Automatic For The People

I unashamedly love this album. A lot of folks point to Document as R.E.M.'s best album but I would argue that it was simply the album that brought them into the mainstream spotlight. THIS is the best R.E.M. album. The songwriting, production, and performances are all on point. Sharp, emotional, layered and complex, it's just a damn good album from every angle. Even on the slow jams, there's an ENERGY that pulses behind the music that is just compelling. Back when I was doing critical listening as part of my degree, this was one of our reference albums—basically, an album that was SO well recorded and mixed that you could listen to it on super high-end audiophile equipment and pick it apart to understand what was going on.

more like automatic five the people

"Find The River" is a song I want to be played at my funeral. And that's probably because "Try Not To Breathe" would be considered in bad taste by some (they'd be wrong, by the way). Although my close friends would understand and appreciate if I requested "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" instead. For my money, "Find The River" is the definitive album closer. Especially for THIS album, with themes like mortality, suicide, aging, and Andy Kaufman. This is one of those albums that shaped me and got me through a few turbulent moments. I know every song like I do scenes from a favorite movie I've seen multiple times. It's Stipe, Berry, Buck and Mills at the peak of their powers. "Drive" is something of a response to the David Essex classic "Rock On" with incredible string arrangements by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones of all people. "Sidewinder" is a similar riff on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight. One of the most known songs," Everybody Hurts" is REM's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and destined to be covered endlessly for generations to come. Stipe's moments of clarity and levity flow together seamlessly. The Mike Mills backup vocals standout even more than usual here, again underlying REM's secret weapon. This is one of those Desert Island albums. It's timeless. But it can still take me back to the Fall of 1992, the spring of 1998, or most of 2017. And it's far and away my favorite album of the 117 I've listened to so far on this list.

Not my cup of tea completely but happy to drink it anyway

One of the best albums, all-time. And best closing 3 songs ever. Sweetness Follows is underrated.

R.E.M.'s best, imho, and a formative album for me. My father had it and I hadn't listened to them before. Going thru his collection, I pulled it out while looking for something else (probably Pink Floyd or Van Halen or Depeche Mode (which, boy, that was a weird group for a conservative cop to listen to or Roger Water's solo stuff, you get the idea) and he told me I could have it. It was this album and, oddly enough, Chris Isaak's Heart Shaped World. I asked my dad why he didn't want it and he said it was "faggoty shit". Now, at this point, I was young and still only vaguely aware that my orientation might be different than my peers. Well I took it, only vaguely guessing as to what Faggoty Shit could refer to when he never made the same gestures at Elton John (who my mother loved). What I think he meant by that was 'sensitive'. Automatic For The People is a remarkably empathetic, deeply personal feeling album that doesn't get buried in itself and instead decides to thread those personal anxieties, loves and thoughts through a warm and lived in sonic space. Nostalgia, politics, mortality, romance and sexuality all mesh together in a sweet sort of late summer dusk-to-autumn cycle of Queer Americana. As time would go one, I'd deeply appreciate how much I see myself in this record. The popculture-to-political focus of Man on the Moon. The intimacy, excitement and rush of Night Swimming. The strokes to find yourself in bigger pictures with haunted melancholic undertones of Find The River and Sweetness Follows. The interpersonal spaces of impossible to ignore politics by the way of Ignoreland. It's a chronicle. It's tragic and beautiful. But sonically it's tight. A refinement of ideas explored in early R.E.M. records and represents a culmination of their sound before they'd experiment further. This is their best album. But that's what I love about R.E.M., their best is still equally good as other albums which could call their best (Document, Murmur, Reackoning, Monster, Hi-Fi, you could make a case for any of these).

Drive is such a great track on this record. The strings add a lot to the feel of melancholy and sadness. One of my favorite REM albums.

quality + nostalgia = 5 stars

Wow, did not expect this but this is a masterpiece.

Classic roots rock. It sounds big, it really takes up space. And Michael Stipe has such an iconic voice. “I’m not scared, I’m out of here” is a great closing line for an album that spanned so far

Boring!

One of my favorite albums of all time. I somehow love it more each time I listen to it. Maybe not the most representative of R.E.M. as a whole, but goddamn, what a gorgeous emotional piece of work.

