Monster

MONSTER has nothing in common with the elegant, mannered sounds R.E.M. has been producing since GREEN. While you can discern allusions to hard rock icons from Neil Young and Mott The Hoople through Television and Nirvana, MONSTER is neither a faddist grunge album nor a laundry list of influences--but certain subliminal references seem to spark R.E.M.'s muse, inspiring a dozen powerhouse songs. more...

The classic R.E.M. sound is churned through a meat grinder and served up raw and bleeding on MONSTER. From the opening power chords of "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" through the desperate raga rock of "You", Peter Buck is the hero of MONSTER. Buck's pealing rhythm guitar and bassist Mike Mills' melodic counterpoint are mixed front and centre, so that vocalist Michael Stipe has to shout to be heard...imagine a typical P.A. arena mix.
Meanwhile, the enigmatic Stipe experiments with a variety of new vocal guises. He plays a haughty rock star on the prowl with a droll Bowie delivery on "Crush With Eyeliner", while unveiling a Gabriel falsetto on "I Don't Sleep, I Dream", Southern soul mannerisms on "Tongue", and Jaggerish menace on "I Took Your Name". But the best thing about MONSTER is that in their quest not to repeat themselves, to push the envelope on their performance style--to change their sound--R.E.M. has dipped back into their roots and emerged with a truly classic rock album.

Spin (12/94, p.76)
- Ranked #6 in Spin's list of the '20 Best Albums Of '94.'

New York Times (1/5/95, p.C15)
- Included on Jon Pareles' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94 - "...Peter Buck's guitars blare and buzz to carry the pioneering collegiate-rock band into the age of grunge."

New York Times (1/5/95, p.C15)
- Included on Neil Strauss' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94 - "...This is R.E.M.'s big, dumb rock record. Except it's not dumb at all..."

Village Voice (2/28/95)
- Ranked #3 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.

NME (12/24/94, p.22)
- Ranked #14 in NME's list of the 'Top 50 Albums Of 1994.'

Rolling Stone (10/6/94, p.84)
- 4.5 Stars - Excellent - "...MONSTER is a deeply felt, thematically coherent, consistently invigorating challenge to 'evolve or die,' with all the courage of its convictions..."

Spin (11/94, p.91)
- Highly Recommended - "...this is its most implacable --and convincing--music since MURMUR....Even as MONSTER flirts with unreason and breaks down old taboos, it observes the strict protocols of the forms it plays havoc with..."

Musician (11/94, p.91)
- "...the band hasn't really changed at all: the songs still stress melody over meaning, the playing still emphasizes the unit over the individuals, and the sound remains as fresh as it was a dozen years ago..."

Q (11/94, p.118)
- 3 Stars - Good - "...MONSTER is a balder and starker bit of landscaping and whether everything in the garden remains lovely is up to debate..."

NME (9/29/94, p.47)
- 7 - Very Good - "...At best stunning, at worst merely diverting, MONSTER sounds like the album they 'had' to make, to clear out their system..."

Vibe (12/94-1/95, p.142)
- "...Lulled by the aural Prozac of their more melodic tunes, it's easy for one to forget that R.E.M. are a rock 'n' roll band. Their new MONSTER puts them back on the block of their noisy origins and Stipe's buried-in-the-mix lyrics..."

Entertainment Weekly (9/30/94, pp.56-57)
- "...MONSTER proves no one cranks the amplifiers and mumbles lyrics in quite the same thrilling way as the originators..." - Rating: B+