The 500 - #249 - Automatic For The People - R.E.M.

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #249
Album Title: Automatic For The People
Artist: R.E.M.
Genre: Post-Punk, Alternative Rock, Baroque Pop, Rock
Recorded: Three Studios - Woodstock, NY; Athens GA; New Orleans, LA.
Released: October, 1992
My age at release: 27
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #96, up 153 spots from 249 since 2012
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Try Not To Breathe

In September, 2019, I wrote a blog post about Document, the fifth record from American rock band R.E.M. In that post, I wrote:

"I went through a heavy R.E.M. phase in 1992 when the commercially successful juggernaut record Automatic For The People was released. Soon, the entire R.E.M. catalogue was in my collection -- even more obscure releases, such as the live acoustic record Blue."

Needless to say, I was excited to get a chance to revisit and write about Automatic For The People, the eighth studio release from the influential quartet from Athens, Georgia.

R.E.M. (1983) are (l-r) Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

If you were a friend of mine between 1983 and 2000, I probably made a mixed cassette for you. If it was after 1993, I guarantee the updated cassette would contain at least one track from R.E.M. Likely something from either Automatic For The People or R.E.M. Blue, the acoustic record released following the group's appearance on MTV's Unplugged television program.

In 1992, I upgraded most of my stereo system which included the purchase of a JVC XL-M415TN CD Player. Back then, this gorgeous, buffed, black-silver chunk of audio hardware was the latest in hi-fi electronics. The user was able to pre-load a cartridge containing six compact discs. However...and hold onto your hat with this one...one could also swap an additional seventh disc (on the fly no less), through a CD port conveniently located on the front of the unit. To top it off, there was a remote control that allowed you to switch discs or tracks from a distance!

Promotional poster for XL-M415TN CD Player from JVC.

In this day of "on-demand", streaming music services and voice-activated speakers, that technology is archaic. However, at the time, it was an impressive upgrade and many of my friends were duly impressed. I would even use it when mixing music for parties, including several events at a  Kelsey's restaurant where I worked. Switching between discs and songs wasn't seamless, but fairly quick...for the time.

Working the tables near the upstairs bar at Kelsey's - London, Ontario (1994)

At home, I had  a handful of compact discs that never left that player, and Automatic For The People was one of them. It is one of those albums that I call "all killer, no filler" and I love every track and the order in which they are presented. Listening to it again this week felt like getting a warm hug from the early-’90s -- a time when, flush with cash from bartending, I enjoyed the wonderful, chaotic madness that comes with twenty-something independence.

Me (left) serving tequila shots at the bar. (1994).

In 2017, R.E.M. released a 25th Anniversary version of their multi-platinum record. Remastered from the original analog tapes, it sounds incredible through my Spotify account and Sonos speakers. However, if you purchase the boxset  presented in Dolby Atmos Sound, you will enjoy an even higher quality sound that provides a rich, three-dimensional  spacious surround experience. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the boxset, yet. I am eagerly looking forward to hearing the lush string orchestrations that were arranged by the legendary John Paul Jones, best known as the bass and keyboard player for Led Zeppelin.  

Automatic For The People 25th Anniversary boxset (2017).

The boxset also contains 13 live tracks from a November, 1992, performance at the iconic venue, The 40 Watt Club. Located in their hometown of Athens, Georgia, it, along with CBGB's in New York and the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles, was instrumental in launching the punk rock and new wave scene of the late ‘70s in America.

Front of the iconic 40-Watt Club in Athens, Georgia

As you might imagine, it was difficult to pick only one  single track for my own playlist of The 500. Eventually I settled on Try Not Breathe, the second track on the first side. In part, this was because of an episode of the Song Exploder podcast I listened to several years ago. On that 2017 installment of the short, weekly podcast, creator and host, Hrishikesh Hirway talked with R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe and guitarist Mike Mills about creating the song.

Mills revealed that the opening melody was originally crafted by guitarist Peter Buck on the Appalachian dulcimer, a stringed instrument played on the lap with a history that goes back to the Scottish/Irish immigrants to North America in the early19th century. The vibrato and "twang" of this unusual instrument gives the song a beautiful, but hauntingly ethereal quality.

An Appalachian Dulcimer.

In the same podcast, singer Stipe revealed that the lyric, "I have seen things that you will never see" was inspired by the final, tragic and beautiful 42-word monologue of the android Roy Batty in my favourite film, Blade Runner. The correlation between the lyric and the movie  was something I had long suspected and I was thrilled to learn I was right.

Rutger Hauer as the ill-fated replicant, Roy Batty.

There is so much I could write about I could write about Automatic For The People.  It is certainly my favourite from R.E.M. and likely in my top twenty of all time. Perhaps I’ll get around to cataloguing my Top 20 in my final post when I finish my epic commentary on The 500 list.  Thanks for reading and do yourself a favour...go listen to this incredible record again.