Search - Rem :: Automatic for the People (CD & DVD Audio)

Brilliant Album, Good Sound Quality, Great Packaging!

Frederick Baptist | Singapore | 02/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not only R.E.M.'s best ever album but is very probably one of the best ever albums. A classic from start to finish with excellent songwriting, musicianship and like a true classic, the whole is a great deal more than the sum of the individual tracks; change anything about this album e.g. track order, track additions etc and you destroy it.



The whole theme of this album centres on death and mortality and suggests that there may be more to life than what's here on earth and perhaps the afterlife is not to be feared after all. The album's tour de force, "Man On the Moon" even alludes to this, suggesting that such diverse personalities such as Elvis, Andy Kaufman, Mott the Hoople, Isaac Newton, Fred Blassy may all be rubbing shoulders and goofing around in heaven if they "made the list, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah".



John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame has also done a brilliant job with the orchestrations on a few of the tracks and most notably on "Nightswimming". The album ends with my favourite track, "Find the River" which has simply wonderful lyrics that very poetically describes the feeling of a soul leaving this earth to head for the afterlife and an expectation of better things on the other side.



Without a doubt, Michael Stipes' lyrics have never exceeded the heights that they attained on this album. No fillers here as every track is a classic gem. How this album didn't witn the Grammy for Album of the Year, I cannot understand but I suppose like most all-time classic albums, it takes time before the true brilliance shines through and for the mainstream to catch on.



This version of the album has both a remastered cd and a dvd-audio that plays in 5.1 surround sound as well. The dvd sounds excellent and even accentuates some parts that you just don't hear on the regular cd. There is also a humorous short documentary on the making of the album interspersed with funny shots of the proprietor of the restaurant that coined the album title.



Great album, great tracks and great sound plus video make this an excellent buy. Highly recommended."

New Re-Release Package

Thomas D. Ryan | New York | 11/05/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If one album were to be fingered as R.E.M.'s masterpiece, this would be it. Automatic For the People is the most pensive, reflective and well-paced album of the band's career. With nothing really left to prove, R.E.M. could afford to please themselves first - something they've always done, to be sure, but usually with a sideways glance over their shoulder - and this time around, they run with it. The result is an album whose sum is much greater than the individual parts. The ratio of ballads to rockers is shifted heavily toward the former, which provides singer/lyricist Michael Stipe with the basic framework to stretch out lyrically. Mystifying tunes ("The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight", "Star Me Kitten") sit comfortably beside some of his most literal lyrics yet ("Everybody Hurts", "Man On the Moon"), while all are ensconced within creative and contagiously appealing melodies (did you happen to notice the sly four-note allusion to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" buried in "Sidewinder"?). As the saying goes, death and taxes are the only things in life that are unavoidable, but this record shuns fear and is full of acceptance. Human frailty hovers over the proceedings like the ghost of Christmas past ("Everybody Hurts", "Sweetness Follows", "Man On the Moon"), painting mortality in a light that is downright agreeable. Not many artists are capable of making you smile while contemplating death. Taxes may still suck, but on "Automatic For the People", R.E.M. provide evidence that our ultimate destination need not be something to fear. A Tom Ryan"

Excellent

Sally Johnson | 02/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Everything everyone else has said. But, I do have to add this one: The song Find the River ALONE could easily make this their best record. I lack the words."