I was already a giant R.E.M. fan when this came out... and this is clearly one of their best. A spectacular album.

I already know it, I already loved it. This was part of the soundtrack of my early 20s, that weird hectic messy growing-pains time where I was newly graduated from college and heady with possibility - and giddy with relief that the Cold War had ended and I was NOT going to blow up at any moment without warning; but that just paved the way for finally looking at all the OTHER ills of the world and wanting to do something about them. Of course I was doing so under the shadow of a whole horde of media looking at us and wondering "goodness what is Generation X going to do and what are they all about," and meanwhile the Boomers were hanging on to their own jobs and positions of power and not letting us actually do anything to explore what we COULD do or find what we WERE all about. But a lot of us tried where we could in small ways. Oh, and "Ignoreland" is still my favorite condemnation of the Reagan/Bush years. "TV tells a million lies, the paper's terrified to report anything that isn't handed on a presidential spoon, I'm just profoundly frustrated by all this, so fuck you, man...."

The sound of my youth. Almost perfect album.

Best album by one of the all time best bands.

This album sounds huge. The strings and acoustic guitars are lush and warm, the electric guitars scream, the drums pop like they're in a cave and everything else (keys, organ/synths, horns) is produced incredibly. Coupled with the vocals, this album is a soundtrack to a revelation

in my top 20 of all time

A work of genius and after 30 years I still listen to it regularly. My favourite track has changed several times over the years. Starting with Nightswimming, then moving on to Everybody Hurts (once described by Peter Buck as an example of Michael Stipe "polishing a turd") but lately it's been the amazing and still prescient Ignoreland. And John Paul Jones arranged the strings. This is up there with Graceland and Led Zep II (of what we've heard so far) with a serious claim to be in the top 10 of best albums ever recorded.

Forgot how amazing this was. Certified BANGER.

For an embarrassingly long time, I thought I didn't like R.E.M. because Losing My Religion sucks. I was right about that song, but I've seen the error of my ways when it comes to the band. This album was a huge part of that. There's something to like about nearly every track. It's just a bunch of thoughtful, well executed jams. Best track: Man on the Moon

REM sells out and we all benefit.

Love this album!

Hi: Drive, Monty Got A Raw Deal, Ignoreland, Star Me Kitten Lo: NONE Thanks for eating my review, generator! Anyways, this is an important album, one of the best from '92 (a year that birthed ton of excellent music) and almost 30 years later still holds up. If you don't love this album, you're an idiot.

That’s me in the corner, thats’s me in the spot-light…trying to figure out why I love one era of REM, but loathe another.

Boring

The album that saw REM confirm their place as global megastars. An album packed full of melancholy and beauty.

This is my favorite REM album. The lyrics, the acoustics, and Stipes' voice just speaks directly to my soul. It has a very special place in my heart.

Awesome

Why no 6 star option. Clearly one of the all time greatest albums.

Classic!

Love this album ❤️

Loved it, best album we've listened to

One of the best of all time. Mix of styles, pacing, and just all round greatness.

Pretty much exactly what I expected, which isn't a bad thing.

Just perfect in almost every way.

Incredible- correlation between the America we are living in currently, my dad loves this band and I think I finally do too

I hated out of time and put off listening to REM for a long time after that. Shiny Happy People being possibly the worst song ever written. This album is a different beast entirely.

So good, the highs are extremely high, and the lows are fairly high too, to be honest.

Being the first R.E.M album Ive listened to, seems like a high mark to me. Everyone hurts and Man on the moon! Being their eighth album im not entirely sure where that lands in their discography but it was a great standalone album.

this is probably the album that convinced christina to go to school in athens. thanks REM!

OK, but needs a bit more jingle and a lot more jangle.

Damn I didn’t think I’d love this like that. What an unexpected 5 that makes me really appreciate this whole project

Absolutely fantastic album. A bit surreal listening to Man on the Moon while watching a waxing gibbous moon disappear behind the Klamath Mountains about 2,640 miles away from where I normally listen to my daily album. Maybe it was the extra shot of espresso in my coffee but this record hit me just exactly perfect. R.E.M. are one of the great American rock bands.

