” was among the Athens quartet’s most successful, both commercially and critically. Three of the albums singles — “Drive,” “Everybody Hurts” and “Man in the Moon” — hit the Top 40 and the album has sold more than 4 million copies in the U.S. alone. Any list of the greatest albums of the ’90s is incomplete without this moody, melancholy triumph.
I’m still partial to “Murmur,” but “Automatic” and “Life’s Rich Pageant” would have to tussle for No. 2 on my list of R.E.M. faves. And “Automatic” is still every bit as powerful as it was back in 1992. Are you an “Automatic” lover or a “Murmur” partisan? Or, do you have another favorite R.E.M. album?
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Bdawg
October 4, 2007 11:06 AM | Link to this
I still love REM, but I admit I rarely pull out an REM album anymore to listen to. I’m only 28 years old, so I wasn’t old enough to enjoy them in the early 80s. But I would like to think if I was old enough in 1980-81, and discovered Murmur, it would have changed my life forever. REM put out a lot of good music in the 90s, but there is something timeless about the early stuff. I’m with Shane, Murmur is No. 1.
By jc_atl
October 4, 2007 11:13 AM | Link to this
Their least favorite is Fables of the Reconstruction, and though it was recorded in the UK, it has the most southern feel of all their albums and remains one of my favorites, but for me it’s a toss-up between that, Murmur and Life’s Rich Pageant.
By Rocker
October 4, 2007 11:14 AM | Link to this
REM suchs! I had to suffer through countless years listening to their agony as all of my friends thought they were cool and dark. Gimme a break, they’re awful and anyone with half a musical ear knows it.
By JohnDenver
October 4, 2007 11:14 AM | Link to this
Gotta go with Life’s Rich Pageant..
By SpaceyG
October 4, 2007 11:14 AM | Link to this
I’m a Murmur kinda fan too. I go back to Dead Letter Office often. But I doubt I could live long without Reckoning. Oh Jeez don’t make me have to choose!
By Off his Rocker
October 4, 2007 11:32 AM | Link to this
I love Automatic, Life’s Rich Pageant and Monster.
Rocker, must be John. Dumb and with a big, obnoxious mouth.
By Matt G.
October 4, 2007 11:35 AM | Link to this
I’ve never heard an R.E.M. song/album I didn’t like, but “Automatic” is heads above the rest. In fact, I would assert that it ranks among the top five popular music records of all time.
I can’t think of another album that caputers the range of human emotion and experience so thoroughly. Topically it covers everything from death (Try not to Breathe and The Sweetness Follows) to teen angst (Drive) to old memories (Nightswimming). It also covers emotions from sadness (about half to album) to anger and alienation (Ignoreland), along with everything in between.
On top of being a musical masterpiece, the album manages to cop the slogan from Athens’ finest soul food joint (Weaver D’s) and provide a musical tribute to Andy Kaufman. Two feats that on their own are commendable. However, combine it with the excellence of the music on the album, and “Automatic” brushes up against perfection.
R.E.M. has managed to make a career of outstanding contributions to music, but none was as close to perfect as “Automatic for the People.”
By SA
October 4, 2007 11:41 AM | Link to this
I can’t pick a favorite; I’ve been a fan since Murmur and I love all their periods.
By ab
October 4, 2007 11:42 AM | Link to this
Hey “Rocker” if you are trying to say REM is terrible, then here is how you spell sucks, S.U.C.K.S! idiot!
By EAVDad
October 4, 2007 11:43 AM | Link to this
Automatic for the People probably was my favorite album too!
But South Central Rain/I’m Sorry is still my favorite song.
By Astrofell
October 4, 2007 11:53 AM | Link to this
“Green” is by far the best R.E.M. album.
By SpaceyG
October 4, 2007 11:58 AM | Link to this
Listening to the tribs now. Talk about stripping away inherent southerness for no darn good reason! The Sidewinder Sleeps re-tooling is intriguing enough for downloading efforts though.
By Musician
October 4, 2007 11:59 AM | Link to this
Who cares? It’s all subjective. Awards for “Best” are all pointless popularity contests. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Mr Harrison, I’m suprised that you would pose such a question.
By DaveREMfan
October 4, 2007 12:03 PM | Link to this
I’m 27, but I’m an avid R.E.M. fan, whether its “Murmur,” “Automatic,” or the post-Bill Berry albums (I thought “Around the Sun” was a terrific album). R.E.M. has always been the definitive rock band for me (with U2 in a close second).
