Artist bio

In the '80s and '90s, when underground rock music on independent labels exploded with word-of-mouth popularity and critical acclaim and the opposing audience for mainstream pop also surged ahead to new levels of commercial enormity, a four-piece rock and roll band from Athens, Ga. forged an unforgettable career out of walking the line between the two.

R.E.M. was the acceptable edge of the unacceptable stuff; the hard-working college-rock band loved by critics from the start, and recommended by those in the know, until its gradually growing fanbase eventually made it one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

Throughout its career parabola -- from the raw, Southern art-rock of the early '80s to the singles-driven widescreen pop monoliths of its middle age, and down the slope of commercial success to the post-Bill Berry years -- R.E.M. has made engaging, self-respecting pop-rock songs and albums, staking out its claim as not the best rock band of its day, but one of the most consistent, and well-aging of its peer group.

R.E.M. also helped bring the concept of college-rock, or alternative rock, to the public consciousness. During its formative years, despite such accolades as its full-length debut Murmur being named top album of 1983 by Rolling Stone magazine, the band was largely ignored by commercial radio. But the R.E.M. bandwagon kept rolling and picking up new acolytes, largely due to the group's tireless touring schedule, and the embrace of college radio stations, which gave the band heavy airplay throughout the '80s. They were the visible face of this expansion of the music industry, in which bands that weren't incredibly popular by major-label standards could succeed by appealing to an "alternative" fanbase.

Ironically, as much as the band exemplified alternative rock, their subsequent crossover into mainstream pop stardom helped render that concept nearly obsolete. One could hardly call such latter-day R.E.M. albums like Out Of Time and Automatic For The People (each quadruple platinum) "alternatives," as would be the case with bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, dubbed with similar tags in the early '90s even as they topped the Billboard charts.

But name-calling aside, R.E.M.'s catalog, now some 13 albums strong, is one of the more accomplished of the modern rock era. And the apparent key to the group's success is that over two decades and counting, its members have always made the music that they wanted to make; what kept them interested and excited about rock. That in itself should be a fitting legacy.

Albums by this artist

Reveal (2001)

Up (1998)

New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996)

Monster (1994)

Automatic For The People (Recommended) (1992)

Out Of Time (1991)

Fables Of The Reconstruction (1985)

Reckoning (1984)

Murmur (Recommended) (1983)

Chronic Town (Recommended) (1982)

Concerts

August 31, 1999
Chastain Park Amphitheater, Atlanta

August 20, 1999
New World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, Ill.

R.E.M.

Monster

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» TROY CARPENTER | CO-DIRECTOR

R.E.M. Monster Warner Bros., 1994 RiYL: Echobelly's On, Radiohead's The Bends, Patti Smith, Nirvana

Monster marks a key transitional period for one of modern rock's most accomplished juggernauts. R.E.M. was almost in danger of sounding too much like R.E.M. (see Automatic For The People, where they did the best they could without falling into that category). So it was time for a change, why not kick away the stools and the acoustic guitars, turn up the amps to 11 and get loud and dirty like they were reckless kids?

Well, let's see.. in 1994, R.E.M. were not kids.

During the creation of Monster, the band was planning a supporting tour for the album -- the first in five years. But this would be no Econoline trip up tobacco road, tearing the roof off local bars. R.E.M. was one of the biggest bands in the world, and its previous two albums had sold four million copies each. So a dilemma was presented: how to make a fun hard rock album, keep your sensitive side, and not worry about the possible reactions of your anxious worldwide fanbase? Luckily, R.E.M. are good at this type of thing.

In some ways, Monster can be looked at as a step back. From a commercial standpoint, it marked the first time in a nine-album career that an R.E.M. record had not outsold its immediate predecessor. Of course, when you consider the numbers we're talking about here, this kind of thing was inevitable at some point. Also, much was made about this being a "return" to the band's more hard-rocking "roots," after the acoustic folky sounds of the two previous '90s R.E.M. records, and the album does not provide as complete -- as fulfilling -- a listen as do those records.

On Monster, R.E.M. made a conscious effort to focus on the electric guitar. Bill Berry's drumming, and at times Stipe's singing, is pushed to the back of the mix, allowing the guitar and bass to drive each song. Guitarist Peter Buck has long been a champion of trying to sound different on each record, and after relying primarily on the mandolin and the acoustic for his two previous albums, he surely sounds happy to be able to play his Rickenbacker loudly throughout Monster. He gets repetitive at times, but for the most part, his work feels great.

Bassist and consummate musician Mike Mills is also at home playing Buck's foil. When Buck's sinewy licks are carrying the songs' melody, Mills' taut bass stays on top of the rhythm and propels the tunes. But Mills is just as happy to step up and provide tasty hooks when Buck is too busy drowning the acetate with feedback.

Lyrically, Stipe shows a wholly new edge to his approach, which he has extended on the albums since Monster. Thriving on oblique and disconnected metaphors in his earliest days, he passed through a heavily political stage, but had slowly gravitated toward personal, emotive lyrics in the early '90s. Here he sharpens his approach to include an ironic, hipster stance. Instead of washing over the lyrics with obscure lyric poetry, he turns almost to cryptic haiku, clipped phrases conjuring fashion, technology, sex and coffee. His characters dwell on the sleazy side of modern society: hackers, voyeurs, TV addicts.

Titles like "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" and "I Took Your Name" certainly wouldn't fit on any previous R.E.M. record. Nor would society-obsessed lyrics such as "I can't be your character witness, I can't be your alibi / door rings -- it's the F.B.I." (from "Star 69") or "I sequenced your arrival / I sealed your fate / I pushed the button and erased your master tape" (from "I Took Your Name"). Stipe's lyrics are conversational at times, downright wacky at others: "The strong man kicked sand into my break-fast cereal bowl / I'd spelled your name with Oatios / he messed it, messed it, messed it, messed it up," he complains on "Circus Envy".

What does all this mean? Very little. Stipe has traditionally taken an obtuse, imagery-laden approach to his lyrics, and Monster's are no different. The tough part to handle is the contrived pop-culture-obsessed feel, which is a long way from the haunting pastels of the band's earliest work.

Monster sounds forced, and that's because it is. It was a conscious effort on the part of the band to get back to the basics of playing as a rock band after conquering the world with pop music, and the result is hit-or-miss.

But though it's not the band's best effort, it was just what the doctor ordered: another Automatic would have been a disappointment. Instead, the band members forced themselves to progress artistically, and though their best albums may be behind them, they continue to add new elements to their body of work. They prove that they still have the ability to surprise, which is what we really liked about them from the beginning.

TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.