R.E.M. – Automatic for the People (1992)

I remember the first couple of times when I heard R.E.M.'s music as a child. I liked Michael Stipe's recognisable voice, but I felt like the songs were actually quite simple and not that interesting. Later on, I discovered that R.E.M. is one of those bands that open themselves only after listening to their songs a few times. This is not very normal for a band as big as R.E.M. At least in the late 90's, they had become one of the biggest bands in the world. Personally, I've grown to like their 80's albums the most, even though all their hit albums were made in the 90's. Automatic for the People could be described as their most hit filled album. It's also their best-selling album of all times. The previous album Out of Time had already showed a new, more carefully produced R.E.M., but Automatic for the People sealed the change in the band's sound and they were on their way to the top.


I really discovered R.E.M. through their compilation albums. Automatic for the People has at least four songs that have been featured on those compilation albums, namely The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, Everybody Hurts, Man on the Moon and Nightswimming. Later on when I bought this album on a second hand CD, I discovered that there are a number of other great songs on this album. The opening track Drive is a great way to start an album. This song feels like it's just an intro as it never really starts, but that's what's so great about it being the first song. Monty Got a Raw Deal is like the classic storytelling songs written by Neil Young and Bob Dylan. Find the River is a dreamy song that works brilliantly as an ending song.

As we're talking about a 90's album, it's clear that many of these songs have music videos. I link here the music video for Everybody Hurts. It features the band driving in a car through town in slow motion. There's a great kind of film noir style in the video. Everybody Hurts is one of the songs I used to teach my guitar students back in the day. It's a very easy song to play and it teaches easy first steps towards picking.

Man on the Moon is one of the most famous songs by R.E.M. Back when I first heard it, I had no idea about the meaning of the song. I had to first see the film with the same name featuring Jim Carrey about the life of Andy Kaufman to really get what the song was about. I really liked the film and after that I've appreciated this song more.

I've never been much of a fan of R.E.M. even if I've always liked their music. To me, their music is the kind of music that annoys no-one. I know there are some hardcore fans out there, but to me their music has always lacked that final emotion that I need to really connect with a band. I don't know if it's because they don't use melancholic enough chord progressions, or because the production is too polished for my taste, but R.E.M. is, at best, just a band I enjoy listening to on the background.

Automatic for the People is definitely one of the legendary albums that everyone should listen to at least once in their lives. It made an originally alternative rock band one of the biggest bands in the world and for that I really respect them.

Listen to the album on Spotify.