Cover Story
R.E.M. / Photo by Greg Kadel
R.E.M.: R.E.BORN
It's rare that a band gets the opportunity to grow older and wiser together -- rarer still that one does so by sounding younger and snottier than ever. After losing their way with a string of ho-hum albums, here's how R.E.M. found their noisy deliverance.
By Michael Azerrad 03.18.08 1:41 PM
R.E.M. / Photo by Greg Kadel
What follows is an excerpt from the middle of our April cover story on R.E.M. Read more about Stipe, R.E.M., and the genesis of their new album, Accelerate, in our April 2008 issue, on newsstands now.
I've agreed to meet Michael Stipe at Otto, once the site of the restaurant One Fifth, where Andy Warhol held court and Saturday Night Live threw coke-fueled afterparties in its early days. A couple dozen floors above, Robert Mapplethorpe shot the cover of one of Stipe's favorite albums, Patti Smith's Horses. Now the space belongs to Stipe's pal, celebrity chef Mario Batali. Stipe steps out of a cab wearing a jacket, sweater, and cracked black sneakers so old and funky he kind of looks down on his luck, yet helplessly stylish at the same time. It's unclear if the maîtresse d' knows who he is, but she can tell he's famous.
Stipe, as one might imagine, is a complicated guy. Though he's astonishingly personable, he's sensitive, on red alert for slights, compliments, and everything in between. Most people stifle those frequencies so that they can get on with their lives, but you get the feeling that Stipe stays tuned in for the sake of his art. He receives praise as if you had just put a gold ingot in his hand, and the reverse holds true, as well: At one point, I suggest that while their recent albums were a bit insular, Accelerate sounds as if it were made with the audience in mind, and he almost switches off the recorder. "Well, see, that's my insecurities, misinterpreting what you're saying," he says once we've smoothed it over. "Sorry. They're with us all the time. Sometimes you can't see them, but they're there."
He speaks with a quietly urgent earnestness, as if he were telling you that you've just ingested some fatal poison, but that if we act quickly, we can find the antidote. He spends most of his time doing band business, plus wheeling and dealing on behalf of his two film production companies and his charity work. Then there's his photography—he posted a photo every day of 2007 at futurepicenter.com -- and, lately, sculpture ("I'm working in bronze right now"). "Un Bel di Vedremo," the famous aria from Madame Butterfly, comes swelling out of the restaurant's sound system; Stipe suddenly stops talking, closes his eyes, and lifts his chin to the music like he's expecting the fat lady to give him a kiss. "Do you remember Malcolm McLaren's disco version of that?" he finally says, safely back to earth. "Fucking great."
The only time Stipe really takes a break is when he head to Europe most summers with his boyfriend. Following a long period of speculation about his sexuality, during which he was stubbornly coy and ambiguous, Stipe has been out for years but has rarely publicly discussed the topic in any depth. "It was supercomplicated for me in the '80s," he says. "I was totally open with the band and my family and my friends and certainly the people I was sleeping with. I thought it was pretty obvious."
Going public was a little easier when he realized it might inspire people to change their views about homosexuality. "I didn't always see that," he says. "But I see now, of course that's the case, of course that's needed. I'd just never felt strongly enough about a particular relationship to say, 'Yeah, he's my boyfriend, that is what it is.' Now I recognize that to have public figures be very open about their sexuality helps some kid somewhere out there."
Now Watch This: Interview with R.E.M. at our April cover shoot.
While I'm thrilled that R.E.M. has released an album to overwhelmingly positive reviews, especially after the dismal "Around the Sun," I must strongly disagree that their efforts since 1992's "Automatic" have been less than stellar. "Let Me In," "Electrolite," "So Fast, So Numb," "Walk Unafraid," "Daysleeper," "I'll Take the Rain," "Imitation of Life," those songs are each classics as strong musically and lyrically as anything in their catalog. You can't determine quality by radio play or sales, the songs are either good or they're not and with rare exceptions, each of the albums has been filled with powerful, emotional beauty. "Accelerate" has some great songs -- the title track, "Hollow Man," and the first single have urgent, catchy hooks and passion. If this gets old fans back and brings in new fans, this R.E.M. acolyte will be thrilled.
OK, will somebody please get "Hollow Man" out of my head?? Please... MAKE IT STOP. Seriously: This is a welcome return to form, but not formula. Mike's backing vocals have always been somehow comforting to me. The calm inside Michael's storm. I work near the Capitol in DC, and REM is the soundtrack to my life. There's nothing like riding a train over the Potomac in the morning sun, sitting by the window looking at the monuments, listening to "Until the Day Is Done." It's like living in a video. If by chance you guys are reading this, I hope the irony that somebody in Homeland Security loves you makes you smile. Thanks for all the years of joy.
I grew up in a college town where college radio was rejected by many as garbage unworthy to be played on the radio. I had the opposite opinion. Most of the music I heard on commercial radio was the same old tired, worn-out melodies that sounded like I had heard them a million times before. College radio changed that by introducing me to Alternative music which, at that time, was defined as: anything that was not played on commercial radio. I remember that the R.H.C.P. were instantly a big hit on college radio with their Mothers Milk LP until it started getting airplay on pop stations which instantly put it on the banned list from the local college radio station. R.E.M. was arguably the driving force behind college radio. Every track they made went against the grain and stayed, as far as possible, away from anything that could have been commercialized. Everything they created was completely original and overflowing with foresight and talent. To me this was the foundation of my basic music education.
I have quietly listened to R.E.M. over the years and cought glimpses of internal struggles, bouts of sadness, and depression but I am never disapointed with the quality of their music. I don't "expect" every single track they produce to be something I absoloutely can not live without hearing but I do love those guys. Their down-to-earth nature never ceases to amaze me when I see them on tv because they always seem a little uncomfortable with the fans screaming or the attention they get from the media. Their reactions always seem to make me chuckle a bit and think of them as I might think of an old friend whom I have known forever and miss the company of when they are not around. I love you guys and I will always be loyal to you for teaching me so much and doing it in a manner in which anyone could be proud of. Thank you!
It's the first R.E.M. album I've purchased since, uh, Monster. I think this interview pretty much confirms they've been as bored with themselves as I have of them up until now. Good to see the new old R.E.M. :)