R.E.M. unveil documentary behind their ‘Automatic For The People’ classic album

Australia was one of the first markets outside the United States to embrace R.E.M.

So when the band from the sleepy southern college town of Athens, Georgia, released Automatic For The People in the southern summer of 1992, all you seemed to hear at BBQs and beach parties and on commercial and community radio were ‘Drive’, ‘Everybody Hurts’, ‘Man on the Moon’, ‘Nightswimming’, ‘Find The River’, ‘Try Not to Breathe’ and ‘The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite’.

Peter Buck would say, “I don’t think there was another record that sounded like that record that year – which I think is a good thing.”

Of the 18 million copies that Automatic For The People went on to sell globally, it shifted 300,000 in Australia (4 x platinum) where it reached #2 on the ARIA chart

This month R.E.M. celebrate the record’s 25th anniversary with a deluxe box set that includes a re-mastered version of the album, demos and outtakes, live recordings from an Atlanta club, a book of rare photos and videos.

This morning Universal Music Australia released adocumentary where the band as well as producer Scott Litt and string arrange John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame look back at the making of the record and what it means to them a quarter of a century down the track.

“Culturally, 1992 in America was not an easy place to be,” Michael Stipe recalls why the record sounded so dark.

“We’d been through 12 years of politically the darkest era America had ever seen with (Ronald) Reagan, (George) Bush and AIDS.

“I think the record was a response to that. I wanted to make a record about loss, transition and death – the biggest transition we all know.”

At the time too, Stipe’s grandparents were dying, his pet dog was seriously ill, and he himself had spent the better part of the decade before wondering if he was HIV positive.

Going into the studios, R.E.M. were coming off the monster ‘Losing My Religion’ hit, so as Stipe would say, they felt they had the ears of the world.

So much so that they deliberately chose the off-centre ‘Drive’ as the lead-off single knowing that MTV would be forced to play it because of R.E.M.’s immense popularity.

Sessions took place in various cities including New Orleans and Memphis.

When they emerged, R.E.M. collectively believed they had captured something special.

“The songs came together, Michael’s lyrics came together, the production and the sound and the overdubs and everything all seemed right for this record,” says Mike Mills.

Stipe recalls that ‘Man On The Moon’ was difficult to finish. Initially he thought it complete without vocals. The band insisted. The lyrics wouldn’t fall into place.

Finally while walking around Seattle, he recalled how Kurt Cobain used a lot of “yeahs” in his songs – and he decided he’d finish the song with more “yeahs” than any Nirvana song!

As for Automatic For The People, Stipe sums up, “I felt really confident and powerful, but also extremely vulnerable.

“And as a man in pop music, presenting oneself as vulnerable was something that wasn’t really done at that point.

“The band provided me with beautiful songs and moods to write about loss and darkness – and it worked.”