Product Description

Before Nirvana's NEVERMIND closed out the year with the unexpected commercial triumph of grunge rock, R.E.M.'s OUT OF TIME was the sound of alternative music circa 1991. The smashsingles "Losing My Religion"--perhaps the only Top Five US single ever to feature the mandolin as its lead instrument--and "Shiny Happy People" were the commercial face of the album. Elsewhere, however, R.E.M. makes a point of moving away from expectations, resulting in intriguing experiments like the surprisingly funky "Radio Song" (featuring rapper KRS-One), the spoken-word ambient chill-out "Belong", and the self-explanatory "Country Feedback". Interestingly, the songs most immediately identifiable as "R.E.M. songs", the jangly rockers "Texarkana" and "Near Wild Heaven", are both sung by bassist Mike Mills. Though it was quickly overshadowed by AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE during the following year, OUT OF TIMEremains a fascinating portrait of R.E.M. at a pivotal pointin the group's career.

Track Listing

1. Radio Song
2. Losing My Religion
3. Low
4. Near Wild Heaven
5. Endgame
6. Shiny Happy People
7. Belong
8. Half A World Away
9. Texarkana
10. Country Feedback
11. Me In Honey

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3487 in Music
• Released on: 1991-03-11
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Though R.E.M. titled a later album Monster, this 1991 smash was the true monster, with the little Athens, Georgia, quartet graduating once and for all from its jangling independent-rock roots. The confusion Michael Stipe communicates in the catchy "Losing My Religion" and the dark-and-dreamy "Low" hit the mainstream-rock audience when it was most primed for uneasy angst. (Nirvana's Nevermind was released a few months later.) There are also odd but successful experiments, such as ceding the opening "Radio Song" to rapper KRS-One (with Stipe playing the moaning straight man) and going peppy for the surprisingly non-sarcastic "Shiny Happy People". --Steve Knopper

Customer Reviews

Out of time, not out of ideas
This was the time when the UK stood up and took notice of Athens' finest. Their bravery in issuing a mandolin led first single was regrettably offset by their foray into cheesy pop. 'Shiny Happy People' and 'Radio Song' aside, this is an excellent record that holds songs of great variety and boasts two of the best songs of that particular era in 'Losing My Religion' and a song so personal that Mr Stipe had to perform it with his back to the audience - 'Country Feedback'. They may have been thrust upon the UK market for all the wrong reasons (see cheesy pop reference above), but in this case the end very definitely justified the means.

A MUST OWN !
I lost this album when I moved and had'nt heard it for a few years so I bought it again. The critics say automatic was their best album I do not belive that for one minute! this album is one of the best ever made uplifting and moving. It is timeless................

REM
This was, in my opinion, REM's best album. For me, far more depth than its successor, Automatic for the People.