More than a decade removed from deciding to call it a day, R.E.M. seems content to quietly fade into the annals of rock history. Why the band hasnโt enjoyed the same critical reappraisal bestowed upon so many of their peers is hardly a surprise. After all, from the get-go, R.E.M. showed little interest in โplaying the game.โ
R.E.M.: Automatic for the People
Few bands can lay claim to having actually been there โfrom the beginning.โ 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.