History Music / Rem

** "Belong" from ''Out of Time'', "Chance" from the ''Automatic for the People'' sessions and ''Departure'' from ''New Adventures in Hi Fi'' consist of Stipe reading song lyrics to the music track.
** "Blue" from ''Collapse into Now'' features a distorted Stipe reading a poem while Music/PattiSmith sings sporadically.

** "Little America" includes the line "Jefferson, I think we're lost" in reference to Jefferson Holt, who at the time was their manager (and bus driver, hence the phrase). Later post-Holt performances of the song changed the line to "Washington, I think we're lost", referencing the band's disillusionment with the government.[[note]]As well as the fact that Holt ceased being the band's manager in 1996 after a rumour that a sexual harassment complaint had been lodged against him by one of the management staff.[[/note]]

Under the name R.E.M., the band recorded the first single ever released on Hib-Tone Records [[note]]There were four in total -- R.E.M. had nothing to do with the other three[[/note]], "Radio Free Europe" b/w "Sitting Still." "Radio Free Europe"'s combination of punk attitude and folk-rock guitars influenced by PowerPop (especially Music/BigStar) pretty much [[TropeMaker invented]] AlternativeRock as an distinctly identifiable entity and movement (not to mention a specific subgenre of it named JanglePop) and led to them being picked up by Creator/IRSRecords.

As time went by the band was plagued by personal disaster-- most prominently, Michael Stipe's friends Creator/RiverPhoenix and Music/KurtCobain respectively died of a drug overdose in 1993 and [[DrivenToSuicide committed suicide]] in 1994, and longtime drummer Bill Berry suffered a brain aneurysm onstage a year later, ultimately retiring in 1997-- but the band still continued on. It seems their career came and went in full circle: they began as a cult band, saw massive success, and eventually dwindled to being a cult band again. Their first five ([[BrokenBase or seven, or eight, depending on where you stand]]) are still considered among the best albums ever, and their last two are well-regarded as a successful comeback, so it's not as though they've been forgotten.

Under the name R.E.M., the band recorded the first single ever released on Hib-Tone Records [[note]]There were four in total -- R.E.M. had nothing to do with the other three[[/note]], "Radio Free Europe" b/w "Sitting Still." "Radio Free Europe's" combination of punk attitude and folk-rock guitars influenced by PowerPop (especially Music/BigStar) pretty much [[TropeMaker invented]] AlternativeRock as an distinctly identifiable entity and movement (not to mention a specific subgenre of it named JanglePop) and led to them being picked up by Creator/IRSRecords.

The band initially played with a "murky" style: their early albums were produced so that no one instrument was more or less prominent than any of the others -- but starting with ''Lifes Rich Pageant,'' Michael Stipe began enunciating his once-mumbled lyrics more clearly, and Peter Buck's guitar parts became more prominent. Shortly after this, the band, who had previously seen high levels of critical acclaim and a lot of popularity on college radio but never really had a hit, became hugely popular. ''Music/{{Document}}'', the band's last studio album with I.R.S., contained the major hits "The One I Love" and the well-tossed word salad "It's TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt (And I Feel Fine)". As the 1980s closed and R.E.M. found themselves increasingly dissatisfied with their music's dismal international distribution, the band had abandoned their old home of I.R.S. Records for the new, more mainstream label of Creator/WarnerBrosRecords under the promise of [[AuteurLicense total creative freedom]], with the first release on the label being 1988's ''Music/{{Green}}''. Bolstered by the hit singles "Stand" and "Orange Crush", as well as a ''massive'' 1989 world tour, the band was by all accounts and appearances well on its way to rock stardom-- something they ended up achieving just two years later with the album ''Music/OutOfTime'' and its lead single, "Losing My Religion". From then on, the once-cult hit [[BreakthroughHit was now an international household name.]]

* AlbumFiller: The group was short on material for ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' so recorded two 1980 songs ("Just A Touch" and "What If We Give It Away"), a 1984 song ("Hyena"), a 1985 song ("I Believe") and a cover ("Superman", originally by The Clique).

One notable aspect of R.E.M. was their approach to making music. Whereas most bands have [[IAmTheBand a clear leader]], this one was a purely democratic entity. They never did anything unless all members agreed on it unanimously, and every member contributed something to the songwriting.

Under the name R.E.M., the band recorded the only single ever released on Hib-Tone Records, "Radio Free Europe" b/w "Sitting Still." "Radio Free Europe's" combination of punk attitude and folk-rock guitars influenced by PowerPop (especially Music/BigStar) pretty much [[TropeMaker invented]] AlternativeRock as an distinctly identifiable entity and movement (not to mention a specific subgenre of it named JanglePop) and led to them being picked up by Creator/IRSRecords.

