An electrifying cultural biography of the greatest and last American rock band of the millennium, whose music such as "Losing My Religion," "Man on the Moon," "The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World as We Know It" ignited a generation -- and reasserted the power of rock and roll, from New York Times bestselling music writer Peter Ames Carlin (BRUCE and PAUL McCARTNEY: A Life). In the spring of 1980, an unexpected group of misfits came together to play their very first performance at a college party in Athens, Georgia. Within a few short years, they had taken over the world - with smash records like OUT OF TIME, AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE, MONSTER and GREEN. Raw, outrageous, and expressive, Michael Stipe and R.E.M.'s distinctive musical flair was unmatched, and a string of mega-successes solidified them as generational spokesmen. In the tumultuous transition between the wide-open 80s and the anxiety of the early 90s - from Reagan to Bush to Clinton, followed by the resurgence of spirit, youth and MTV-politics - pop/rock music, led by R.E.M., felt as if it had a message again. Flowing from every FM radio were culturally influential songs like "Shiny Happy People," "Everybody Hurts," "Losing My Religion," "Man on the Moon," "The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World as We Know It." R.E.M. provided a sound track to the 80s and 90s, challenging the corporate and social order. R.E.M. pursued music like true artists, chasing a vision and working tirelessly to cultivate a magnetic, transgressive sound. In this breathtaking biography (by the critically acclaimed author of BRUCE, PAUL McCARTNEY: A Life, and HOMEWARD BOUND: The Life of Paul Simon), Peter Ames Carlin not only documents R.E.M.'s success in the music industry, but also opens a fascinating window into the lives of four college friends - Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry - who stuck together with a common goal. He paints a cultural history of the commercial peak and near-total collapse of rock 'n' roll, and the story of an era and the generation that came of age at the apotheosis of rock.
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R.E.M. changed my life. I was a college junior when I bought their first album, Murmur, and had my mind blown by its opener “Radio Free Europe.” Of course, as a nonconformist, I lost interest once they signed to a major label and became popular. But I'll never forget sitting alone in a preppy New England college dorm room, convinced that Michael Stipe and his bandmates were reaching out to me all the way from their weird kudzu-draped world of Athens, Georgia.
So, unsurprisingly, I devoured this book and had a grand old nostalgic time listening to my favorite R.E.M. songs as I read. The members of the band declined to be interviewed for the project, although they helped Carlin connect with dozens of friends, fellow musicians and professional associates. The result is a respectful, at times worshipful, account of the band's fortuitous formation, gradual ascent, and amicable dissolution. Michael, Peter, Mike, and Bill come across as nice, hardworking guys who just loved to make music together. The fact that they went from playing in college town bars to headlining world tours wasn't quite accidental, but fame was never their raison d'etre.
Carlin's attempts to link R.E.M.'s inscrutable lyrics to the deepest recesses of vocalist Michael Stipe's mind are at best educated guesses in the absence of Stipe's own confirmation or denial. Though Carlin presents very little new information about the band, at least there are no shocking revelations that would have tarnished my memories. He briefly addresses the “did R.E.M. sell out” question, only to conclude that selling millions of albums and maintaining artistic control was just the band using capitalism to “project their weird vision in such a powerful way that they couldn't be ignored.”YMMV if you're looking for deep insights or fresh perspectives, but I enjoyed this straightforward, comprehensive history of the band that meant so much to me. R.E.M. notably turned down a $3 million offer from Microsoft to license “It's the End Of the World As We Know It” to advertise the launch of Windows 95. The Rolling Stones were happy to sell out, supplying MS with “Start Me Up” at the bargain price of approximately $8 million.
