release date: Oct. 6, 1992
format: vinyl / digital (12 x File, MP3) (2012 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: Scott Litt and R.E.M.
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: USA
Tracklist: A) 1. "Drive" - 2. "Try Not to Breathe" - 3. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" (4 / 5) - 4. "Everybody Hurts" (5 / 5) - 5. "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" - 6. "Sweetness Follows"
B) 1. "Monty Got a Raw Deal" (2,5 / 5) - 2. "Ignoreland" - 3. "Star Me Kitten" - 4. "Man on the Moon" (5 / 5) - 5. "Nightswimming" (4 / 5) - 6. "Find the River"
8th studio album release by R.E.M. and the band's 3rd studio album for Warner and once again co-produced by Scott Litt. The A-side on the vinyl issue is labelled 'Drive' and the B-side 'Ride'.
Artistically, the album was a huge step forward compared to Out of Time (1991), although, it's obvious that the band has found a new playground with a more mainstream sound but they still prove to be an alt. rock band with strong bonds to folk rock. The album is a lesser polished and highly original release with several outstanding tracks eg. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Man on the Moon", "Nightswimming", and "Everybody Hurts", the latter being one of the band's best ever compositions (the official music video is likewise brilliant). I really enjoyed this more introspective style of theirs compared to the more straight-forward pop / rock album Out of Time, and I generally found it much more in sync with the storyline of R.E.M.
Nowadays, looking back at the time, it strikes me how this album is like a perfect clone of the mainstream pop / rock on the predecessor and what they played up until that. In that sense, Automatic... is like a rework on Out of Time or it's what they should have done when recording their biggest selling album ever instead of "going full mainstream" - but then again: most people saw Out of Time as the band's most brilliant album, so in that sense it couldn't be better.
Music critics promptly lauded Automatic... as one of the best of contemporary pop / rock in a decade and saw the album as the band's best effort ever - like the successful embodiment of a natural progression towards... maturity.
In retrospect, the album has stood it's time well - and perhaps even better than most of their albums, which is why I regard it as a strong contender to my top 3 best-loved R.E.M. albums. I think, it's really hard to choose between Document, Monster and Automatic... The only nag about this album, which ultimately is the reason why I put it in pos. 5 on my personal top-5 list of R.E.M. studio albums, is that a few of the songs simply do not work that well. The instrumental track, "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1", and tracks 7 and 9, "Monty Got a Raw Deal" and "Star Me Kitten" are [according to my ears] nothing but fillers. Document doesn't have 3 fillers, which sorts my top 3 list out, but Monster does and it is hard to pin out the exact reason as to why the grunge rock album tops this one, but in my mind, it does. Still, Automatic for the People is a highly recommendable album, and if one is looking for the top 5 R.E.M. studio releases I think it has to be on that list.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]
Top 5 albums by R.E.M.
1. Green
2. Lifes Rich Pageant
3. Document
4. Monster
5. "Automatic for the People"
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