There are a large number of albums on this list that were released in the late 60s or early 70s. Yes this was an important period of innovation, but equally important is that these are the iconic albums from the youth of boomers. GenX has a similar thing and this album in pretty damn iconic. It is also a gorgeous work of art. There is not a bad song on this entire record. Great music from start to finish. Reading through some of the reviews here, I'm starting to think that asking people about this album may be a great way to avoid assholes. It is okay to not like the style, but anyone who is not moved in the slightest by the lyrics is not someone I want in my life.

Another one I bought (on the day of release?), 30+ years ago! Never my favorite REM album, although "cheese" like Sidewinder and Everybody Hurts has aged just fine and was loved at the time, despite being viewed as a bit "commercial/embarrassing" retrospectively in certain quarters. This is all really excellent throughout. Didn't know how good we had it. [EDIT: OK, a couple of duff tracks. 4.5]

YES! I love R.E.M. These songs are, for the most part, melancholy and bittersweet, and I've loved this album for 20+ years. It was a treat to revisit it.

Automatic For The People I was listening to a podcast about Euro 84 the other day, when France won and Platini scored 9 goals in 5 games. Apparently he was in one of those periods where everything he did and everything he touched turned to gold. If the squad were playing cards he won, if he saw a horse race on TV he picked the winner, if they played tennis or table tennis he won, and everything on the pitch went his way, he knew France would win the tournament, it was inevitable. I kind of get that feeling from this album, one of those times where it feels like every decision, every string arrangement, every guitar figure, every drum pattern, every piano and keyboard note and every bass line is just right, when the artistry and artisanship meet perfectly. It also sounds fantastic, and nothing like much else from 1992, either in songwriting style or production, almost timeless, or out of time you might say. For the most part it's all glacially paced, with only Sidewinder and Man on the Moon really recalling their earlier upbeat jangly sound. But it’s a compelling, stunning album, melodically rich and emotionally, melancholically resonant with some of their finest songs: Drive, Try Not to Breathe, Everybody Hurts, Sweetness Follows, Nightswimming and Find the River. And the remaining, perhaps lesser known songs like Monty Got A Raw Deal, Ignoreland and Star Me Kitten are excellent too. I can see why some people might have been hesitant about it, compared to their slightly more rough-edged 80s albums. From those 80s albums I’ve listened to they have the exciting sense of the band pushing the outer edges of their talent, but this feels different, that they moved beyond what they had done previously, striking out into a stately, magisterial assuredness. A fantastic album from start to end, there’s no weak tracks, and no weak moments - I kept wanting to give it just one more listen. A clear 5. ✴️✴️✴️✴️✴️ Playlist submission: It could be all of them, but today it’s Sweetness Follows

What a fuckin classic… Michael stipe ruminating on all his sad boi feelings Top 3 songs: man on the moon, nightswimming, everybody hurts

Incredicle

The closing 1-2-3 of Man on the Moon, Nightswimming and Find the River are unmatched

One of my favorite albums of all-time. I bought this album on tape (a yellow transparent tape) and absolutely wore it out. There's nothing that I dislike about this album, even the instrumental. The first four songs and last three songs are classics and help make this album as great at it is. I was one of the people who was waiting for the REM rock album, but through this life-changing album I got the REM I really needed. The ruminations on loss, death, Dr. Suess (haha) and one angry screed about politics that has many of my favorite lines in it. What I love most about this album is the ruminations on death & loss are not trite and even the fast songs are tinged with a sense of longing and the feel of aging. I don't like dreary albums as a whole, but this album is an exception. It should drag, but it doesn't. I thought I would feel as exhausted as Stipe sounds on "Sweetness Follows," but I feel energized by each song (even Star Me Kitten). I saw on Wikipedia there is criticism from the band and the public regarding some of the recording and vocals, but for me the lack of perfection only serves to reinforce why I like it.

Takes me back to playing roller coaster tycoon

What a great album! Up until now, I have only really listened to R.E.M when it appears in a party playlist. I think it's a much better listening experience in album form, i.e. not such a mood killer. This album is going on the replay list. 5/5

Great songs

Everybody Hurts

I’d never describe myself as an R.E.M fan but this album is undeniable. Classic track after classic track, I don’t really see how anyone could give this less than 5

Probably REM's best album (and that's saying a lot, given the "competition"). Made even better through John Paul Jones' arrangements on some of the songs, which renders them pure magic.

