Up

Up is the eleventh album by the American band R.E.M. It was their first album without their original drummer Bill Berry, who amicably left the group in October 1997 to pursue his own interests. In his place, R.E.M. would use session drummers or drum machines to fill the void. Moving into electronic music-influenced territory after delivering the challenging New Adventures in Hi-Fi in 1996, Up alienated both critics and fans of the band's 1980s wo... more

Up is the eleventh album by the American band R.E.M. It was their first album without their original drummer Bill Berry, who amicably left the group in October 1997 to pursue his own interests. In his place, R.E.M. would use session drummers or drum machines to fill the void. Moving into electronic music-influenced territory after delivering the challenging New Adventures in Hi-Fi in 1996, Up alienated both critics and fans of the band's 1980s work and casual listeners who were used to their more commercial early 1990s output. However, some saw it as one of their bravest and most sonically daring records to date, and the record was even cited by Radiohead, who would release their own largely electronic and highly acclaimed effort Kid A in 2000. Ending a ten 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... less