Up (R.E.M. album)

Up
Studio album by R.E.M.
Released	October 26, 1998 (1998-10-26)
Recorded	January–July 1998
Genre	Alternative rock, jangle pop
Length	64:31
Language	English
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Pat McCarthy and R.E.M.
R.E.M. chronology
R.E.M.: In the Attic – Alternative Recordings 1985–1989 (1997) Up (1998) Man on the Moon (1999)
Singles from Up
"Daysleeper" Released: October 12, 1998 (1998-10-12) "Lotus" Released: December 7, 1998 (1998-12-07) "At My Most Beautiful" Released: March 8, 1999 (1999-03-08) "Suspicion" Released: June 28, 1999 (1999-06-28)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)
NME
Nude as the News	(favorable)

Up is the 11th album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was the band's first album without original drummer Bill Berry, who left the group amicably in October 1997 to pursue his own interests. In his place, R.E.M. used session drummers or drum machines to fill the void.

Details

Moving into electronic music-influenced territory after delivering the challenging New Adventures in Hi-Fi in 1996, Up alienated critics, fans of the band's 1980s work and casual listeners used to the band's more-commercial early 1990s output.^{[citation needed]} However, some saw it as one of the band's bravest and most sonically daring records to date,^{[citation needed]} and the record was even cited by Radiohead,^{[citation needed]} who would release their own largely electronic and highly acclaimed effort Kid A in 2000. Ending a 10-year relationship with co-producer Scott Litt, R.E.M. engaged the production assistance of Pat McCarthy, who was assisted on most tracks of Up by engineer Nigel Godrich, Radiohead's producer.

With Berry's departure, the sessions for Up were indeed strained, with R.E.M. subsequently admitting that they came close to breaking up during its recording. Not surprisingly, the album is considered to have a labored and melancholic feel to it. In spite of the tension, "Daysleeper", became a Top 10 UK hit, and subsequent singles included "Lotus", The Beach Boys-influenced "At My Most Beautiful" and "Suspicion."

Breaking with a tradition that stretched back to the band's 1983 debut Murmur, Michael Stipe elected to have his complete lyrics included in Up's CD booklet, a practice Stipe has maintained on all subsequent R.E.M. releases.

It was rumored at the time of the album's release that "Hope" was written for Thom Yorke, "At My Most Beautiful" for Patti Smith, and "Why Not Smile" for Bill Berry. Michael Stipe denied all three in an interview for Britain's Q magazine in 1999.

Sales and critical reception

Up reached #3 in the U.S. (with 16 weeks on the Billboard 200) and #2 in the UK, but didn't have the staying power of the band's more-recent albums, and thus the band's lowest sales in years. Although R.E.M. initially intended not to tour for the album, after many successful promotional concerts upon the album's release, the band quickly arranged a four-month arena tour of Europe and America during the summer of 1999. As of March 2007, Up has sold 664,000 units in the U.S.

In 2005, Warner Bros. Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of Up which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes.

In 2006, Q magazine "saved" this album from their "50 Worst Albums Ever" list, saying that it is "superior to Monster" and claiming it "a start of renaissance". It received 4/5 stars.

Track listing

All songs by Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe unless otherwise stated.

Up Side

1. "Airportman" – 4:12
2. "Lotus" – 4:30
3. "Suspicion" – 5:36
4. "Hope" (Leonard Cohen, Buck, Mills, Stipe)¹ – 5:02
5. "At My Most Beautiful" – 3:35
6. "The Apologist" – 4:30
7. "Sad Professor" – 4:01
8. "You're in the Air" – 5:22

Down Side

9. "Walk Unafraid" – 4:31
10. "Why Not Smile" – 4:03
11. "Daysleeper" – 3:40
12. "Diminished" – 6:01
    • Includes a brief piece entitled "I'm Not Over You" starting at 4:59, with Stipe soloing on acoustic guitar, after the song's conclusion.
13. "Parakeet" – 4:09
14. "Falls to Climb" – 5:06

Notes

¹ Cohen was not directly involved in the writing of "Hope" but was given a writing credit by the band due to similarities in melody and lyrical pattern to his "Suzanne".

Studio B-sides

Two non-album tracks from the Up sessions appeared as single-only releases, as well as four alternate versions of album tracks.

• "Emphysema"
• "Surfing the Ganges" – 2:25
• "Why Not Smile" (Oxford-American version)
• "Sad Professor" (Live in the Studio)
• "Suspicion" (live in the studio) – 5:39
• "Lotus" (Weird Mix)

Personnel

R.E.M.

• Peter Buck – bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, percussion
• Mike Mills – keyboards, guitar, bass, backing vocals
• Michael Stipe – lead vocals, guitar

Additional musicians

• Barrett Martin – percussion
• Scott McCaughey – keyboards, percussion
• Joey Waronker – drums, percussion

Technical staff

• Nigel Godrich – engineering
• Pat McCarthy – production

Sales chart performance

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1998	U.S. Billboard 200	3
1998	Canadian Album Chart	2
1998	U.K. Album Chart	2

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1998	"Daysleeper"	Billboard Hot 100	57
1998	"Daysleeper"	UK Singles Chart	6
1998	"Lotus"	UK Singles Chart	26
1999	"At My Most Beautiful"	UK Singles Chart	10