Released: October 5, 1992
Few bands can lay claim to having actually been there ‘from the beginning.’ In the case of alt-rock, however, R.E.M. not only spearheaded the genre, they managed to outlast nearly all of their first-wave contemporaries. And as with any band whose relevance crosses generational lines, R.E.M.’s tenure was one of multiple eras, each complete with a new and ever-growing audience.
Even the band’s ‘post-Berry’ years (where records felt less confident and more reactionary) remains a testament to the R.E.M.’s continued allegiance to their DIY/punk-rock ethos. But somewhere in between the IRS ‘classics’ and those late-career head-scratchers, R.E.M. dropped an awe-inspiring masterpiece.
1992’s Automatic for the People was written and recorded during a period where R.E.M. had essentially sworn of touring. The album saw the band all but ditching their electric instruments and doubling down on the folk-tinged flourishes that had permeated their prior release, Out of Time. Given the massive success of “Losing My Religion,” you could hardly blame R.E.M. for deciding to dive deeper into folk-rock. Automatic For The People, however, is anything but a retread.
For starters, the acoustic-driven instrumentation is elevated by a healthy dose of orchestral embellishments (courtesy of none other than John Paul Jones). The understated arrangements and lush production add an equally effective air of melancholia to the album. That all said, this is far from your standard singer-songwriter fare.
Never before had the band so effectively employed atmosphere, a point underscored by the haunting album-opening “Drive” and the feedback-drenched “Sweetness Follows.” Meanwhile, tracks like the anthemic “Man on the Moon,” “Everybody Hurts” and nostalgia-tinged “Nightswimming” are a testament to the potency of sincerity.
Even when the album ‘feels’ upbeat, Stipe’s lyrics remain pensive. With tracks like “Try Not to Breathe” and “Find the River,” Stipe deftly tackles themes of loss and mortality with a surprisingly candid touch. To that point, Automatic For The People is Michael Stipe’s finest hour as a singer, and considering the man’s body of work, that’s saying something.
The same could be said for the band as a whole–never before had the rhythm section of Bill Berry and Mike Mills sounded so clear and Peter Buck’s intricate guitar work shines throughout. The band had mastered the art of ‘less is more,’ resulting in a timeless, uncluttered mix where everyone had an opportunity to shine.
There’s little here (save for “Ignoreland”) that will remind anyone of R.E.M.’s punk-laced hey-day, but that wasn’t the point. Automatic For The People was the sound of a band taking a collective breath and stock of where they were.
They’d already conquered the college-rock airwaves, but tracks like “Man on the Moon” and “Everybody Hurts” fully cemented the band’s mainstream success. And I suspect R.E.M. might not have been so eager to take so many artistic risks (on the likes of Monster and New Adventures In Hi-Fi) had they not already seen the view from the top of the mountain.
So regardless of whether you associate the band with their indie-minded ‘IRS’ years, the folk-infused chart success of the late-80’s, or the full-blown arena-rock status they achieved in the mid-90’s, where there is arguably a version of R.E.M. for just about anyone, Automatic For The People was perhaps the only time where they would so clearly be for everyone.
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