Automatic for the People
Continuing to specialize in the art of curve-throwing, R.E.M. followed up its 1991 smash,Out of Time, with this fragile album of soft melodies and string arrangements. The sympathetic ballad "Everybody Hurts" must have prevented countless suicide attempts, while the Andy Kaufman tribute "Man on the Moon" (with Michael Stipe affecting anElvis Presleyimitation) and the rock-into-oblivion "Drive" are among the quartet's strongest hits. (The opening line, "Hey, kids, rock and roll," isn't so much a rallying cry as an expression of anxiety.) It takes a few listens for its charms to unfold, butAutomaticis the gem between bigger hitsOut of TimeandMonster.--Steve Knopper