It was the album when REM officially started their approach to the ramp that launched them over the shark tank.

I agree its an important transitional moment in the history of the band. However, taken out of context (i.e. NOT as the follow up to one of the greatest decades of music ever produced) I actually enjoy the record. It does conjure up disappointment and confusion when I remember back to that time and how inaccessible it was. Yes, it bred Hi-Fi (which I didnt hate), Reveal and Up (which I didnt loathe) and Sun (which everybody loathes), but I can still listen to it and feel like it would be enjoyed today.

But why? (on both things)





Wow. Have you heard their first five albums and the Chronic Town EP?

It's not just a pile, it's a stinking pile. Okay, so it has a couple songs on it that aren't bad, and it's certainly not as bad as Out of Time, but overall it sucks the big one (and especially when compared to their IRS output).

See, I think Green started the approach, and Out of Time launched them. Since then it's been hit-and-miss, at best, and mostly their albums bring the suck.

I feel this way about Zooropa.

I was never much of an R.E.M. fanatic so I didn't really know or care about their so-called decline after Green or whatever album afterwards supposedly heralds the downward slope of this band. I like Monster and think it's a pretty good album overall; I like the one previous to that more than any other except for maybe Murmur. They started to get boring for me around Up.

Naw, Document is the transitional album that started them on the road to suck. Green flat out sucks.

I can't think of another band with as great a disparity between their best albums and their lesser albums. On their good albums, they are REALLY GOOD, but they sure can bring the suck.

You see, I think that Out of Time is a pretty good album, or I would have agreed with the first part of your statement. "Loosing My Religion" is an excellent, and interesting single. True, that album also had some tripe on it, but overall it was pretty rock solid -- and "Texarcana" makes up for any of the tripe.

Michael Tripe

It also has "Half A World Away", which makes me almost cry every time I hear it, and "Country Feedback".

Your face.



(pwned!!!)

And I dig the band.

When Pearl Jam came out with Vs. i was crushed. Same with Monster. How could a band I enjoyed so much deceive me like this? Taking my hard earned cash on their release day... I sweated my balls off in a dry cleaners, and those two albums represent 8 hours of work, plus a few hours of listening, trying to wring water from a stone.

post hi-fi they hit the crony wall, esp. on "around the suck"

They were also pretty ramshackle on the Monster tour. I forget which tune it was, but they started in different keys from each other, and nobody seemed to notice and it was driving me insane. About a minute and a half in, stipe stops the band, they apologize and start over.

For future use:

I haven't heard an R.E.M. album that I don't love.

And the only one I haven't heard is Around The Sun.


I made the stupid mistake of selling off all their major label discs when I heard they were being re-released and remastered, though. Only to find out that the re-releases were $30 a pop and had no bonus tracks or extra anything.

Then Automatic For The People his a HUGE hit. That album fucking kicks my ass everytime I listen to it.

I'm a defender of "Monster." It's got some crap, yeah, but "...Kenneth," "Strange Currencies," and "Star 69" will always rock balls. That's just me, though and I can see where some folks would find it indefensible.

But what's most interesting is that after either "Monster" or "Hi-Fi" they re-upped their WB contract for something like $80 million, based largely on the quality and sales from their previous decade of work. Man, talk about buying an overvalued stock.

I posted in a thread last week about how much I dug "Crush With Eyeliner" from Monster. It's got a few good songs, but I don't find myself listening to REM at all, much less this album. If pressed, I'd listen to Automatic for the People, as spotty as it is.

I've never found the enjoyment in Automatic ... that many do. I thinks it's another mediocre album, with a few strong tracks. Truth be told, I probably take Monster off the shelf to listen to it (or parts of it) more frequently (which isn't very often) than Automatic ....

Out of Time is a weird one. A couple stellar songs, some obvious filler, at least one turd, but for some reason as a whole I am fond of the record. There's a weird bittersweet vibe that I can't quite explain.

I also like Green a lot can't understand the hate for that one.

i promise to make it in ever monster thread.
(i was wondering if anyone would call me on it)

3rd cd i ever bought, hated it

What dumpjack and swiateck said.

I like this album enough though I think there are better ones in their catalog. The only one of theirs I can't listen to is New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

Definitely one of the Top 10 most unfairly maligned albums of all time. I'm headed to a meeting, so someone do me a solid and start that thread...