Automatic for the people

Automatic for the people
Studio album by REM
Publication (s)	5th October 1992
admission	October 1991 - July 1992
Label (s)	Warner Bros. Records
Format (s)	CD , LP , MC , DVD-A
Genre (s)	Alternative rock
Title (number)	12
running time	47:03
occupation	Michael Stipe - vocals Peter Buck - guitar , mandolin , bass Mike Mills - bass , piano , keyboard , accordion , backing vocals Bill Berry - drums , percussion , keyboard , bass , harmonica , backing vocals Studio musicians: See cast
production	Scott Litt, REM
Studio (s)	Bearsville Studio, Bearsville Criteria Recording Studios, Miami John Keane Studio, Athens Kingsway Studio, New Orleans Bosstown Recording Studios, Atlanta
chronology Out of Time (1991) Automatic for the people Monster (1994)
Single releases October 1, 1992 Drive November 21, 1992 Man on the moon 5th February 1993 The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite April 15, 1993 Everybody hurts July 15, 1993 Nightswimming October 21, 1993 Find the river

Automatic for the People is the eighth studio album by the US rock band R.EM and at the same time their most successful. It was released in October 1992 on the major label Warner Bros. Records . The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1993 for Album of the Year and Best Alternative Album .

The album

The album was released in October 1992, just over a year after the successful album Out of Time , after which the band did not go on tour, but went straight back to the studio. It contains hits like Drive , Everybody Hurts or Man on the Moon , all of which have become permanent fixtures in the live repertoire and are still some of the band's best-known songs, while pieces like Find the River and Nightswimming were particularly popular with fans. Automatic for the People surpassed the success of its predecessor, climbed to number 2 on the US Billboard charts and has sold over 18 million times to date. It was also praised by the critics and is now widely regarded as the high point of the band's work.

The songs originated from the band's jam sessions in their hometown of Athens . The original plan was to produce a rough rock album after the comparatively pop music-heavy Out of Time , which had marked the commercial breakthrough, but it was found during the recording that most of the compositions were melancholy and therefore required appropriate arrangements. The former Led Zeppelin bassist , the multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones , took over the string arrangements for orchestrated tracks such as Drive . It wasn't until the album Monster , released in 1994, that it actually turned out to be a lot rockier.

For the recordings, REM took a trip across the USA . In New Orleans they stopped at Kingsway Studio, in New York City at Bearsville Studio, as well as Criteria Recording Studios, Miami and Bobby Brown Studios, Atlanta . Eventually everything got mixed up at Bad Animal Studios in Seattle . The last song to be completed was Man on the Moon .

The title of the album is also the motto of Weaver D's Delicious Fine Foods in Clarke County , Georgia . A note of thanks for “Weaver D and his great shop” can be found in the text accompanying the album. The lyrics of "The Sidewinder sleeps tonight" seemed difficult to understand, even for English speakers. In the summer of 2001, for example, a music journalist wrote in a Canadian daily newspaper that she believed that Michael Stipe would sing “Call me Chet Baker” at the line of text “Call me when you try to wake her up”.

occupation

Studio musician:

• Daniel Laufer - cello
• Elizabeth Proctor Murphy - cello
• Kathleen Kee - cello
• Deborah Workman - oboe
• Heidi Nitchie - viola
• Paul Murphy - viola
• Reid Harris - viola
• Denise Berginson-Smith - violin
• Jody Taylor - violin
• Lonnie Ottzen - violin
• Patti Gouvas - violin
• Sandy Salzinger - violin
• Sou-Chun Su - violin
• Scott Litt - Harmonica , Clavinet
• Knox Chandler - cello

reception

source	rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone
Laut.de
Music Express

Automatic for the People was a hit with both audiences and critics and received consistently positive feedback. The music magazine Rolling Stone ranks it # 249 of the 500 best albums of all time and # 18 of the 100 best albums of the 1990s. The New Musical Express voted it 65th of the 500 best albums of all time. In the selection of the 100 best albums of the decade from Pitchfork Media has Automatic for the People Place 43. The Guardian chose it ranked 26th of the top 100 albums. The album is one of the 1001 albums You Must Hear Before You Die .

Track list

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Automatic for the people   DE 02 10/12/1992 (64 weeks)   US 02 October 24, 1992 (76 weeks)   UK 01 10/10/1992 (245 weeks)

Singles

Drive   DE 13 19.19.1992 (24 weeks)   US 28 12/26/1992 (15 weeks)   UK 11 10/03/1992 (5 weeks) Everybody hurts   UK 07 04/17/1993 (14 weeks)   US 29 11/06/1993 (20 weeks) Man on the moon   DE 34 01/04/1993 (21 weeks)   UK 18th 11/28/1992 (08 weeks)   US 30th 03/27/1993 (15 weeks)

All songs are penned by Bill Berry , Peter Buck , Mike Mills (music) and Michael Stipe (lyrics).

