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Automatic For The People Review
07/13/2005 7:22 AM, AMG
Turning away from the sweet pop of Out of Time, R.E.M. created a haunting, melancholy masterpiece with Automatic for the People. At its core, the album is a collection of folk songs about aging, death, and loss, but the music has a grand, epic sweep provided by layers of lush strings, interweaving acoustic instruments, and shimmering keyboards. Automatic for the People captures the group at a crossroads, as they moved from cult heroes to elder statesmen, and the album is a graceful transition into their new status. It is a reflective album, with frank discussions on mortality, but it is not a despairing record -- "Nightswimming," "Everybody Hurts," and "Sweetness Follows" have a comforting melancholy, while "Find the River" provides a positive sense of closure. R.E.M. have never been as emotionally direct as they are on Automatic for the People, nor have they ever created music quite as rich and timeless, and while the record is not an easy listen, it is the most rewarding record in their oeuvre. [Automatic for the People was reissued as part of Warner's 2005 R.E.M. reissue series. Each album was presented in a double-disc digipack, containing a CD on the first disc and a DVD-A version of the album on the second. The DVD for Automatic includes a 5.1 Surround mix of the album, a "video documentary," lyrics, and a photo gallery, but none of the promo videos from the album.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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