NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Twenty-five years ago, an R.E.M. album arrived that didn't sound like a typical R.E.M. album.
鈥淯p,鈥� the band's 11th album which dropped in the fall of 1998, was a curious and challenging collection that split fans and critics alike but reveals more interesting things with each listen. A newly remastered reissue out Friday offers a chance to reevaluate.
鈥淎 lot of people may not have liked it because it didn鈥檛 sound like 鈥楻.E.M.,鈥� whatever that is. But that was not the point. We were not trying to sound like R.E.M. We were trying to sound like the three guys that we were at the time,鈥� Mike Mills, bassist and band co-founder, tells The Associated Press.
鈥淯p鈥� peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 and was certified gold, while single 鈥淒aysleeper鈥� was a Top 20 alternative radio hit. Another single, 鈥淟otus,鈥� peaked at No. 31 on both the alternative and mainstream rock charts.
鈥淚 think it rewards repeated listenings because there is a depth to it. It is not a surface record,鈥� said Mills. 鈥淚 think that that R.E.M. fans will be rewarded with a deeper consideration. But it may not be to everyone鈥檚 taste, and that鈥檚 certainly fine as well.鈥�
In the liner notes for the Craft Recordings anniversary reissue, journalist Josh Modell calls it 鈥渢he beautiful but misunderstood, complex but overlooked, difficult but incredibly rewarding red-headed stepchild of the R.E.M. catalog.鈥�
鈥淯p鈥� was created in the wake of turmoil for the group 鈥� Mills, and guitarist Peter Buck. They had become a band of three after drummer and co-founder Bill Berry left the group.
鈥淚t was a fresh start for us as a three-piece,鈥� said Mills. 鈥淭here were no blueprints, there were no roadmaps. We were just completely winging it as a three-piece band, and I think we did a really good job.鈥�
The 14-track album opens with one of the more challenging songs in the band's catalogue, 鈥淎irportman,鈥� a hook-less, electronic scar of a song that seemed less welcoming and more off-putting.
鈥淥ur feeling was this is a whole new R.E.M. and if you stuck with us this far and you can stick with us through this song, then you鈥檒l be rewarded in later times to come,鈥� said Mills. 鈥淚t was kind of an act of defiance and a sly joke at the same time. I like the song. It鈥檚 just a very strange song to start the record off.鈥�
The rest of the album includes the almost too-R.E.M.-鈥淟otus,鈥� the Beach Boys-ish 鈥淎t My Most Beautiful鈥� and the painfully beautiful "You鈥檙e In The Air." Many of the songs curl into static or sonic distortion at the end, as if fire was licking at their edges. The last song, 鈥淔alls to Climb鈥� is about a stoning, a bummer of a goodbye.
鈥淚t was meant to be jarring,鈥� said Mills. 鈥淭here was no way that we were going to pretend that nothing had changed. We were a completely different band at that point. And so we decided to make a record of a completely different band. I think there are some truly beautiful moments. There are some powerful moments.鈥�
The Detroit Free Press called the album 鈥渙ne of the most gorgeous, enchanting works in the groundbreaking group鈥檚 two-decade body of work.鈥� But Pitchfork was unmoved, saying it was a 鈥渄istant, impersonal record.鈥�
The San Antonio Express-News said it needed time to digest: 鈥淭hough darker and less hook-y than any R.E.M. record to date, 鈥楿p鈥� will reward listeners whose attention span is longer than the average Top 40 single.鈥� Stereogum at the albums 20th anniversary said it was
鈥淚 expected people to be shocked and surprised,鈥� said Mills. 鈥淏ut, the truth is, our fans know to expect left turns from us. They know we tried not to repeat ourselves. We didn鈥檛 want to make the same record twice. This just happened to be a very radical departure.鈥�
also includes the band鈥檚 previously unreleased set from a guest appearance on the TV series 鈥淧arty of Five,鈥� which includes 鈥淢an on the Moon,鈥� 鈥淟osing My Religion,鈥� and 鈥淚t鈥檚 the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine).鈥�
鈥淯p鈥� relied primarily on drum machines, loops and synthesizers, creating dreamlike moments akin to the band Radiohead, also experimenting with sounds and distortions at the time. Mills said R.E.M. were already heading in that direction.
鈥淧eter had already bought a bunch of keyboards, vintage keyboards and old drum machines, and we were going to make something like this record anyway. But the degree to which we made that change was certainly enhanced by the circumstances,鈥� he said.
"We were just kind of fumbling and finding our way and we basically erased all the rules. We said whatever methods and rules we had used to this point, they鈥檙e all out the window. We were trying to make it as liberating as possible."
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Mark Kennedy is at
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
