Product Description

The departure of drummer Bill Berry in 1997 no doubt unsettled his former R.E.M.-mates, who found themselves straddlingnot only creative, but personal crossroads. Rather than giving up, the remaining members of R.E.M. reinvented themselves and released UP, a stunning, eloquent album of dark vulnerability and experimentalism. The emotional disquiet Stipe evokes is nearly shocking in its plainspoken lyricism. Songs like the agonised "Sad Professor" and the wary, hypnotic "Suspicion" seem almost too naked for Stipe, who spent years cloaking his words in mumbles and misnomers. For the first time, lyrics are even included in the packaging.
"Hope" is a breathless, galloping piece of pseudo-electronica that raises the ghost of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" before ending in a heady roar of noise. The gorgeous jangle of "At My Most Beautiful" is pure poetry, an unabashed disclosure of Buck's giddy reverence for Brian Wilson. Although a drum machine is used at times (Beck drummer Joey Waronker and Tuatara percussionist Barrett Martin also guest on many tracks), an array ofdisparate sounds, from vibes to violin, infuses the songs with a newfound expressiveness. UP is unlike any other album in the band's long catalogue--a bold, brilliant spark of musical genius and genuine empathetic revelation.

Track Listing

1. Airport Man
2. Lotus
3. Suspicion
4. Hope
5. At My Most Beautiful
6. Apologist
7. Sad Professor
8. You're In The Air
9. Walk Unafraid
10. Why Not Smile
11. Daysleeper
12. Diminished I'm Not Over You
13. Parakeet
14. Falls To Climb

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13675 in Music
• Released on: 1998-10-26
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
After REM's somewhat ambitious 1996 album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, failed to light up the charts, you might have figured the band would return to the rock-solid bombast of Monster or the consumer-friendly pop of Green. But REM have enough cash not to worry about commercial failure, and they've already been to the top of the mountain, so for now they'd rather explore its lush valleys and secret caves. Up is an atmospheric journey as impressionistic as Enya and as evocative as John Barry. Some critics have compared it with the band's delicate and emotionally revealing gem Automatic for the People, but Up is more ambitious and creative. Sure, most of the songs are pastoral, but they're undercut with drama and sonic experimentation. The melodies are generally spare, the beats sparse. Guitars flicker in and out, providing tension and dynamics, while quivering strings, layered keyboards, and washes of feedback colour the songs like textured lines of paint in an oil portrait. The only blatant pop song is the single "Daysleeper". The rest of the album ebbs and flows, each song a separate component of a complete artistic expression. The sound may be influenced by guitarist Peter Buck's cinematic jazz side project Tuatara or by Michael Stipe's celluloid excursions, but its source doesn't matter. What's important is that more than a decade after their sell-by date, REM continue to challenge and inspire. Things are definitely looking up. --Jon Wiederhorn

Customer Reviews

'Up' against it
A more ironic album title it would be hard to imagine. 'Up' captures REM at a low ebb, reeling from the sudden departure of drummer Bill Berry after 17 years' service. A documentary made at the time shows the three remaining members tense and tetchy, admitting to "communication issues" with one another.

This fraught atmosphere spills over into the music. Edginess and paranoia prevail in this rootless, post-'OK Computer' world. Rarely have Michael Stipe's vocals sounded so dispirited and enervating. It all comes as a big shock after the bright, primary colours rock of 'New Adventures In Hi-Fi.'

This being REM though they still manage to mine some magic from the mess. Sonically, it's their most experimental record. The band hunted down old drum machines and keyboards to try and move away from "the REM sound.' Put some headphones on to pick out some of the more arcane sounds.

'At My Most Beautiful', a masterly Beach Boys pastiche, stands as their most romantic song ever, the lyrics sweet and devoted. Equally lovely are 'Undiminished' and 'Why Not Smile.' 'Suspicion' is slinky, late-night seductive. For every winning track like these though there are dreary, saggy numbers like 'The Sad Professor' and 'You're In The Air.' Upbeat interludes are few, the menacing 'Walk Unafraid' and 'Hope' being the pick of them. Only the first single, 'Daysleeper', with its slide guitar, contains any essence of the REM of the early 90s.

In retrospect, 'Up' sounds like an album that REM just had to get out of the way before fully coming to terms with Berry's departure. Their next album, 'Reveal', would see them return with renewed confidence and vigour.

reverting to type
referring to my title for this review, when i say 'reverting to type', i mean that this band have returned from the great back to the very ordinary again. the 'great' being of course 'automatic for the people' - a career zenith for sure. an absolute peak with at least 4 or 5 classic, timeless songs. that album walked all over anything that went before, and also anything thats come after in R.E.M's recording output. in fact, its hard to imagine, hearing the rest of this bands albums, that this is in fact the same act responsible for 'automatic'

this album at least pushes the envelope a bit away from the bands usual repetoire of slightly grating jingly-jangly guitar based indie pop. theres a few on here that aspire to the beauty of the acoustic works on 'automatic' but unfortunately they are not in the same league in any respect. stipes voice too, is strangely muted here, with none of the depth and clarity that he showed on that classic album

dunno what happened to this band around the time of writing and recording that album but it seems like whatever possessed them at the time has now long gone. this is pretty uninspiring stuff. directionless, cold. its very nicely played of course but its very unconvincing. even the band sound like they know this. its just a shame that the heights they reached on 'automatic' seem to have been a complete one-off

Experimental Tripe!
I see the used ones are avalible at 0.29p. Thats a fair reflection on a dyer album. If your a regular fan of good indie/americana/rock&roll steer well wide of this. There are 2 good songs DAYSLEEPER & AT MY MOST BEUTIFUL. The rest is awful!