R.E.M.
Automatic for the People


5.0
classic

Review

by AliW1993 USER (134 Reviews)
November 19th, 2011 | 435 replies


Release Date: 1992 | Tracklist

Review Summary: The creative apex of R.E.M.'s career - stunning.

I'm not usually one to shed a tear over a bands demise, but even I was deeply saddened by the news that R.E.M. were to call it a day back in September. This might seem strange given that the band had been on a steep downward slope for the best part of 20 years, but the utter brilliance of their earlier work - as well as the odd latter day highlight - meant that it was still felt great to have them among us. If measured by overall influence, it's probably their eighties albums while on I.R.S. which stand the tallest, but in terms of sheer scale, magnificence and ambition, no other album in their 31-year career can touch their 1992 masterpiece Automatic For The People.

Upon its release, this either LP represented quite a U-turn for the Athens quartet. Having already secured legendary status in underground circles for that earlier work, R.E.M. had signed to major label Warner Bros. in 1988, and subsequently released Green and Out Of Time, by a distance the two most commercially viable and upbeat albums of their career. Out Of Time in particular proved a huge smash, with the switch to mandolin designed to polarise fans having quite the opposite effect in that it saw their popularity balloon to an entire new level. Arriving little more than a year later, Automatic For The People could not have been more different. Reverting mostly to the electric format, this album approaches things from a far darker and moodier perspective, perfectly corresponding with the album's bleak cover art and producing songs of unbelievable beauty and splendour. There's certainly no 'Shiny Happy People' or the like, but the results not only matched those previous hits - they completely blew them out of the water.

As good a place to start as any is with the record's most famous song, the utterly indispensable 'Everybody Hurts.' Even after being played to death for the past two decades and murdered by numerous reality TV contestants, this astonishing ode to overcoming suicide still stands as one of the most moving compositions ever committed to tape, and just keeps on giving with each new listen. It's a staggering achievement, and stands as the album's defining moment, but what's even more impressive is that there are plenty of other songs here which are just as good, if not superior. 'Nightswimming' for instance strips their sound down to it's very bare bones, featuring only Michael Stipe's voice, Mike Mills' devastatingly simple piano and a few subtle strings for good measure. Again, it's an overwhelmingly beautiful piece, conceived by a band at the very peak of it's powers and writing straight from the heart with complete conviction. The album's book-ends meanwhile catch R.E.M. at their most subdued, with the haunting opening echoes of 'Drive' reverberating long after it's conclusion, and brilliant closer 'Find The River' finding the band at their most majestic.

Such a record couldn't have been made by an average group of musicians and as such this record finds each member of the quartet at the very top of his game. The majority of the album's composition was handled by Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Bill Berry, who held writing and recording sessions without Michael Stipe before the singer added his lyrical and vocal contributions. But while the band's instrumental yield is virtually flawless throughout, it's Stipe who is at the forefront for practically the entire duration. As a showcase for his voice, this is a record which cannot be matched, with the songs like 'Ignoreland' displaying his full vocal range and presenting that voice as the clear centrepiece their sound. It's not all about his pipes, though, he was also a great frontman, a fact which especially transpires in 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite,' another outstanding highlight where Stipe goes about his role with the audible confidence and swagger only possessed by a true entertainer.

That may be one of the record's less sombre moments, yet it still falls seamlessly into place alongside all the more introspective numbers which characterise it as a whole. Indeed the fact that R.E.M. have become best known for these downbeat slow-burners rather than the more rock-orientated style they purveyed for most of their career speaks volumes about the impact that Automatic For The People has made. It may have been all downhill from that point forth, but with this album the band left their ultimate mark on the music world, the influence of which is still being heard in countless acts today. That inspiration should come as some consolation to disappointed fans, but now that R.E.M. have left us it seems even more important that we appreciate just how astonishingly good they were at this glorious peak.



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user ratings (1334)
4.2
excellent
other reviews of this album
EVedder27 (4.5)
This 1992 release may be the greatest of the band’s prestigious career, combining elements of char...

Zebra (4.5)
...



Comments:Add a Comment 
AliW1993
November 20th 2011


7511 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Also posted at http://www.muzikdizcovery.com/



I usually only 5 albums which have huge personal significance



This doesn't have that, but it just is a 5

Gyromania
November 20th 2011


37468 Comments


I really love reading your reviews. Great work, as per usual.

I haven't heard anything else by the band, but I really like this album.

AliW1993
November 20th 2011


7511 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Thanks!



Pretty much every album they released up until and including this is worth a listen.



But if you cba for that then the new compilation is a really good summary.

Fugue
November 20th 2011


7371 Comments


Bloody hell man, when did you get to 67 reviews!!! Granted I haven't been that active until a week or so ago but I must have missed a lot. This is ridiculously easy to read, and describes the album really well. I don't agree with you on how good it is but I know I'm in the minority there, everybody else seems to think this is the best thing REM ever did.

MisterTornado
November 20th 2011


4507 Comments


Good review. John Paul Jones is really the unsung hero of Automatic For The People, for his string
arrangements are simply unmatched.

random
November 20th 2011


3174 Comments


What's the album cover supposed to depict, a sprocket?

MisterTornado
November 20th 2011


4507 Comments


"What's the album cover supposed to depict, a sprocket?"

It's an embossed image of a little metal logo that was on a Miami motel

Activista anti-MTV
November 20th 2011


3154 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

This is a pretty good review. Pos'd



I listened to this album for the first time today. Pretty good album. I am new to REM, so it might take a while for this one to grow on me.

mallen-
November 20th 2011


1245 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Nice work Ali

valrus
November 20th 2011


45 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Love this album. Love it love it love it. Review is decent but this sentence is dire: "It's not all about his pipes, though, he was also a great frontman, a fact which especially transpires in 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite,' another outstanding highlight where Stipe goes about his role with the audible confidence and swagger only possessed by a true entertainer."



"A fact which especially transpires" is a cringe-worthy and almost meaningless turn of phrase, and I'm not feeling the comma splice either. Either change that second comma to a colon or split this into two sentences. Probably the latter; if this isn't a run-on sentence it's damn close.

wabbit
November 20th 2011


7059 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

I want to write a review for this album (and I hate reviews). but it's far far far too emotional to ever publish.



It's fucking incredible and anyone who doesnt five this is a cunt.

MisterTornado
November 20th 2011


4507 Comments


"It's fucking incredible and anyone who doesnt five this is a cunt."

I'll drink to that.

StrangerofSorts
Emeritus
November 20th 2011


2904 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

All those songs dropped by name and no word of New Orleans Instrumental No.1? That's the highlight of the LP for me.



If only they'd put E-bow the Letter in this album then it would be more 5-able.

Tyrael
November 20th 2011


21108 Comments


^^^

But this is still really good stuff. Great review Ali!

iFghtffyrdmns
November 20th 2011


7044 Comments


good review ali
this is purdy good but i don't feel quite so strongly as you do

MisterTornado
November 20th 2011


4507 Comments


Murmur is great, but Automatic has more life.

AliW1993
November 20th 2011


7511 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Document is my favourite I.R.S. period album, followed by Murmur.

Ethics
March 5th 2012


4112 Comments


Great review.
The album is definitely worthy of a 5.

macadoolahicky
March 5th 2012


1834 Comments


This album is surely worthy of a five, but I might give it a 4.5

BigHans
March 5th 2012


30959 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

wow I just agreed with Fade about something



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