Yo! Turn to that station

Continuing my trip across the output of Athens' finest...

Out Of Time (1991)

Their seventh album and this is the one where it all really kicks off.  Big time.  It's another one I bought at the time and I think it was the first one I bought on CD.  I can't say I listen to it often but it will be interesting to revisit.

Side one – "Time Side"

1. Radio Song
Another fine opener - they're definitely continuing their path to mass appeal because you can actually understand the words!

2. Losing My Religion
Maybe it's suffered somewhat from ubiquity, but I still really like this.  It's got a freaky video and has inspired some fine cover versions - Tori Amos and Applewood Road are both on my general playlist (and the original, of course).  This was the first single off the album and surprised everyone by getting to #4 in the US.  It's also absolutely nothing to do with religion.

3. Low
It's a bit creepy, but it builds nicely to the end.

4. Near Wild Heaven
I like this one as well - Kate Pierson's backing vocals work really well on it and it's a rare Mike Mills lead vocal.

5. Endgame
It's not got a title to jog your memory as to its content - but it turns out that's probably because it doesn't have any content. 

Side two – "Memory Side"

1. Shiny Happy People
A divisive one to say the least - and the band themselves are not fans.  I think it's fine if you take it in the same vein as "Pop Song 89" and assume they're being ironic - but very few people did.  Kate Pierson's vocals again work really well, with Michael's voice this time.  Wikipedia also tells me something I didn't know - it was used as the theme tune for the unaired pilot for Friends.  That's a proper pub quiz question there!

2. Belong
Hmmm - it's OK I guess, but a bit too screamy for my liking.

3. Half A World Away
This has probably got some of the best harpsichord out there and Michael's voice soars nicely over it.  I, of course, have absolutely no idea what he's on about - "oh, lonely deeps and hollows are half a world, half a world away".

4. Texarkana
For some reason, I always think I'm not going to like this just from the title but it's actually probably one of my favourites - and it's another one with a Mike Mills vocal.  And did you know that Texarkana is a city on the Texas-Arkansas border?

5. Country Feedback
A bit too country for me - and Michael really doesn't sound very happy on it.  And Wikipedia tells me that he really wasn't happy - it was a stream of consciousness lyric from the top of his head about some shit that was going down in his life.

6. Me In Honey
I never remember this one either but it's the other one that features Kate Pierson on it with some lovely harmonies in places.

Hmmm - I would have thought it would have been an easy four track album but there's a spanner in the works.  "Losing My Religion", "Near Wild Heaven" and "Half A World Away" are obvious choices but do I go with "Shiny Happy People" or "Texarkana"?  Hmmm, I guess I could make it a five track album but this feels a bit unfair on the other albums, plenty of which I prefer as overall albums.  However, "Shiny Happy People" would be the one to go if I had to make it four tracks and it just feels I have to include it because of its relevance in their canon.  So five it is - two of which feature Mike Mills' lead vocals and two of which feature Kate Pierson (and one of which features both!).

Wikipedia tells us this is the one that really kicked things into gear for them - it got to #1 in both the UK and the US and plenty of other places as well, but not in Germany, where it's their best selling album (which isn't true for many countries, I'd guess).  What I didn't know was how politically significant the album was in the US - the packaging there encouraged people to sign up to support Rock The Vote who supported the Motor Voter Act, which passed in 1993 after a not inconsiderable response from R.E.M. fans.  The critics were mostly nice about the album and it did well in terms of awards, winning the band their only Grammy (and the highly coveted Q magazine Album Of The Year award).  It also did OK commercially, selling 18 million copies worldwide making it their second best-selling album (after one we'll be meeting quite soon).

I enjoyed revisiting this album, but I didn't like it as much as I was expecting to - the good bits are very good (and often feature Kate Pierson) but the down bits are a bit too down and the country bits are a bit too country.

Green - The one before things went mad
Automatic For The People - Their finest hour?