Monster (R.E.M. album)

Monster
An album cover showing a blurred drawing of a cat's head in black against an orange background. The name of the album is in red text in the top-left corner of the cover and the band's name is in blue text on a black background in the top-right corner of the cover.
Studio album by R.E.M.
Released September 26, 1994
Recorded April–May 1994 at Kingsway Studio, New Orleans; Crossover Soundstage, Atlanta; Criteria Studios, Miami; Ocean Way Recording, Los Angeles
Genre Alternative rock
Length 49:15
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Scott Litt and R.E.M.
R.E.M. chronology

The Automatic Box
(1993)		 Monster
(1994)		 R.E.M.: Singles Collected
(1994)
Singles from Monster
  1. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
    Released: September 21, 1994
  2. "Bang and Blame"
    Released: January 10, 1995
  3. "Strange Currencies"
    Released: April 18, 1995
  4. "Crush with Eyeliner"
    Released: August 15, 1995
  5. "Tongue"
    Released: October 31, 1995

Monster is the ninth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1994 on Warner Bros. Records. Co-produced by the band and Scott Litt, Monster was an intentional stylistic shift from the group's preceding albums, Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992), consisting of loud, distorted guitar tones and simple song arrangements. Singer Michael Stipe's lyrics dealt with the nature of celebrity, which he sang while assuming various characters. Led by the single "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", Monster debuted at number one in the United States. The band promoted the record with its first concert tour since 1989.

Recording

Early in 1993, the members of R.E.M. convened a four-day meeting in Acapulco, Mexico, to devise a plan for the next two years. The group settled on a plan for 1994 through the end of 1996, which included recording a new album and touring behind it.[1] Drummer Bill Berry was particularly eager to tour (which the band had not done since 1989), and was insistent that the album "rock". The band agreed that after Out of Time and Automatic for the People they did not want to make another slow-paced album.[2]

Later that year R.E.M. began recording its ninth album.[2] Preproduction took place at Kingsway Studio in New Orleans under the supervision of Mark Howard, who had previously worked on Automatic for the People.[3] The band wrote 45 songs for the record, including "a whole album's worth of acoustic stuff" that the band demoed, according to guitarist Peter Buck.[1] Howard recalled that the sessions were more experimental for the band; he said, "The bass had a tremolo sound on it. It was a more inventive session for them." The studio did not have a control room, so Howard recorded Michael Stipe singing lyrical ideas while lying on a couch. Howard said, "Being able to put those vocals down helped him write the lyrics to a lot of songs on Monster."[4] Once the sessions were complete, Howard played the recordings to co-producer Scott Litt, who had worked with the band since their fifth album Document.[3]

In February 1994 the band moved to Crossover Soundstage in Atlanta, Georgia. At Crossover, most of the album's basic tracks were recorded live, as if the band were playing in concert. Litt said, "I thought since they hadn't toured in a while, it would be good for them to get into that mind-set--you know, monitors, PA, standing up".[5] The sessions were hampered by a number of events, including Berry and bassist Mike Mills falling ill on separate occasions, Buck and Stipe leaving to visit family members, and the deaths of Stipe's friends River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain.[4] The band wrote and recorded "Let Me In" in tribute to Cobain, and dedicated the album to Phoenix,[5] whose sister Rain sang background vocals on "Bang and Blame".

In late April 1994, the band relocated to Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, but recording was disrupted because Stipe suffered from a tooth abscess that required medical attention.[6] Unlike previous album sessions, by the time production had moved to Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles, California, the band was behind schedule. Litt attributed the delay to recording live at Crossover, which lengthened the mixing process; he told Rolling Stone, "We're trying to figure out how raw to leave it and how much to studiofy it." At the same time, Stipe was still writing when the band was supposed to be mixing the record. Tension arose between the band members, who were staying in different locations in Los Angeles and would rarely be in the studio at the same time.[5] Tensions came to a head when the group was recording at Louie's Clubhouse, Litt's home studio in Los Angeles, where years later Stipe recalled, "We broke up . . . We reached the point where none of us could speak to each other, and we were in a small room, and we just said 'Fuck off' and that was it."[7] The group had a meeting to resolve its issues; Mills told Rolling Stone, "We have to begin working as a unit again, which we haven't been doing very well lately."[5]