Probably the pinnacle of their production. R.E.M. don't get better than this record, for me.

awesome love it

Seminal album for me.

Love this album! Poignant lyrics, endearing ennui, wistful storytelling.

Nightswimming, The River, Man On The Moon, EVERYBODY HURTS. What a list of tracks! R.E.M is just one of those artists that can get you feeling every type of emotion throughout their music, and it's a beautiful thing because so. Incredible vocals of the 80s/ 90s.

Doesn't get much better than that!

Clásico.

Easy 5. Even the non singles are ace. Monty got a raw deal...

Loved it, played it multiple tomes

R.E.M. is an incredible band and this might be my favorite album of theirs. I'm usually quite reluctant to apply labels like "favorite" or "best," or to rank an artist's or group's output, so I use "favorite" here in lower-case letters or parenthetically, mostly to indicate how I gravitate towards it. I don't want to diminish my affection for their other work. All that being said, there's a depth and texture to this album that makes it stand out for me in R.E.M.'s impressive catalog. It's odd to say this, but I actually believe this band is underrated, as are the four individual members as musicians and songwriters. I am particularly fond of Peter Buck (my view: because he didn't rip massive solos, even though he was more than capable of it, he is not talked about as much as other rock/pop/alt guitarists, but he's fantastic) and Mike Mills (quiet and cerebral, so not a limelight guy, he's an amazing bassist, pianist, singer, and writer). What I learned from the Wiki entry that's linked to this album is the John Paul Jones (yes, as in Led Zeppelin's JPJ) contributed string arrangements to four tracks on this album. That is super-cool (JPJ is another way, way underrated musician).

Phenomenal.

The second repeat! Much more welcome than Kate Bush. Going from R.E.M.'s debut to their 8th album is a huge jump. The band is more confident, more powerul, and more in the groove. This album has a bunch of hits on it, and the non-hit tracks still slap. Very, very enjoyable. Hung out for a while listening to live cuts and demos. I'm not sure if this deserves a straight 5, but it's miles ahead of Murmer, which I gave a 4.

It's great music, but it's also incredibly melancholy music, and it requires a matching melancholy mood for maximum appreciation. This is NOT an album for my regular rotation.

Caught me listening to the words in a way rock often fails to. 4.

8/10

Commercial R.E.M. appears to be my preferred mode of the Mekon-headed collective, evocative, Stipe finding just the right level of obscurity to complement the polished clamour.

Fourth R.E.M. album that's come up on this thing, which seems like too many. Regardless, this was good, a lot less rocking and more of a crawling deliberate record with some great standout songs.

Michael Stipe has an iconic voice. I really like it, though sometimes I find he becomes a bit of an American Morrissey, just warbling and rambling out of time on certain tracks. 'Ignoreland' and 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite' is where it's most prominent, though both tracks are among the best on the album. 'Everybody Hurts' is still amazing. A bittersweet sound which is prominent on most of the album but nowhere moreso than on this track. I like the more happy sounding songs too, a fun jangly pop sound. I enjoyed this a lot, but there was something missing. Just that extra piece of the puzzle that would have made it incredible, but I'm not sure what that is.

Not terrible but I don't like how he sings

Automatic for the people was actually a really solid album. The songs here definitely left quite the impression on me especially the last few songs which could be legitimate tearjerkers at times. The sound of this album isn't really anything too special, different or unique but for what it does sound like, it manages to sound pretty good. The songs here were a bit similar sounding to each other but i didn't find that a huge issue since the style was all still good. This album is one that doesn't break new grounds but still manages to be a solid listen. Best Song: The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite Worst Song: Sweetness Follows

As with Garbage, I realised that actually I know this album quite well, even though I probably wouldn’t have known it. I just can’t get past Stipe’s voice. I hate it. It’s like broken glass. It’s just grindy and annoying and urgh. I suspect the songs might be ok - but I just can’t get past the vocal.

