ROB JOVANOVIC

In 1991, the chart landscape was changing. Many bands were starting to feel the growing influence of Seattle’s grunge scene but as most guitar music grew louder, R.E.M., not for the first time, were heading in the opposite direction.

Despite forming in the southern college town of Athens, Georgia, in 1980, R.E.M. could never be characterised as a typical “southern” band. They took their musical cues from punk and post-punk, mixing it with a love of The Velvet Underground and with their own enigmatic singer.

Touring extensively between 1981 and 1987, their first five albums on IRS – the label founded by The Police’s manager Miles Copeland – saw them grow in critical acclaim. When their contract with IRS expired, they moved to Warner Bros, making their major label debut with Green, a critical and commercial hit that was followed by a comprehensive 11-month world tour and captured in all its unusual glory on concert movie, Tourfilm.

After playing their debut gig in a disused church in April 1980 they’d spent most of their first decade on the road. Yet the Green tour had left them with the dilemma of what to do next.

Michael Stipe, perhaps more than his fellow bandmates, had fully stepped into the role of ‘arena-band rock star’ as he told David Fricke: “After a year-long tour it’s about a six-month period for me to really be able to sit down at a table with people and just be a regular guy.” This decompression period was now stretching out longer than normal into 1990 and none of the band were sure they wanted to go through another year in a similar vein. Instead they decided to record a collection of less stadium-friendly songs, stay off the road, and only present themselves to fans through music videos. Bizarrely, this led to their fanbase growing exponentially.

Like R.E.M.’s previous albums, Out Of Time began with two or three band members convening at their Athens rehearsal space to work on various fledgling ideas. Usually this would be bassist Mike Mills and guitarist Peter Buck, with an occasional appearance from drummer Bill Berry. But unlike previous occasions, this time they had few remnants left over from writing on the road.

A fresh approach was needed. The new unwritten rule was that all instrumentalists had to change their traditional roles.

Mike Mills took a seat at the piano and various keyboards, Bill Berry played bass and percussion while Peter Buck handled duties on mandolin, banjo and acoustic guitar. Electric instruments were locked away.

Michael Stipe was absent for many early sessions while he performed a low-key tour with Billy Bragg and Natalie Merchant in the far reaches of Europe. When he returned to Athens, he was handed a rough demo tape of almost 20 instrumentals to listen to in his car. While driving around Athens, he’d come up with guide vocals for the basic melodies and write initial lyrics based on the tunes he’d been presented with.