Automatic for the People (CD & DVD Audio)
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 an Elvis Presley imitation) 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, but Automatic is the gem between bigger hitsOut of TimeandMonster.--Steve KnopperNow expanded, this edition features the regular, remastered album as well as a newly produced bonus DVD. Included on that disc are both new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes of Scott Litt's evocative studio productions and a previously unreleased, 15-minute 1992 documentary featuring band interviews and in-studio clips, as well as song lyrics and a gallery of still photos.