But despite not having Bill on the next or any future albums, I’m anxious to see what they have coming out next year, given that Jacknife Lee is producing (he had a heavy hand in U2’s “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb”).
If you haven’t heard any of the rehearsal stuff they did in Dublin earlier this summer, then you should really hunt it down via YouTube or Google. I think the band is starting to really get back to its rock roots - a lot more guitar/drum heavy and not so subtle. You can tell Michael’s got a lot to say in his lyrics - “I’m Gonna DJ” is a prime example. Also look for songs called “Living Well is the Best Revenge” and “Accelerate.” R.E.M.’s best stuff is just around the corner…
By Gator REM
October 4, 2007 12:05 PM | Link to this
I am a big fan of the early years; Murmur, Reckoning, Fables, LRP and Document. Of those, I gotta go with Life’s Rich Pageant. “The Flowers of Guatemala” and “Swan Swan H” are two of the most beautiful songs ever. IMHO!Gotta go put it on right now in fact! What noisy cats are we!
By JH
October 4, 2007 12:05 PM | Link to this
Nobody said “Document”? Hands down the best. But all of the albums from their initial label are great. Green was my very first concert ever in the 6th grade. They’ve had several good ones after they became big time, but those Athens days are when they were for real. Wish I could have been there then.
By Koz
October 4, 2007 12:20 PM | Link to this
Life’s Rich Pageant
By Steeledawg
October 4, 2007 12:31 PM | Link to this
I was a sophomore at UGA back in ‘92 when Automatic was released so that may color my perception of the album, but it is the one that I go back to most often. All of their stuff is great, but that is my favorite. So many great songs, and what a one-two punch to end the album. A true classic.
By Sweetpatootie
October 4, 2007 12:36 PM | Link to this
Such a hard question - I was a middle years fan, from about Life’s Rich Pageant to Green, after that things started changing and I didn’t like the music as much. Even tho it’s a b-side collection, I gotta say pale blue eyes and the rest of Dead Letter Office will forever remind me of such an innocent time in my life.
By bob
October 4, 2007 12:41 PM | Link to this
REM…formerly known as rock stars. Folks have wised up to this sh!tty band, hence the crap sales of all of their albums since…well, since Automatic. And here in Athens we see them more often as they seem to come here to get the rock star treatment they apparently don’t get elsewhere, but even that doesn’t work. Case in point: I saw Mike Mills in a bar last week. He was trying to pick up on this girl. Easy pickins’ for the rock star, right? Nope…she was clearly annoyed by him and after about 2 minutes of tolerance she pushed him away and said loud enough for the entire bar to hear, “Get away from me you creep!” REJECTED! He tried to laugh it off but too many people saw it and everyone heard it. How the mighty have fallen. Better stick to the 40-something / 50-something bar w**, Mike. Hand it to Bill Berry, though. He knew when it was over and quit before he became a parody of his former self. REM will be doing one of those “oldie” tours soon like Styx and and REO Speedwagon.
By swervin
October 4, 2007 12:52 PM | Link to this
I agree with you on a small level Bob. But after watching the youtube stuff in Dublin I have to say they have some really great stuff coming soon. Their last couple of albums sucked so. Funny story about Mike. I can totally see him doing that.
By Ed
October 4, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this
Thanks Bob for that enlightening story. By the way, if you’re not an R.E.M. fan, perhaps this is not the blog for you to respond to. I believe the “people need to hear my opinion even though it doesn’t pertain to the subject” blog is on another page.
As for the question at hand, I love Fables. Yes, for a long time Murmur was my favorite, but there’s something so enchanting about Fables that I get chills every time I listen to it. It reminds me of taking a lovely train trip through the Southern countryside.
I will add that New Adventures in Hi Fi has some great parts to it as well, the last Bill Berry album. I fear it gets dismissed too quickly and it shouldn’t.
By Jim
October 4, 2007 12:56 PM | Link to this
I was going to school in Athens from 1982 to 1986, so R.E.M. is an inextricable part of my college memories - I consider their IRS albums the soundtrack of my UGA days. I remember as a freshman when my next door neighbor in the dorm said “you’ve gotta hear these guys” and put the “Chronictown” EP on the turntable. Universe expanded in short order.