Music
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
Sample of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", the first single from Monster. The song's loud, distorted guitars were an intentional departure from the sound of R.E.M.'s previous two albums.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In contrast to the sound of R.E.M.'s previous two records, the music of Monster consisted of distorted guitar tones, minimal overdubs, and touches of 1970s glam rock. Peter Buck described Monster as "a 'rock' record, with the rock in quotation marks." He explained, "That's not what we started out to make, but that's certainly how it turned out to be. There's a nudge, nudge, wink, wink feel to the whole record. Like, it's a rock record, but is it really?"[2] Mike Mills told Time, "On past albums we had been exploring acoustic instruments, trying to use the piano and mandolin, and we did it about all we wanted to do it. And you come back to the fact that playing loud electric-guitar music is about as fun as music can be."[8] Stipe's vocals were pushed back in the mix.[2]

Stipe wrote the lyrics of Monster in character. This, according to biographer Dan Buckley, "set the real Stipe at a distance from the mask adopted for each song." The album dealt with the nature of celebrity and "the creepiness of fandom as pathology".[9] Buck said the album was a reaction to the band's popularity. He added, "When I read the lyrics I thought, all these guys are totally fucked up. I don't know who they are, because they're not Michael. I would say that this was the only time where he's done characters that are creepy, and I don't know if anyone got that. He was getting out his things by acting out these parts that are not him."[10] The band noted that at the end of certain songs, they left blank choruses where Mills and Berry would traditionally sing harmonies so fans could sing along.[1]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [11]
Blender [12]
Robert Christgau A−[13]
Entertainment Weekly B+[14]
The New York Times No score[15]
Rolling Stone [16]

Upon its release, Monster debuted at number one on the Billboard charts.[17] The album also debuted at the top of the British album charts.[18] There were several hits from the album, particularly "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", "Crush with Eyeliner", "Strange Currencies," and "Bang and Blame". The last of these was the band's last U.S. Billboard Top 40 hit. "Star 69" also charted, despite not being released as a single. The album ultimately fared slightly worse commercially than Automatic for the People, representing the beginning of R.E.M.'s commercial decline.

The album was among the first promoted with online content, also distributed physically via floppy disk.[19]

Rolling Stone gave Monster four and a half stars.[16] Critic Robert Palmer noted that Stipe's lyrics dealt with issues of identity ("The concept of reality itself is being called into question: Is this my life or an incredible virtual simulation?") and that occasionally the singer "begins to sound not unlike the proverbial rock star, whining about all those fans who just won't let him alone." He added, "What's truly impressive about Monster is the way R.E.M. make an album with such potentially grave subject matter so much fun."[16] NME gave the album a seven out of ten rating. Reviewer Keith Cameron wrote, "It’s fun, frequently, but we feel distanced, engaged only on a secondhand level. Moreover, the loudly trumpeted fox factor has been conspicuous by its absence." Cameron concluded, "At best stunning, at worst merely diverting, Monster sounds like the album they 'had' to make, to clear out their system, a simple prop to occupy our time..."[20] Allmusic rated the album two and a half stars out of five; Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "Monster doesn't have the conceptual unity or consistently brilliant songwriting of Automatic for the People, but it does offer a wide range of sonic textures that have never been heard on an R.E.M. album before."[11]

In 2005, Warner Bros. issued an expanded two-disc edition of Monster 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.

In November 2011, Monster was ranked number nine on Guitar World magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994, between Rancid's Let's Go and Tesla's Bust a Nut.[21] Guitar World also placed the album at number 36 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[22]

Packaging

The cover artwork features a blurred drawing of a bear's head against an orange background. The cover concept originated when Stipe showed cover artist Chris Bilheimer a balloon he wanted to serve as the album cover, and told him to "play around with". Bilheimer changed the color of the balloon, which was originally green. He also had to re-photograph the bear head. When he was down to the last few frames on a roll of film, he took a few photos without bothering to focus the shots, which he and Stipe ended up liking the best.[23]

