Apr 25, 2001 11:48 PM
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Automatic For The People'' is truly one of the greatest albums of all time. Its use of compelling imagery makes it one of the most passionate and emotional albums that this or any other band has ever released. ''Automatic'' is fully worthy of every one of the fifty-million-plus people worldwide who have bought it. I say without hesitation that I belive it surely will go down in history as one of the greatest albums of all time.
''Drive'' is a great album opener. Its moody, somber strains and downbeat, dark riffs give it a serious and powerful feel. It reflects the entire feel of the album.
''Try Not To Breathe'' is a passionate and serious look at life and its dilemmas.
''The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight'' is a catchy but serious expression of Michael Stipe's opinion of American pop culture. It is lyrically and musically a great pop song that has decptively real undertones.
''Everybody Hurts'' is without question the most heartfelt, sincere and emotional song to ever hit the airwaves of American radio. It is a passionate and soulful plea to teenagers thinking life isn't worth living. It is inspiring, uplifting, and thoroughly beautiful. Asong of true hope and inspiration for the lost.
''New Orleans Instrumental No. 2'' is a great follow-up to ''Everybody Hurts'', allowing the listener to take a deep breath and reflect on what they just heard. As sadly beautiful as anything.
''Sweetness Follows'' is a direct contrast to ''Everybody Hurts''. It is a song about death and depression. Dramatic both lyrically and musically.
''Monty Got a Raw Deal'' is a strange mix of contrasts: the fast-paced beat below Stipe's slowly balladeering voice, the catchy guitar riff under his monotonous and serious tone. An effective way to open the ''Ride'' side of this album.
''Ignoreland'' is the most viciously political song ever recorded. Severe and harsh both musically and lyrically, Stipe paints an apocalyptic picture of America's future. Kudos to Stipe on the incredible https://lyrics. This song was an inkling of things to come on ''Monster''.
''Star Me Kitten'' is a beautiful, passionate song of lost love that lazily floats its way through the middle of ''Ride''. It is a stark contrast, the polar opposite, of ''Ignoreland''.
''Man On the Moon'' is a deceptively serious, sad song about Stipe's hero, comedian Andy Kaufmann. ''It's about a great journey, one we must all take'', Stipe is known to say when introducing it in concert.
''Nightswimming'' is a starkly beautiful, melodiously passionate song about lost innocence of past days of youth. Its lyrics are simple in appearance, but it may be a criticism of society's infatuation with ''faster, higher, farther'',in the pursuit of which gets lost small pleasures, like nightswimming.
''Find the River'' is a soft, sad, emotional album closer, one of the most insistently beautiful songs on the album. This, more than any other song, sums up the soft moodiness of the entire album.
These things considered, the darkly beautiful ''Automatic For The People'', with its serious and dramtically emotional overtones, is one of the most stunningly compelling collection of songs ever put on the market. R.E.M. proved their collective intellect with this album is as high as any other person's. Thank you for giving us this work, R.E.M. May it be one of the few that endure history.This isn't just another album this is the album.