page 1

1. Drive - 4:31

2. Try Not to Breathe - 3:49

3. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite - 4:05

4. Everybody Hurts - 5:16

5. New Orleans Instrumental No.1 - 2:12

6. Sweetness Follows - 4:19

Page 2

7. Monty Got a Raw Deal - 3:16

8. Ignoreland - 4:24

9. Star Me Kitten - 3:15

10. Man on the Moon - 5:12

11. Nightswimming - 4:15

12. Find the River - 3:49

25th Anniversary Edition

Automatic for the People: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Box set from REM
Publication (s)	November 10, 2017
Label (s)	Concord Music Group , Craft Recordings , Universal Music Group
Format (s)	CD , BD
Title (number)	45
running time	185: 44
production	Scott Litt, REM

source	rating
Rolling Stone
The Guardian
Pitchfork Media
Music Express

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Automatic for the People , Concord Music and Universal Music Group released extended collector's editions on November 10, 2017, which in addition to the album as a remaster also contain bonus material. The “Deluxe Edition” includes a concert recording on a second CD. A limited box set spans 3 CDs with the album, live and demos as well as a Blu-ray Disc , which the album as Dolby Atmos mixing options ( 7.1 surround im), high-resolution audio format (24 bit / 96 kHz), eight music videos and the bonus track photographer contains .

The LP edition only offers Automatic for the People as a new remaster and comes without bonus material.

The metascore of the 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is 96 out of 100 possible points.

Track list

Disc 2 - Live At The 40 Watt Club (November 19, 1992)

1. Drive - 4:51
2. Monty Got a Raw Deal - 3:21
3. Everybody Hurts - 7:19
4. Man on the Moon - 6:28
5. Losing My Religion - 4:32
6. Country Feedback - 4:53
7. Begin the Begin - 3:28
8. Fall On Me - 3:34
9. Me in Honey - 4:07
10. Finest Worksong - 5:28
11. Love Is All Around - 3:23
12. Fun Time - 2:16
13. Radio Free Europe - 4:39

Disc 3 - demo versions

1. Drive (demo) - 4:44
2. Wake Her Up (demo) - 4:37
3. Mike's Pop Song (Demo) - 4:33
4. C To D Slide 13 (Demo) - 5:35
5. Cello Scud (demo) - 4:20
6. 10K Minimal (Demo) - 3:33
7. Peter's New Song (demo) - 3:15
8. Eastern 983111 (demo) - 4:03
9. Bill's Acoustic (Demo) - 2:54
10. Arabic Feedback (Demo) - 4:55
11. Howler Monkey (demo) - 4:39
12. Pakiderm (demo) - 3:34
13. Afterthought (demo) - 3:57
14. Bozouki Song (demo) - 3:04
15. Photograph (demo) - 3:32
16. Michael's Organ - 4:33
17. Pete's Acoustic Idea (demo) - 1:06
18. 6-8 Passion & Voc (demo) - 3:46
19. Hey Love (demo) - 3:03
20. Devil Rides Backwards (Demo) - 5:17

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Argentina (CAPIF)	gold	20,000
Australia (ARIA)	4 × platinum	280,000
Germany (BVMI)	5 × gold	1,250,000
France (SNEP)	platinum	300,000
Canada (MC)	7 × platinum	700,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	platinum	15,000
Austria (IFPI)	2 × platinum	100,000
Sweden (IFPI)	2 × platinum	200,000
Switzerland (IFPI)	2 × platinum	100,000
Spain (Promusicae)	2 × platinum	200,000
United States (RIAA)	4 × platinum	4,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	7 × platinum	2,270,000
All in all	2 × gold 34 × platinum	9,435,000

Main article: REM / Awards for Music Sales

See also

• List of the best-selling music albums certified by BVMI in Germany

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 1993 Grammy Awards on awardsandwinners.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
2. ↑ Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine on AllMusic.com (accessed August 20, 2015)
3. ↑ Review by Rob Sheffield on RollingStone.de (accessed August 20, 2015)
4. ↑ Review by Sven Kabelitz on Laut.de (accessed on August 20, 2015)
5. ↑ Arno Frank: ME-Helden: REM, in: Musikexpress 02/2014, issue 698, p. 67.
6. ↑ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time on rollingstone.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
7. ↑ 100 Best Albums of the '90s on rollingstone.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
8. ↑ The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time on nme.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
9. ↑ Top 100 Albums of the 1990s on pitchfork.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
10. ↑ The Guardian 100 Best Albums Ever by The Guardian (1997) on besteveralbums.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
11. ↑ Full Official Chart History on officialcharts.com (accessed October 14, 2018)
12. ↑ REM Chart History (Billboard 200) on billboard.com (accessed October 14, 2018)
13. ↑ Automatic For The People on chartsurfer.de (accessed October 14, 2018)
14. ↑ Full Official Chart History (Singles) on officialcharts.com (accessed October 14, 2018)
15. ↑ REM Chart History (Hot 100) on officialcharts.com (accessed October 14, 2018)
16. ↑ REM in the single charts on chartsurfer.de (accessed on October 14, 2018)
17. ↑ Review by Max Gösche (2017) on rollingstone.de (accessed on August 12, 2018)
18. ↑ Review by Michael Hann (2017) on theguardian.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
19. ↑ Review by Stuart Berman (2017) on pitchfork.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
20. ↑ Review by Jochen Overbeck (2017) on musikexpress.de (accessed on August 12, 2018)
21. ↑ Automatic for the People (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) on metacritic.com (accessed August 12, 2018)
22. ^ Bill Harris: Queen rules - in album sales. (No longer available online.) In: Canoe. November 17, 2006, archived from the original on June 14, 2015 ; accessed on December 31, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.