 7. R.E.M., Automatic for the
People (1992)
In my opinion, R.E.M.'s best work to date.
With its release, ten years after their debut EP Chronic Town, R.E.M.
really hit their stride as songwriters and musicians.
This collection of songs about loss and regret
create a mood of exquisite sadness, yet overall the album leaves me with a sense of quiet
hope. In songs like "Find the River" and "Monty Got a Raw Deal,"
R.E.M. spends much of the album looking backward to days and people long gone, but the
ache is tempered by the consolation of "Everybody Hurts" and "Sweetness
Follows." The lush orchestral arrangement of "Nightswimming" and the
swinging rhythms of songs like "Try Not to Breathe" and "Man on the
Moon" draw me back to this CD again and again.
I would recommend this album over Eponymous
as the "essential" R.E.M. CD. |