My favorite? Difficult choice, but perhaps “Fables of the Reconstruction.” Not only does it bring back all those good times when R.E.M. was still “our band,” it also evokes a time when each North Georgia town had a character and flavor all its own and the area known as Atlanta was contained well within the borders of I-285. Alt-rock hymns to the sublime beauty of Georgia and the Southern soul.
By pam
October 4, 2007 12:57 PM | Link to this
Life’s Rich Pageant!
By Ole Man Bourbon
October 4, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
Murmur and Life’s Rich Pageant tied for me.
By glenn
October 4, 2007 1:11 PM | Link to this
Kinda ironic this piece was written in tribute to Automatic’s release 15 years ago, the exact time that I gave up on the “new” REM. When I first heard Murmur in high school, I like all was captivated and the music of REM carried me through countless good and bad times throughout college and beyond. I’d still take Reckoning first with Fables a close second, though they were all masterpieces up through Out of Time, ending with Me in Honey, forever a top favorite. Then, Automatic comes out… Tried to listen to it several times then thought about “what if we give it away” and did just that. Saw them in concert mid ’90s at the Omni and left half way through, it just solidified that the band I once loved was just not the same. Scary that that album sold more than any other as to me it is quite frankly an awful piece of music. Up close at the Fox on the Life’s Rich Pageant tour? At the bandshell on Daytona Beach during Spring Break ‘84? In a small seatless auditorium for Fables? That was the REM I’ll always remember… and play those discs to my grandkids one day.
By John
October 4, 2007 1:23 PM | Link to this
Albums proper, Life’s Rich Pageant. Bit Dead Letter Office is my favorite thing to listen to.
By I Reckon
October 4, 2007 1:27 PM | Link to this
I’m stuck on the notion that once I could make out what Michael Stipe was saying, they got a LOT less interesting. Way back when, Peter Buck would say, ‘we’ll never buy into that rock’n’roll myth’… ie, playing stadiums, groupies, sign with a big label, etc… and that they’d break up if anyone ever left the band. I suppose they changed their minds. I guess it beats a Stipey solo album, though.
That said, I loved all the early albums (and B-sides), especially ‘Reckoning’ - lean, mean and guitars everywhere.
By Bryan
October 4, 2007 1:28 PM | Link to this
Monster is my fav. Love that they changed up their ‘normal’ sound and it worked great for them…really shows the true talent and versatility of R.E.M. But, picking a favorite REM albums is like picking a favorite child….you just love them all!!!
By mayretter local
October 4, 2007 1:37 PM | Link to this
Reconstruction of the Fables is prolly my favorite. Just a great batch of songs on that record. Seeing Mike Mills play Wendell Gee solo a few years ago @ MusicMidtown (inside the civic center), was sublime. Thanks Mike!!
and you gotta love how they credit all songs to “Berry Buck Mills Stipe”. and anyone who went to UGA knows how it’s always been cool to dislike REM, but not I.
Absolutely amazing concert Nov 13, 1989, the L.E.A.F benefit, where they played Murmur straight thru in it’s entirely, and then played all of Green - blew me away. I just wish they’d continued that tradition and play all of Reckoning at the next one, but there never was another show like that…
Vacation in Athens is calling… -Letter Never Sent.
By maxwell
October 4, 2007 1:39 PM | Link to this
They are all good. The key is to let the boys maintain their artistic integrity by allowing creativity to flow. Accoustic, electric, “suit and tied…hippified”; I don’t care as long as they don’t try to recreate “shiny happy people” over and over like most shallow top 40 pop stars. REM has survived the test of time and we are all blessed to have them continue to share their music with the world.
By keith
October 4, 2007 1:50 PM | Link to this
Is it Fables of the Reconstruction or Reconstruction of the Fables?
By mayretter local
October 4, 2007 1:56 PM | Link to this
Keith, it’s both, check your record, and the way the title is set, it could be either :) just like them not having an “A” side and a “B” side to the record, it was always something different, “A side” & “Another Side” on one of them, “Left” & “Right” on Reckoning - check the early video compilation that has “Left of Reckoning” playing while films from the guy’s whirligig farm outside of Gainesville play. Very cool!!
Peace!!
By Ryan
October 4, 2007 2:17 PM | Link to this
Document is the best. If they had continued more in the direction of that record, they would still be huge today!
