R.E.M.
Up
Rare & Collectible Vinyl Records

Sealed 1998 2LP original. Tiny corner dings and crease to bottom right corner. Piece of clear tape wrapping around shrink at spine. "For many fans, R.E.M. ceased to exist when drummer Bill Berry decided to retire from rock & roll in 1997. Unlike most bands, R.E.M. operated as a democracy -- it was impossible to tell who contributed what particular part to any of their albums, but hardcore followers did realize that Berry was the driving force behind such classics as "Man on the Moon" and that without him, the band's sound would change drastically. Buck, Mills, and Stipe were aware of what Berry brought to the band, and they wisely decided that his departure brought an opportunity to reinvent what R.E.M. was all about. They had already entertained the notion of working with drum machines and loops before Berry left (indeed, portions of New Adventures in Hi-Fi suggested such a path), and his absence gave the remaining trio the confidence to explore new sonic territory. In a way, they had no other choice. They had long ago exhausted the original R.E.M. sonic blueprint -- they had managed to find new textures within that sound on the pastoral Out of Time and the brooding Automatic for the People, but the flaccid arena rock of Monster was a dead end, leaving only the tentative sonic explorations of New Adventures as a starting point. And New Adventures does function as the starting point for Up, the group's first album without Berry and their first that truly repudiates the legacy of jangle pop. Up is dominated by keyboards, muted percussion, buried guitars, and moody melodies -- only "Daysleeper" finds the group in familiar sonic territory. What's striking about the album is that it doesn't sound like a dramatic departure -- even without the ringing guitars, it sounds like R.E.M. trying to be adventurous and hip. To a certain extent, that's a good thing, since it proves that the band has developed a signature sound that is more elastic than many would have predicted, and that they are skilled enough to figure out how to successfully take risks with their sound. Above all else, Up is an accomplished and varied record, the work of smart record-makers. It is also the work of veteran musicians -- for the first time, R.E.M. sounds like they're playing catch-up, trying to keep their hip status intact. Occasionally, they pull it all together, as on the ominous opener "Airportman" and the darkly seductive "Suspicion," but they stretch their capacities to the breaking point nearly as often, as on the Pet Sounds pastiche "At My Most Beautiful," which comes off as second-rate High Llamas. Most of Up, however, falls in between those two extremes, winding up as self-consciously moody, downtempo songs that fail to make an impression because they either don't take enough chances or they fail to speak directly -- they are simply well-crafted tracks that are easy to admire, but hard to love. Ultimately, that is what distinguishes this new incarnation of R.E.M. from the first part of their career." All Music Guide – Stephen Thomas Erlewine