* {{Symploce}}: The song "Driver 8":

** The entire "L" side of ''Reckoning'' served as the soundtrack to a twentysomething-minute short film entitled ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Left of Reckoning]]'', done by Stipe's art tutor James Herbert, that essentially gives one of these to each of the five songs on the album's "L" side. Through the use of art close-ups, filters, time speed-ups and slow-downs and other avant garde film choices, it captures the band randomly wandering around the Whirlgig Farm in Rabbittown, Georgia.

* TheDeepSouth: They avoided the stereotypes associated with this, in that they were and are a bunch of urbane, well-educated liberals, but it was nevertheless foisted on them in their early career, especially by the UK music press, which threw around phrases like "the glory and mystery of the Deep South" in articles about the band. They were, however, quietly proud of being from where they're from. For instance, in a 1989 interview for Irish radio, Peter Buck was trying to recall the name of the screenwriter of ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter'', and when he finally remembered that it was James Agee, he commented "Great writer" and couldn't resist adding "''Southern'' writer."

** [[Music/UpREMAlbum "At My Most Beautiful"]], [[Music/{{Reveal}} "Beat a Drum", "Summer Turns to High", and "Beachball"]] were also all written as musical homages to Music/TheBeachBoys, of whom Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and the retired Bill Berry were fans.

** [[Music/UpREMAlbum "At My Most Beautiful"]], [[Music/{{Reveal}} "Beat a Drum", "Summer Turns to High", and "Beachball"]] were also all written as musical homages to Music/TheBeachBoys, of whom Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and the retired Bill Berry were fans. was also written as a homage to Music/TheBeachBoys, of whom Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and Bill Berry were all fans.

** [[Music/UpREMAlbum "At My Most Beautiful"]], [[Music/Reveal "Beat a Drum", "Summer Turns to High", and "Beachball"]] were all written as musical homages to Music/TheBeachBoys, of whom Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and the retired Bill Berry were fans. was also written as a homage to Music/TheBeachBoys, of whom Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and Bill Berry were all fans, effectively acting as a "thank you" gift to the former two and a parting gift to the latter.

** "At My Most Beautiful" was also written as a homage to Music/TheBeachBoys, of whom Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and Bill Berry were all fans, effectively acting as a "thank you" gift to the former two and a parting gift to the latter.

* LongTitle:
** "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" is the most well-known example. Counting the parenthetical subtitle, it holds the distinction of being the band's longest song title.
** ''Collapse into Now'' gives us "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando, and I]]", and one sure to cause awkward line-breaking situations on computer screens, "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter".
** Plus ''Reveal'' had "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)," and then of course there's "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" from ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi''.
** "Living Well is the Best Revenge," from ''Accelerate.''

* SingingVoiceDissonance: Stipe's northern singing voice (an Irish music journalist once described it as "smarting like a northern resident") is a far cry from his Georgian [[https://youtu.be/wXxoBOMSw1c?t=58 speaking voice]]. On the few occasions when he uses his speaking voice in recordings (e.g. "9-9", "Low", "Blue"), you wouldn't be blamed for thinking the band brought in a guest vocalist.[[note]]One explanation for this is that although Stipe is naturally a Georgian, when he sings, the formants in his voice (upper partial frequencies determined by the shape of the interior of the singer's mouth) become more northern, and cut through the sound of the band--so that you can always hear Stipe's voice, even if you can't always understand what he's singing.[[/note]]

* LoveIsLikeReligion: Zig-zagged by "Losing My Religion". The music video features religious imagery, although the song itself isn't about religion: it's derived from the southern expression meaning "Losing one's temper" or "Being at the end of one's rope"; Thus, the song is about unrequited love.

* SingingVoiceDissonance: Stipe's distinctive, reedy singing voice (an Irish music journalist once described it as "smarting like a raw and inflamed itch") is a far cry from his gravelly, baritone [[https://youtu.be/wXxoBOMSw1c?t=58 speaking voice]]. On the few occasions when he uses his speaking voice in recordings (e.g. "9-9", "Low", "Blue"), you wouldn't be blamed for thinking the band brought in a guest vocalist.[[note]]One explanation for this is that although Stipe is naturally a baritone, when he sings, the formants in his voice (upper partial frequencies determined by the shape of the interior of the singer's mouth) become louder, and cut through the sound of the band--so that you can always hear Stipe's voice, even if you can't always understand what he's singing.[[/note]]

* BaldOfAuthority: Michael Stipe's hair began thinning in the late '80s, and by the time ''Music/{{Monster|REMAlbum}}'' released, he stopped wearing hats and hoodies to hide it and just started shaving his hair, also coinciding with taking a more assertive stage performance. When seeing a performance of his younger self, [[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/02/popandrock1 he even noted]] "The hair helped a lot to hide who I was. So that went away, and things got a little more difficult."

** "Star 69." [[SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein "...something something...]] I know you called, Star 69!"

-->"Get drunk and sing along to Music/{{Queen}}\\