By Doug
October 4, 2007 2:27 PM | Link to this
Rem = irrelevant old men. They keep trying this and trying that to find a hit and relive the good old days. Pathetic and sad. Stipe and co….please stop it…you are embarrassing yourselves.
By Tommy H
October 4, 2007 2:36 PM | Link to this
I get a kick out of people dissing successful artists. Fact is, ya can’t win with these people. If you try new stuff you’ve abandoned your ‘sound’ and if you return to form, you’ve ‘sold out’ by rehashing the sound that established you.
REM’s musical journey is just that - a journey. Some peaks, some valleys, and some interesting detours.
They’ll retire to the farm someday like Bill Berry did, there’s no “REO/Styx” style tour in their future, I assure you. But until they go to pasture, I gotta say, ‘nice ride, gents’.
By Dan Matthews
October 4, 2007 2:36 PM | Link to this
Gosh, Bob, why don’t you dish on which Athens bar this took place in? Me thinkest thou doth protest too much. I have known many musicians in my day and the guys in REM are the least pretentious, most down to earth and accomdating individuals I have ever met. I detect just a little bitter resentment on your part. For the band to have kept up as much musical talent as they have over the last 15 years - even if you do not like their last four or five releases - is nothing short of amazing.
By Jim
October 4, 2007 2:37 PM | Link to this
Life’s Rich Pageant and Fables of the Reconstruction are easily my top 2.
By bill
October 4, 2007 2:47 PM | Link to this
All of REM’s albums are great. My hands down favorite is “Out of Time.” Truly timeless. Think I’ll listen to it now….
By paul
October 4, 2007 3:26 PM | Link to this
After GREEN, they sold out.
By Jim
October 4, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
Any list of the “Best REM Albums” begins and ends with Chronic Town/Dead Letter Office. Life’s Rich Pageant and Reconstruction of the Fables are very good as well. The band started to trail off around 1994…but everything up to that point was not only good, but pioneering.
By Vince
October 4, 2007 3:50 PM | Link to this
Automatic is their best album, due to the textures and arrangements, but Fables is my favorite. Lifes Rich Pageant is excellent. Green is very well done and very underrated. Out of Time is probably their most overrated album, and Losing my Religion is one of the most overrated songs of all time IMO. Monster is also an excellent album that saw them break out of their shell and is underappreciated. I have many boots of them in concert and enjoy listening to those as well.
By Robert S
October 4, 2007 4:11 PM | Link to this
My favorite REM album is still “Murmur.” I love the mystery and intrigue, and of course Michael Stipe’s singing. The fact that you couldn’t quite make out what Stipe was singing just added to the charm. Just an album of wonderful simplicity, and yet tinged with a sense that the band knows something the listener doesn’t, which adds to the intrigue. They might not have realized it at the time (or even today), but “Murmur” is sheer genius.
“Automatic” was a very good album, and it was the last REM album I bought. “Nightswimming” to me is still the most beautiful song they wrote, even though it apes part of the melody of their own “Radio Song.”
I feel that it was all downhill from there. “Monster” was frankly embarrassing in places (“What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”, “Bang and Blame”), and while “Hi-Fi” was a better album, it seemed as if they began to repeat themselves.
By the time “Up” came along, they’d lost most of their radio audience, and became less obtuse and more direct lyrically, which I think hurt them. I’d love to see the band do one more album in trhe vein of “Murmur” or “Reckoning.”
By drjay
October 4, 2007 4:23 PM | Link to this
i vote for “reckoning” —don’t go back to rockville is my all time fave song of theirs—the rest of the album is solid too camera, so. central rain, pretty persuasion—a true masterpiece
By cara
October 4, 2007 4:31 PM | Link to this
Who is Rem?? :)
By Harley
October 4, 2007 4:59 PM | Link to this
DOCUMENT!!!! “Oddfellows Local 151” is incredible.
By stacey.
October 4, 2007 5:20 PM | Link to this
I’m a Murmur girl, myself. My friends in high school called it “Mumble”, because you could just mumble along to the song and someone would think you knew all the words.
As the weather cools off, I get nostalgic for old-time Athens in the 80’s. So much has changed since then. Sigh…
By Rocker
October 4, 2007 5:57 PM | Link to this
My favorite is Reckoning, followed by Murmur and Dead Letter Office. Though I did not follow REM after the early 90’s or so, I still admire them a great deal. They are some thoughtful and caring people. I never imagined the fame the’d achieve after seeing them in ‘79 or so in a house in Athens known as the “Zoo” (across from the Taco Stand); not so good. But a couple years later, fantastic. I was at the 688 Club in ‘82 in Atlanta to see REM and Jason and the Nashville Scorchers; what a night!
