R.E.M. REVISITED
Automatic for the People at 25, still stirs
It’s hard to believe that R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People is already 25 years old, but the Athens, Georgia rock band weathered relatively obscurity into mainstream and critical success with their eighth studio album. Released in October 1992, Automatic For The People still leaves a very lasting impression with its ironically jaunty hits like “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite” and deeply emotional ballads like “Everybody Hurts.” To celebrate the record’s anniversary, R.E.M. released a special 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the album.
The new edition comes with three CDs and an all-new Blu-ray, which features all the promotional videos and music videos from the record. It features a live performance from R.E.M. during a benefit for Greenpeace at the 40 Watt Club in Athens recorded in 1992. The band performs a majority of Automatic For The People with a few covers songs from Iggy Pop and The Troggs. If that’s not enough, it also has a 60-page book with gorgeous photos from Anton Corbijn and Melodie McDaniel.
If you’re a fan of R.E.M., this deluxe edition is a must! It’s now available on Amazon.com. In the meantime, check out the top three music videos from Automatic For The People below.
“Man On The Moon”
R.E.M.’s tribute to Andy Kaufman, “Man On The Moon” features Michael Stipe walking down a desert highway as images of Kaufman and his antics play in the background. The title was also used for the Miloš Forman film starring Jim Carrey in 1999. Side note, R.E.M. is also featured in Andy & Jim, the new documentary about the making of the movie on Netflix.
“The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite”
The third single from Automatic For The People, “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite” is a candy-colored music video that is straight up from the 90s. It’s strange to think that this music video aired on MTV with Grunge and Gangsta Rap songs, but hey, the 90s was a hodge-podge of styles that all seemed to fit together.
“Everybody Hurts”
Probably one of the most popular songs from R.E.M., “Everybody Hurts” won Best Director for Jake Scott at the 1994 MTV Video Awards. However, during the band’s acceptance speech, Nathaniel Hornblower (Adam Yauch) rushed the stage to vocalize his disgust that Spike Jonze didn’t win for the “Sabotage” music video for the Beastie Boys.
