Trivia / Monster (R.E.M. Album)

• Creator Backlash: "King of Comedy" is one of Peter Buck's least favorite R.E.M. tracks, with Buck calling it a "Leonard Cohen rip-off".
• Creator Breakdown: The album's production was informed by the band's growing feelings of vapid ennui in the wake of their newfound fame, various health issues among the band's members, and the deaths of both River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain, close friends of Michael Stipe. All of this resulted in the band feeling so hostile to one another that Stipe considered it a de-facto breakup, and the bitter atmosphere surrounding Monster's production is reflected in the album's cynically sarcastic look at mainstream celebrity culture.
• In Memoriam: Monster was dedicated to River Phoenix, a close friend of Michael Stipe who died of a drug overdose 11 months before the album's release.
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition:
  • Continuing in the vein of the band's other Warner-era albums, Monster received a special edition release consisting of the CD packaged in a hardcover book containing exclusive photographs and artwork.
  • The album was given a two-disc reissue in 2005 along with every other album in the band's Warner Bros. catalogue up to that point. Like those reissues, this one came with an expanded booklet and a DVD-A that featured the entire album done in a 5.1-channel surround sound mix (courtesy of acclaimed audio engineer Elliot Scheiner) and concert footage from the album's tour.
  • Like the group's previous three Warner Bros. albums, Monster received the box set treatment for the 25th anniversary of its release in 2019. The 2-CD version features the base album and a remix by original producer Scott Litt that, among other things, places Michael Stipe's vocals at the top of the mix to make them clearer. The expanded edition additionally includes a collection of demos, a live show from the supporting tour, and a Blu-ray containing a 5.1 version of the album, the Concert Film Road Movie, and the associated music videos.
• Referenced by...:
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic's "The Alternative Polka" features a snippet of "Bang and Blame".
  • The original Monster Rancher, whose entire gimmick revolved around earning monsters by scanning CDs, allows the player to obtain the rare monster Apocolis by inserting a CD copy of this album.
• Refitted for Sequel: Two demos from the album sessions ended up evolving into full-fledged songs on later albums. One, "Harlan County with Whistling", ended up being released in 2003 as the anti-Iraq War Protest Song "Final Straw", which in turn would be remixed for 2004's Around the Sun. The other, "Black Sky", would eventually become the track "Until the Day Is Done" on Accelerate in 2008.
• Technology Marches On: "Star 69" derives its title and chorus from a button combination (*-69) used on older phones to call back someone with whom one had just ended a call with, often recommended as a means of confronting prank callers. However, this function would be rendered obsolete in the 2000s, thanks to the rise of caller ID, call logs, and single-button redial features.
• Working Title: A number of these are scattered throughout the album's liner notes; among other inclusions, "King of Comedy" was originally called "Yes, I Am Fucking with You".

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