The back cover features the body of the bear next to the track listing. The inside sleeve artwork features images of the cartoon character Migraine Boy. "I lifted Migraine Boy from the Flagpole," explained Michael Stipe to Molly McCommons, his 12-year-old interviewer and daughter of Flagpole editor Pete McCommons. "I'd like to officially thank Flagpole for introducing me to Greg Fiering and Migraine Boy. I haven't met Greg, but I've talked to him a lot on the phone. We were actually in San Francisco at the same time, but I was working on another project and we had a television visit for about two hours. This is an exclusive. I don't think anybody else knows about Migraine Boy yet."[24]

The booklet contains several alternate names and working titles for songs involved in the recording process of the album. In interviews the band has described its process of naming albums this way: they tape a big sheet of paper up on the studio wall and then variously they write down random ideas when they occur to them. One song that is mentioned in the list is "Revolution," an outtake that later appeared on the Batman & Robin soundtrack and the bonus disc of In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003. "Yes, I Am Fucking with You" was the working title for "King of Comedy".[5]

Tour

Despite experiencing their highest chart positions to date in 1991 and 1992, the band had elected not to tour, having found the year-long Green tour draining.[25] The Monster tour would be the group's first outing in six years. The tour, which played in arenas and amphitheaters, began in January 1995 with shows in Australia and Japan, and continued throughout Europe and the United States for the remainder of the year. Support acts included Sonic Youth and Radiohead. The tour was a huge commercial success, but the period was difficult for the group.[26] On March 1, Berry collapsed on stage during a performance in Lausanne, Switzerland, having suffered a brain aneurysm. He had surgery immediately and recovered fully within a month. Berry's aneurysm was only the beginning of a series of health problems that plagued the Monster Tour. Mills had to undergo abdominal surgery to remove an intestinal adhesion in July; a month later, Stipe had to have an emergency surgery to repair a hernia.[27] In spite of these factors, the group composed and debuted a number of new songs while on the tour, and recorded the bulk of New Adventures in Hi-Fi, their follow-up to Monster, while on the road. The band brought along eight-track recorders to capture its shows, and used the recordings as the base elements for the album.[28]

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

Side one – "Head side"
  1. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" – 4:00
  2. "Crush with Eyeliner" – 4:39
  3. "King of Comedy" – 3:40
  4. "I Don't Sleep, I Dream" – 3:27
  5. "Star 69" – 3:07
  6. "Strange Currencies" – 3:52
Side two – "Tail side"
  1. "Tongue" – 4:13
  2. "Bang and Blame" – 5:30
  3. "I Took Your Name" – 4:02
  4. "Let Me In" – 3:28
  5. "Circus Envy" – 4:15
  6. "You" – 4:54

Notes

The cassette and LP versions have another version of the sides' names. Tracks 1-6 have been labeled as 'C Side', while tracks 7-12 have been labeled as 'D Side'

Personnel

R.E.M.
Additional musicians
Technical

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1994) Position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[29] 2
Austrian Albums Chart[30] 1
Canadian RPM100[31] 1
Dutch Albums Chart[32] 1
French SNEP Albums Chart[33] 11
German Albums Chart[34] 2
Italian Albums Chart[35] 6
Japanese Albums Chart[36] 19
New Zealand Albums Chart[37] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[38] 2
Swedish Albums Chart[39] 1
Swiss Albums Chart[40] 1
UK Albums Chart[41] 1
US Billboard 200[42] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1994) Position
Australian Albums Chart[43] 46
Austrian Albums Chart[44] 34
Canadian Albums Chart[45] 23
Italian Albums Chart[35] 38
Swiss Albums Chart[46] 39
UK Albums Chart[47] 6
U.S. Billboard 200[48] 67
Chart (1995) Position
Canadian Albums Chart[49] 40
UK Albums Chart[50] 47
U.S. Billboard 200[51] 36

