Automatic for the People
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| Automatic for the People | |||||
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| Studio album by R.E.M. | |||||
| Released | October 5, 1992 | ||||
| Recorded | Late 1991–Mid-1992, Bearsville Studio, Bearsville, NY; Criteria Recording Studios, Miami; John Keane Studio, Athens, GA; Bosstown Recording Studios, Atlanta; Bad Animals/Seattle, Seattle (mixing only) | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 48:52 | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. | ||||
| Producer | Scott Litt & R.E.M. | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| R.E.M. chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Automatic for the People | |||||
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Automatic for the People is the eighth album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1992. The album was a critical and commercial success, with three top 40 hits in the U.S. and UK. The album was a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic. It was the band's first widespread popular album in the UK - placing at number 1 for for 4 non-consecutive weeks (1992 and 1993) - and on the album charts for 179 weeks [1] In America it reached number 2 and remained on the album charts for 75 weeks [2]. The album's extremely successful performance in Britain foreshadowed how the band would later become more popular in the UK than in their homeland.
Contents |
[edit] Details
Automatic for the People continues the folk/country rock/classical pop elements of Green and Out of Time but with fewer pop elements and a generally more sombre tone overall. U2's Bono called it 'the greatest country record never made.'[3]
The album name refers to the motto of Athens, Georgia eatery "Weaver D's Delicious Fine Foods." The photograph on the front cover is not related to the restaurant: it shows a sign on a motel in Miami, where part of the album was recorded. The album was also recorded in New Orleans.
Arriving on the heels of the previous year's breakthrough album, Out of Time, Automatic for the People entered the U.S. charts at #2, selling over four million copies, and spent several weeks at #1 in the United Kingdom as well. Despite not having toured after the release of Out of Time, R.E.M. again declined to tour in support of this album. In the UK, it was the second-best selling album of 1993 behind only Meat Loaf's comeback album Bat Out of Hell II.
Automatic for the People had six singles released, tied with Monster for the most from any R.E.M. album. Many of Automatic for the People's songs proved to be very popular: "Drive," "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite," "Everybody Hurts," "Nightswimming," "Find the River," and the Andy Kaufman tribute "Man on the Moon", which would become the title of the comedian's 1999 biographical movie starring Jim Carrey. "Drive", the album's opening track and first single, was not included on the band's hits collection In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, nor was final single (and final track) "Find the River." However, four tracks from Automatic for the People were included, more songs than from any of their other albums.
John Paul Jones, the bassist of Led Zeppelin, in his string arrangement role, scored the strings for "Drive," "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite," "Everybody Hurts," and "Nightswimming."
It has been revealed that Kurt Cobain was likely listening to Automatic for the People sometime before his death on April 5, 1994.[4] The song "Everybody Hurts" had in fact been composed by Michael Stipe (its music was written by Bill Berry) as a reaction to an epidemic of suicides among young people. Stipe, a friend of Cobain's, later wrote the song "Let Me In" about Cobain's death. [5] It has been speculated that before his death, Cobain was looking to develop his own music in a more acoustic direction due partly to the influence of Automatic for the People and his contact with Stipe. Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged performance later released on CD has been cited as evidence for this.
In 2005, Warner Bros. Records issued a two-disc edition of Automatic for the People which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. The CD (as with all in the 2005 DVD-A issue series) is not remastered.
[edit] Critical acclaim
Mostly acoustic and typified by its dark lyrics (many of which ruminate on mortality, death and those departed), Automatic for the People is generally considered to be among R.E.M.'s best albums, and one of the finest popular music releases of the 1990s. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1993.
In 1997 Automatic for the People was named the 18th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 2006, Q magazine readers placed it at number 7. In 2003, the album was ranked number 247 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.
- "Drive" – 4:31
- "Try Not to Breathe" – 3:50
- "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" – 4:06
- "Everybody Hurts" – 5:17
- "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" – 2:13
- "Sweetness Follows" – 4:19
- "Monty Got a Raw Deal" – 3:17
- "Ignoreland" – 4:24
- "Star Me Kitten" – 3:15
- "Man on the Moon" – 5:13
- "Nightswimming" – 4:16
- "Find the River" – 3:50
[edit] Studio B-sides
Like most R.E.M. albums, Automatic for the People had several live and studio tracks that were unused on the final album and instead issued as B-sides, either on CD maxi-singles or on other albums. The studio tracks are comprised primarily of instrumentals and covers. The Out of Time outtake "It's a Free World, Baby", also makes its first official appearance on the "Drive" single. "Fretless," another Out of Time outtake, was first released on the 1991 Until the End of the World soundtrack, and appears on one of Automatic's singles. Both of these tracks, however, were recorded for the previous album. "Dark Globe" was recorded during the sessions for Green. The instrumental track to Green's "Orange Crush" was also a B-side to "Everybody Hurts".
- "Winged Mammal Theme" (written as a theme song for the Batman franchise, but ultimately rejected by the film makers) – 2:55
- "It's a Free World Baby" (Out of Time outtake) – 5:11
- "First We Take Manhattan" (Leonard Cohen cover, first appeared on the 1991 Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan) – 6:06
- "New Orleans Instrumental #2" (companion piece to the "New Orleans Instrumental" that appears on the album) – 3:48
- "Fruity Organ" (organ instrumental) – 3:26
- "Arms of Love" (Robyn Hitchcock cover) – 3:35
- "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (The Tokens cover, written by Solomon Linda, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George Weiss) – 2:41
- "Organ Song" (organ instrumental) – 3:25
- "Mandolin Strum" (mandolin instrumental) – 3:26
- "Chance (Dub)" – 2:36
- "Dark Globe" (Syd Barrett) – 1:51
Also, there are three additional tracks issued which are alternate versions of album tracks.