By Andrew
October 4, 2007 6:03 PM | Link to this
Fables. Listened to it all summer driving around North GA between Clayton and Athens. Murmur and Document are close too, although Automatic was the album that introduced me to REM.
By Heather
October 4, 2007 6:43 PM | Link to this
Realizing it has been 15 years since “Automatic” was released makes me feel old. As a freshman at UGA I stood in line at midnight to buy it. I love that album, but I agree that “Pageant” is a little better.
By jakesdad
October 4, 2007 7:15 PM | Link to this
it’s like comparing “old Beatles” w/”psychedelic Beatles” though for the record I am most assuredly NOT comparing REM to The Beatles - just drawing an analogy between two highly successful groups with a ton of albums, both of which had a clear inflection point in style. IMO, the last “classic” REM album was certainly Dead Letter Office which happens to be my personal favorite (partly because of drinking to “King of the Road” in HS). I have Document & several of the subsequent ones but actually lost interest after Automatic. not that I thought it was a bad album, I just prefer the “classic” sound plus Michael’s head had swollen a few too many sizes for me.
finally (& again), The Beatles are w/o ? the greatest group of all time. it’s like debating classical composers - the argument is who’s #2 after Mozart and REM would certainly make the short list in the “rock” era.
By Joey Harrington
October 4, 2007 7:16 PM | Link to this
GREEN—Like that stuff Mike Vick likes!
By Jacob
October 4, 2007 8:25 PM | Link to this
I guess so many like Dead Letter Office because the CD includes the EP “Chronic Town”, which was their best? Everthing after Document sucked, everything before it was great.
By David Lee
October 4, 2007 8:40 PM | Link to this
A for the People - I really dug the John Paul Jones contribution. I remember REM playing GA Southern when I was in high school and then I went off to UGA. Those guys were all approachable. These days I don’t listen to REM as I am taking a 15 year break from it. I prefer cranking some Britney Spears or Ashley Simpson to get me “motivated”. My interpretation is that Spears and/or Simpson are “automatic for the people”.
By Dawggirl
October 4, 2007 10:01 PM | Link to this
Gotta say “Murmur”…reminds me of the good ol’ days in Athens. Good music, good times. I love all the REM since, but it was “Murmur” that started it all. Go Dawgs!!!
By ChrisD3
October 4, 2007 10:07 PM | Link to this
Just pick up their two greatest hits packages and you’ll have all you need. For individual album, Green rocked.
By BobB
October 4, 2007 11:30 PM | Link to this
No favorite here, it all sounds like weirdo garbage to me.
By Randy M
October 4, 2007 11:33 PM | Link to this
All the above are absolute classics. Everything after that is dismal. I went to UGA because of REM, bought the first Green CD when it hit the stands, occassionally had run-ins with Stipe, Mills and Buck (Buck retrieved my fake ID back in ‘87 from the mean bounser girl at the old 40 Watt), etc. I do think Bill Berry quit because he was also disenchanted with the music after Green (yes, I think Automatic sucks, and even Green is partially questionable).
But I still love REM for who they were. Silly as it sounds, their music changed my life and the way I viewed the world, because it made me happy. I can play almost every old song. Their old sound will never be replicated by anyone else. Mills was/is the secret weapon.
Still, cheers to REM! Come out with a new album that sounds like the oldies…..its what put you on the map (and legends).
By Mike
October 5, 2007 12:15 AM | Link to this
I was a freshman at UGA in the fall of 1988, when they switched from I.R.S. to Warner Brothers. WB announced they were releasing “Green” on Election Day, so IRS put out “Eponymous” with a vaguely similar cover three weeks earlier. I remember hearing “Stand” for the first time and thinking, “What the HECK did they do?! This is a POP song!” Of course, “Pop Song 89” was on the same album.
My favorite album is “Out of Time.” I heard it played at midnight on the release date on a station in Augusta (which didn’t have places like Tower Records that stayed open late on Monday nights so you could buy new releases early). From “Radio Song” to “Losing My Religion” I was hooked, and the rest of the album was great too.
