R.E.M. ended their career on their own terms. The band, which launched the college rock and alternative music revolutions, simply announced their end with little fanfare and without the perfunctory full-scale farewell tour. This is par for the course for R.E.M. The band was more concerned with the music and their integrity than commercialization. In a strange twist, this concern helped lead to commercial success and ushered in a wholesale change in the music scene.
The band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980. Michael Stipe wandered into a record store where he met Peter Buck. The pair discovered they enjoyed similar musical tastes. Shortly thereafter, the pair met college students Mike Mills and Bill Berry who played music together. The quartet formed a band and randomly selected the name R.E.M. out of the dictionary.
The following year, they released their first single “Radio Free Europe” on an independent label. Only 1000 copies were printed and they quickly sold out. The music press was impressed and the band soon recorded the EP Chronic Town. RCA offered to sign them, but R.E.M. passed in favor of independent label IRS. They released their first album, Murmur, in 1983.
R.E.M. entered the music scene during a transition period for the industry. Punk became disreputable and flamed out. Likewise, the public tired of disco. This opened the door for so-called “New Wave”, metal, and Duran Duran. R.E.M. represented something entirely different and fresh. On one hand, the music harkened back to the sixties, but also contained elements of punk. Their songs covered all sorts of topics ranging from death to pollution to politics. Perhaps because they were different, they appealed mostly to college students. In a MTV interview, Mills and Buck joked that college students had nothing better to do with their time than listen to R.E.M.
Armed with self-deprecating humor, the guys spent the 1980s on the road. They toured constantly, but remained focus on the music as opposed to becoming stars. As they gained in popularity, the venues got bigger. Ironically, when they became superstars, they decided not to tour. They had paid their dues for a decade and would continue touring later.
In 1987, R.E.M. broke into the mass consciousness with a pair of hits. “The One I Love” broke the band and made the Top 20. “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” became something of an anthem. Both songs embraced the big sound of the 1980s while staying true to the band’s roots. The album, which spawned the hits, Document, proved extremely political in an apolitical time. As a result, Rolling Stone magazine declared them “America’s Best Rock n Roll Band.”
The Rolling Stone headline summed up R.E.M.’s career. They managed to maintain their integrity, critical acclaim, and produce hit songs. Only U2 and Radiohead have been able to achieve this trifecta consistently. Since 1983, R.E.M. have recorded at least five landmark albums, Murmur, Reckoning, Document, Out of Time, and Automatic for the People and New Adventures in Hi-Fi and Reconstruction of the Fables should probably be included.
After Document, the foursome signed with Warner Brothers. Green continued the band’s political commentary. The follow-up, Out of Time, created superstars. By this point, people were tiring of the pop music scene. Country and Hip Hop were becoming alternate avenues for consumers tired of plastic hair metal. R.E.M. and the alternative music movement provided another outlet. In 1991, “Losing My Religion” proved a surprise hit. It is a folk song with a mandolin as the main instrument. At the time, hair metal dominated rock music. No one could have predicted a mandolin-driven tune could have become such a monster hit.
“Losing My Religion” touched off a revolution. Other “alternative” acts began to garner attention from the so-called mainstream culminating with Nirvana. R.E.M. helped inspire Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and many of the other new acts. However, these acts tended to be more riff-driven while R.E.M. dealt with key changes and transitions. The band remained a force in the industry for the remainder of the decade. In 1996, Warner Brothers rewarded them with an $80 million contract.
In 1997, Bill Berry tired of the “pop star” act and retired. The band struggled to find their way as a “three-legged dog.” At the same time, they tinkered with their sound. Mills admitted the difficulty with song writing without Berry. The drummer wanted the music to be about the music and not fluff. He policed the band. Without him, they struggled until 2008.
After three Berry-less albums, R.E.M. returned to its roots. Accelerate (2008) and Collapse Into Now (2011) proved a return to form for R.E.M. The albums’ raw sound harkened back to the band’s early garage rock meets the Byrds sound. Critics and fans celebrated while the trio contemplated their next move. While compiling songs for a greatest hits package, the band began to ask, “what’s next?” They reminisced, examined their music and careers, and decided to "call it a day."
Without the acrimony that accompanies many breakups, the band called it quits. According to Mills, “There’s no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off.” The guys seemed to have finally exhausted their creativity while a shakeup at Warner Brothers placed more pressure on the band to record. Stipe said it was not an easy decision while Mills admitted the time “was right.” Buck waxed poetic about "a group of 19-year-olds trying to change the world." He was referring to the next generation, but also himself and his band mates.
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