- "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" (long version) – 3:29
- "Star Me Kitten" (demo) – 3:05
- "Star Me Kitten" (sung by William S. Burroughs)
[edit] Personnel
- Bill Berry – drums, percussion instrument, keyboards, bass, vocals
- Peter Buck – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass
- Mike Mills – bass, keyboards, vocals
- Michael Stipe – vocals
[edit] Additional personnel
- Scott Litt – harmonica, contrabass clarinet
- John Paul Jones – orchestral arrangements
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- George Hanson – conductor on 1 3 4 11
- Knox Chandler – cello on 1 3 4 11
- Kathleen Kee – cello on 1 3 4 11
- Daniel Laufer – cello on 1 3 4 11
- Elizabeth Murphy – cello on 1 3 4 11
- Denise Berginson-Smith – violin on 1 3 4 11
- Lonnie Ditzen – violin on 1 3 4 11
- Patti Gouvas – violin on 1 3 4 11
- Sandy Salzinger – violin on 1 3 4 11
- Sou-Chun Su – violin on 1 3 4 11
- Judy Taylor – violin on 1 3 4 11
- Paul Murphy – viola (lead) on 1 3 4 11
- Reid Harris – viola on 1 3 4 11
- Heidi Nitchie – viola on 1 3 4 11
- Deborah Workman – oboe on 1 3 4 11
[edit] Technical personnel
- Scott Litt – producer, mixing engineer
- Clif Morrell – recording engineer, mixing engineer
- George Cowan – second engineer (Bearsville)
- Andrew Roshberg – second engineer (Miami)
- John Keane – recording engineer (Athens)
- Mark Howard – second engineer (New Orleans)
- Ted Malia – second engineer (Atlanta)
- Ed Brooks – second engineer (Seattle)
- Tod Lemkuhl – second engineer (Seattle)
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering engineer (Precision Mastering)
- Mark "Microwave" Mytrowitz – technical assistance
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Billboard 200 | 2 [2] |
| 1992 | UK Album Chart | 1 [1] |
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Drive" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 [6] |
| 1992 | "Drive" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 [6] |
| 1992 | "Drive" | Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 23 [6] |
| 1992 | "Drive" | Billboard Hot 100 | 28 [6] |
| 1992 | "Drive" | UK Singles Charts | 11 [1] |
| 1992 | "Ignoreland" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 5 [6] |
| 1992 | "Ignoreland" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 [6] |
| 1992 | "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 24 [6] |
| 1992 | "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 28 [6] |
| 1992 | "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" | UK Singles Charts | 17 [1] |
| 1993 | "Everybody Hurts" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 21 [6] |
| 1993 | "Everybody Hurts" | Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 13 [6] |
| 1993 | "Everybody Hurts" | Billboard Hot 100 | 29 [6] |
| 1993 | "Everybody Hurts" | UK Singles Charts | 6 [1] |
| 1993 | "Man on the Moon" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 2 [6] |
| 1993 | "Man on the Moon" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 [6] |
| 1993 | "Man on the Moon" | Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 9 [6] |
| 1993 | "Man on the Moon" | Billboard Hot 100 | 30 [6] |
[edit] Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| BPI – UK | Gold | October 1, 1992 [7] |
| BPI – U.K. | Platinum | November 1, 1992 [7] |
| CRIA – Canada | Gold | November 6, 1992 [8] |
| CRIA – Canada | Platinum | November 6, 1992 [8] |
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold | December 17, 1992 [9] |
| RIAA – U.S. | Platinum | December 17, 1992 [9] |
| RIAA – U.S. | 2 X Platinum | December 17, 1992 [9] |
| RIAA – U.S. | 3 X Platinum | November 16, 1992 [9] |
| BPI – U.K. | 2 X Platinum | January 1, 1993 [7] |
| CRIA – Canada | 2 X Platinum | January 19, 1993 [8] |
| BPI – U.K. | 3 X Platinum | August 1, 1993 [7] |
| BPI – U.K. | 4 X Platinum | August 1, 1993 [7] |
| BPI – U.K. | 5 X Platinum | January 1, 1994 [7] |
| RIAA – U.S. | 4 X Platinum | February 9, 1995 [9] |
| BPI – U.K. | 6 X Platinum | March 1, 1995 [7] |
| CRIA – Canada | 7 X Platinum | September 29, 2003 [8] |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e UK Top 40 Hit Database. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ a b allmusic (((Automatic for the People > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums))). Retrieved on 2006-03-14.
- ^ Handler, Shane, R.E.M. Live, Glide Magazine.
- ^ Cross, Charles R. Heavier Than Heaven, 2001, ISBN 0-7868-6505-9
- ^ Monster Music R.E.M., One Of, Time Magazine, September 26, 1994
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o allmusic (((Automatic for the People > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles))). Retrieved on 2006-03-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g BPI Certified Awards. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ a b c d CRIA Certifications. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ a b c d e RIAA Gold and Platinum. Retrieved on 2006-03-20.
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