Man, I am NOT an R.E.M. fan, so I'll get through this one, I guess... My old roommate's dad was in a bunch of Savannah bands back in the 70's and 80's, and he used to tell us that his band played in Athens one time, and they had to open for some shitty house band named REM. I guess they aren't so shitty, because they've sold a ton of albums. Good for them. Maybe Jeff's dad was just jealous. It just isn't for me. I'm actually upset, because now the Spotify algorithm will try and infuse this into my recommendations... There is a nostalgia to some of these tunes. I watched MTV a lot back when this came out, so I was inundated with the "hits." If I had to pick, I like the album before this one, and I like Orange Crush off of their 88 album Green. Favorite song on here, Man on the Moon.

This one starts off a little slow and stays that way for really the whole album. It's not bad, just not what I would expect I guess. I also think it sounds a little thin, guitars in particular, but I feel like thin sounding guitars are kind of an R.E.M. signature. That's one of the problems I've always had with R.E.M. - I always feel like they need to fill out the sound spectrum a little. I felt myself kind of drifting out of attention throughout this whole record. Does that make it background music? I hate to use the word 'boring' but it kind of was. I was excited when this record came up for the day but left a little disappointed. There are certainly songs I like on this record, Everyboy Hurts, Drive, Monty Got A Raw Deal, Man On The Moon. But I wouldn't play this whole album again. 2.5 stars

Overall, a fairly boring album. Nothing about the song composition anywhere in this album is notable. The saving grace for this album (and band) is Michael Stipe's voice which is unique and memorable. I had heard "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon" before. None of the songs were notable. "Ignoreland" is a predictable, dull, angsty uninformed rant against Republicans, which is just so classically predictable for musicians and out of touch celebrities. This album isn't difficult to listen to necessarily. It's not Queen Latifah levels of bad. It's just dull and predictable.

Fine music, but I don't really vibe with it. I think it's a little too mellowed out, and flat. It doesn't really do it for me.

I hate REM

I truly dislike everything about REM. Couldn’t finish.

Easiest five ever. This is one of the best albums of all time.

An easy five. Richly textured and beautifully executed. It’s a rare giant hit record that was artistically daring and stands the test of time. Every song is wonderful and weird in their own way. REM became mega-stars in the most REM way imaginable.

Rips

Automatic For The People by R.E.M. A truly great L.P. and an easy 5 ⭐️. I was 15 or 16 when this was released and my friends and I listened to it a lot as well as other LPs by the band. I tried to ignore the fact that I know I love this LP and the band and listen with fresh ears, I still love this LP. Although it does hit differently as I approach 50, far more melancholic than I remember. I have so many memories attached to this record and it is truly a masterpiece.

I wouldn’t call myself an alt-rock zealot. I don’t carry the torch for every jangly guitar and murky lyric from the early 90s. But Automatic for the People has hit the mark for me for close to thirty years now, and at this point it’s pretty clear that isn’t nostalgia talking. It’s just a genuinely great record. What floors me is how confidently it leans into quiet, reflective spaces without ever turning dull. “Try Not to Breathe,” “Sweetness Follows,” “Nightswimming,” “Everybody Hurts”—these songs go straight for something human and vulnerable without slipping into melodrama. There’s a sincerity at the core of this album that most bands would break trying to reach. Even the bigger moments, like “Man on the Moon,” feel earned rather than showy. The whole album radiates that strange little R.E.M. magic trick: they sound completely relaxed and somehow world-weary, but they never lose their footing. It’s gentle, melodic, and deeply emotional without ever begging for attention. For me, this is one of those rare records that becomes part of the internal landscape. Sunday night reflection, long drives, quiet mornings—you drop it in, and suddenly you’ve got a companion that doesn’t demand anything but gives you a lot in return. That’s the territory of a five.

this was honestly a masterpiece and i’m so glad i listened to it

Solid

A favorite of mine. REM at the peak of their powers. Sad, political, driving. Many hits here but Nightswimming is such a special song.

If R.E.M. had a 5 star album, it would be this one. There are two songs on here I haven't listened to before, the rest I have had. I have heard the hit ones many times. Such a great album!

I’m embarrassed to admit this is the first time I’ve ever listened to this full album. I’ve always had a reverence for R.E.M. as the father of something that I loved musically. But couldn’t get past shiny happy people. This is a wonderful album. I’ll listen to it a lot. Aside from the big songs There’s a couple gems that I’ll probably play on Repeat before I put this down.

Every song on this is good or great. Definitely a five.

Gets better every listen

Iconic album

Soft 5 but love the bangers

One of REMs best