R.E.M.: Out Of Time (Vinyl LP)

With R.E.M. again hooking up with co-producer Scott Litt, the band’s seventh LP, Out Of Time, was recorded primarily at Bearsville Sound Studios in Woodstock, upper state New York, though additional sessions took place at John Keane’s studio in Athens, with mixing taking place at Prince’s famous Paisley Park complex, just outside Minneapolis. As bassist Mike Mills later told Pitchfork, the band were keen to start with the experimental outlook that had originally prevailed when they began work on Green.

Though both introspective and diverse, Out Of Time quickly connected with the critics, with many of the industry’s most respected publications heaping five-star praise on the album.

Given additional momentum by the runaway success of “Losing My Religion,” the positive critical notices quickly translated to sales, with Out Of Time rapidly outstripping expectations. Selling around 4.5 million copies in the US alone, the album topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and just kept right on selling. A fixture on the US Billboard 200 for a whopping 109 weeks, it also enjoyed multi-platinum success in countries such as Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands, and eventually went on to shift upwards of 18 million copies worldwide.

Aside from vindicating R.E.M.’s hard work and perseverance, Out Of Time proved a landmark release in that it demonstrated how alternative bands could achieve mainstream success without sacrificing their integrity.

In fact, it could legitimately be argued that the album paved the way for a host mid-90s alt.rock luminaries, ranging from Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins in the US, to Blur and Oasis in the UK.

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