Certifications and sales

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Region Certification Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[52] Platinum 50,000x
Canada (Music Canada)[53] 6× Platinum 600,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[54] Gold 21,125[54]
France (SNEP)[55] 2× Gold 161,400[56]
Germany (BVMI)[57] Platinum 500,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[58] Gold 50,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[59] Platinum 100,000^
Sweden (GLF)[60] Platinum 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[61] Platinum 50,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[62] 3× Platinum 900,000^
United States (RIAA)[63] 4× Platinum 4,000,000[64]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[65] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cavanagh, David. "Tune In, Cheer Up, Rock Out". Q. October 1994.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Buckley, p. 236
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Buckley, p. 237
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Buckley, p. 238
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 DeCurtis, Anthony. "Monster Madness" at the Wayback Machine (archived September 24, 2013). Rolling Stone. October 20, 1994. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
  6. ↑ Black, p. 204
  7. ↑ Black, p. 205
  8. ↑ Farley, Christopher John. "Monster Music R.E.M., One Of". Time. September 26, 1994. Retrieved on August 1, 2008.
  9. ↑ Buckley, p. 241
  10. ↑ Buckley, p. 243-44
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Monster - R.E.M.". Allmusic.com. Retrieved on August 1, 2008.
  12. ↑ "REM: Monster". Blender. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
  13. ↑ "CG: R.E.M.". Robert Christgau. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
  14. ↑ Browne, David (September 30, 1994). "Monster Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
  15. ↑ Pareles, Jon (September 25, 1994). "Recordings View; R.E.M. Gets Rowdy, Again". The New York Times. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Palmer, Robert (May 2, 2001). "R.E.M.: Monster". Rolling Stone. Retrieved on December 5, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Monster Smash" Entertainment Weekly. October 14, 1994. Retrieved on July 31, 2008
  18. ↑ Black, p. 207
  19. ↑ R.E.M. – Monster Interactive Disk. Discogs. Retrieved on September 27, 2013
  20. ↑ Cameron, Keith. Monster review. NME. September 24, 1994.
  21. ↑ Grassi, Tony. "Photo Gallery: The Top 10 Guitar Albums of 1994". GuitarWorld.com. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
  22. ↑ "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  23. ↑ Buckley, p. 247
  24. ↑ Flagpole, September 1994
  25. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rem-p116437/biography
  26. ↑ Buckley, p. 248
  27. ↑ Buckley, p. 251–55
  28. ↑ Buckley, p. 256
  29. ↑ "R.E.M. - Monster (Album)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  30. ↑ "R.E.M. - Monster (Album)". Austriancharts.com (in German). Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  31. ↑ "RPM100 Albums". RPM 60(15). Toronto: RPM Music Publications (October 31, 1994). Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved on March 20, 2009.
  32. ↑ "R.E.M. - Monster (Album)". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  33. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : R.E.M.". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  34. ↑ "Chartverfolgung - R.E.M. - Monster". Musicline.de (in German). Retrieved on March 20, 2009.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1994" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  36. ↑ R.E.M.-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of Monster by R.E.M.". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  37. ↑ "R.E.M. - Monster (Album)". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  38. ↑ "R.E.M. - Monster (Album)". Norgwegiancharts.com. Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  39. ↑ "R.E.M. - Monster (Album)". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-18.
  40. ↑ "R.E.M. - Monster (Album)". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-18.
  41. ↑ Roberts, David (ed.) (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th edition). London: HiT Entertainment. p. 446. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  42. ↑ "Monster > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  43. ↑ ARIA Charts "End Of Year Charts – Top 50 Albums 1994". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  44. ↑ "Austriancharts.at - Jahreshitparade 1993". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  45. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1994". RPM. 1994-12-12. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  46. ↑ "Hitparade.ch - Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1994". Swiss Music Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  47. ↑ "Chart Archive - 1990s Albums". Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  48. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1994". billboard.biz. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  49. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1995". RPM. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  50. ↑ "CIN Artist Albums - Year-End - 1995". Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  51. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1995". billboard.biz. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  52. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – R.E.M. – Monster" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter R.E.M. in the field Interpret. Enter Monster in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  53. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – R.E.M. – Monster". Music Canada.
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 The first web page presents the sales figures, the second presents the certification limits:
  55. ↑ "French album certifications – R.E.M. – Monster" (in French). InfoDisc. Select R.E.M. and click OK
  56. ↑ "Les Albums Double Or". infodisc.fr (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  57. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (R.E.M.; 'Monster')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  58. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – REM – Monster" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.
  59. ↑ "Solo Exitos 1959-2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1991-1995". Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 8480486392.
  60. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  61. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (R.E.M.; 'Monster')". Hung Medien.
  62. ↑ "British album certifications – R.E.M. – Monster". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Monster in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  63. ↑ "American album certifications – R.E.M. – Monster". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  64. ↑ "Let's R.E.M.-ember: 31 Billboard Chart Milestones Over The Band's 31-Year Career". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  65. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1996". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.