R.E.M.’s 11th studio album, Up, informally flagged the start of the third and final phase of the band’s career, following both their early I.R.S. years and their mainstream peak in the 1990s. Drummer Bill Berry departed the band after suffering a brain aneurysm while on tour in 1995, but the remaining members opted not to replace him, instead employing electronic drum programming throughout the majority of the album. And the timing, it seemed, was serendipitous, as the electronica movement was reaching its apotheosis.
Up subsequently marked the end of R.E.M.’s decade-long relationship with rock producer Scott Litt, replaced by Ray of Light knob-twirler Pat McCarthy and mixer Nigel Godrich, who produced Ok Computer. And yet, the album doesn’t immerse itself as vigorously in the genre as those two watershed releases. Sonically, tracks like the Eno-esque opener “Airportman” and the gently percolating “Suspicion...
Up subsequently marked the end of R.E.M.’s decade-long relationship with rock producer Scott Litt, replaced by Ray of Light knob-twirler Pat McCarthy and mixer Nigel Godrich, who produced Ok Computer. And yet, the album doesn’t immerse itself as vigorously in the genre as those two watershed releases. Sonically, tracks like the Eno-esque opener “Airportman” and the gently percolating “Suspicion...
- 11/6/2023
- by Sal Cinquemani
- Slant Magazine
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