R.E.M. – Up (2xLP)

R.E.M. – Up arrived in 1998 as the band’s eleventh studio album and their first after drummer Bill Berry’s retirement in October 1997. That shift matters: rather than trying to recreate older R.E.M., the record turns toward electronics, reflective ballads and a more inward mood. Michael Stipe said several songs explore a pull between religion and spirituality on one side, and science, technology and the modern age on the other.

The result is one of the more distinctive late-period R.E.M. albums: dreamy, moody and deliberately paced, with songs like “Daysleeper,” “Suspicion” and “At My Most Beautiful” showing how the band folded pop melody into a more atmospheric sound. Contemporary reception was stronger than its reputation sometimes suggests. Up reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, hit No. 2 in the UK and was certified platinum there.

Its afterlife has also been notable. In 1999, Nude as the News placed it at No. 74 in its “100 Most Compelling Albums of the Decade,” while Australia’s Juice ranked it No. 38 in its “100 Greatest Albums of the ’90s.” Jude Rogers later included it in The Word’s “Hidden Treasure: Great Underrated Albums of Our Time,” which helps explain why Up has become such an interesting record to revisit: it catches R.E.M. changing shape in public, and finding a new language while doing it.

Genre: Pop & Rock