Automatic For The People

AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE is a classic of "alternative" rock. Released soon after OUT OF TIME, it shows R.E.M. on a creative roll with no shortage of original ideas. Bold songs such as ominous "Drive" and the empathetic "Everybody Hurts" demonstrated that the band were not reluctant to experiment, while the Karl Denver opening on "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" and the elegiac Andy Kaufman tribute "Man On The Moon" were as good as anything they had ever recorded. Even with the departure of original drummer Bill Berry, R.E.M. are still very much alive here, setting a high bar for their subsequent recordings.

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.52)
- Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."

Rolling Stone (10/29/92, p.68)
- 5 Stars - Classic - "...R.E.M. has never made music more gorgeous....shimmers with new, complex beauty....musically irresistible....finds the band gaining a startling emotional directness..."

Spin (9/99, p.140)
- Ranked #40 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."

Entertainment Weekly (10/16/92, p.74)
- "...deeply moving and entirely idiosyncratic....[the songs] tend to be rich and subdued, full of lush strings and deep feeling....show[s] the band moving into more personal territory than ever before....the band's greatest triumph..." - Rating: A

Q (12/99, p.74)
- Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."

Q (10/01, p.102)
- Ranked #6 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime"

Q (1/93, p.68)
- Included in Q's list of the 50 Best Albums Of 1992.

Q (11/92, p.117)
- 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a lively form of bliss is readily available from the sounds of AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE....Big emotions, big ideas....it's about life. Without embarrassment and via sundry dark metaphors, it enquires `What's it all about, if anything'..."

Mojo (p.110)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "With '92's AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE, R.E.M. reached their creative peak."

Uncut (pp.110-111)
- 5 stars out of 5 - "[T]he album found R.E.M. concentrating on their mature strengths: dignity, mandolins, somber brown textures, unblinking seriousness of intent..."

NME (10/2/93, p.29)
- Ranked #23 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.'

NME (8/12/00, p.28)
- Ranked #11 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums"

NME (10/3/92, p.36)
- 10 - Classic - "...They've created an LP you can gain a lot from in times of trouble....In their hands, music is no longer wallpaper, but a living, breathing organism as old as the hills..."

Musician (10/92, p.102)
- "...These quiet songs, so sure of their honesty that they are unafraid of risking musical corniness, can be heard as an indictment of the Republican era, a lament for the AIDS years, or simply a consideration of roads not taken..."

Village Voice (3/2/93, p.5)
- Ranked #3 in the Village Voice's list of the 40 Best Albums Of 1992.