10.31.98
Wall Of Sound
Moving forward on three legs following the departure of drummer Bill Berry, R.E.M. was forced not just into a new adventure, but a whole new way of being.
Settling into a couch and putting his feet up on the table at the plush Huntington Hotel in San Francisco, Peter Buck offers the following assessment [...]
10.31.98
Irish Times
REM’s new album – a reaction to the shock departure of drummer Bill Berry – is said tohave alienated many of the band’s traditional fans. Michael Stipe explains its development to Tony Clayton-Lea Imagine the scenario. You’re one of the world’s most respected and acclaimed rock bands – intelligent, provocative, committed, simultaneously cerebrally oblique [...]
By Betsy Powell
10.30.98
Windsor Star
R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe recalls his best friend’s reaction to the group’s new album, Up.
“He said it was…ballsy,” says the singer.
Up is a challenging listen and, contrary to its title, it’s moody and dark. Hooks and hummable melodies take a back seat to ambient textures, while the instrumental emphasis shifts from guitars and [...]
By Brian McCollum
10.30.98
Orlando Sentinel
When is a band not really a band? Some might say when it loses its drummer, doesn’t replace him, overhauls its sound, doesn’t play live too often and crashes badly when it does.
But right now it doesn’t matter what you call R.E.M. because this is still a group of forward-thinking musicians and [...]