My favorite REM song was “Dark Globe,” which I think could only be found on the B-side of the 12” single of “Orange Crush” in England, or on a flexi-disk in “Sassy” magazine. I learned more than I wanted to know about a visit to the gynecologist from buying that issue…
By ozzfest
October 5, 2007 7:28 AM | Link to this
Yeah, great album…but they have not played a live show in Athens since then…at least not one where tickets were available to the public. Please do not lecture me about the Greenpeace show in 1992 at the 40 Watt or the bowling alley show from 2 - 3 years ago. Thanks for abandoning us, you “little old band out of Athens”.
By kel
October 5, 2007 8:48 AM | Link to this
I am a huge REM fan, having been lucky enough to be in Athens in the early 80’s with them and other great acts like widespread. I guess I’ve lost the indie edge in my momness. It just depressed me to hear the versions of these songs that are part of the soundtrack of my life. Thank goodness for an ipod loaded with all the real stuff, I’m gonna listen to that now!
By Automatic
October 5, 2007 9:01 AM | Link to this
My favorite is Weaver D’s, the soul food restaurant in Athens that Automatic for the People is named after. Automatic.
By b.o.o.h.o.o.
October 5, 2007 9:35 AM | Link to this
I agree with a lot of your comments about specific songs and albums. I love them all and they relate to specific moments in my life. Dead Letter is definitely a fav which is ironic since it’s covers. Wish they would do another one and I have a couple songs I’d like to hear them do. If I have to choose, New Adventure, the last one they did with Bill…awesome production and some amazing songs. Just revisited much of their works cause I finally had a cd player in my car, where I listen to most music. Didn’t realize I had so many of them; now have a big yen to listen to “Monster”. You are the Everything is one of my fav songs - still remember them doing it at the Omni and people outside after singing it…what a night.
By tulsabravo
October 5, 2007 10:44 AM | Link to this
I’ve always thought ‘Automatic’ was, by far, the best REM album. I bought the cassette a few days before moving to Japan, and it blew me away. Before that, I’d quit buying REM stuff after ‘Fables’. Just thought they weren’t any good anymore. But I liked some of ‘Out of Time’, so I decided to give them another chance. To this day, I can remember sitting in my little room in Moto-sumioshi, drinking Kirin Ichiban-shibori, listening to ‘Automatic’ on my walkman, and missing the hell out of America, and then when I was drunk, dialing friends in the U.S..
By Tom Davis
October 5, 2007 11:51 AM | Link to this
David Lee - I saw what you wrote. Britney Spears is Automatic for the People. That’s great, rack him. Take of the day.
By Bill Lewis
October 5, 2007 11:59 AM | Link to this
Kel: maybe you should lose your momness and smoke some grass like you did in the old days listening to Widespread. You might take momness to a new level.
By Chip
October 5, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this
1- Automatic 2- Murmur 3- Life’s Rich Pageant 4- Document 5- Fables
By Weaver D's
October 5, 2007 12:28 PM | Link to this
Automatic for the People was the first CD I ever owned! I wish all of my musical tastes as a high school freshman had stood the test of time as well at Automatic. It is still one of my favorite albums to listen from start to finish. The album flows so nicely, you can’t listen to one song without the others.
By Neil
October 5, 2007 1:57 PM | Link to this
This is the CD that made me stop listening to REM. It sounded like a funeral dirge rather than a rock and roll CD. I think this was the first REM CD that most “new” fans had access to. In addition, it came out in the middle of Alternative when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and others praised the band for sticking it out and being a true proponent of DIY. If you want to hear the real REM, take a listen to the first three CDs.
By Trey
October 5, 2007 4:26 PM | Link to this
Put me down as another vote for Life’s Rich Pageant. I think it is the perfect rock album.
By edt
October 5, 2007 8:26 PM | Link to this
1) fables 2) automatic 3) document
By Robert S
October 5, 2007 11:36 PM | Link to this
“Eastern-to-mountain, third party call/the lines are down/the wiseman built his words upon the rocks/but I’m not bound to follow suit.”
Anyone who writes lyrics like that (from “So. Central Rain”) has got to be among the most intriguing artists ever. That was REM between 1981-1986.
By AK
October 5, 2007 11:45 PM | Link to this
I am old enough for “Murmurs” to have changed my life. They were a staple of my college days, and I will always love R.E.M.