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

• Broken Base: The 2019 remix is fairly contentious among fans for stripping away a good chunk of the original mix's instrumentation and making Stipe's vocals clearer. While fans have conceded that the 2019 mix is meant to "de-90's" the album in the vein of David Bowie's Never Let Me Down 2018, they're stuck as to whether the change improves the album by making its messages more overt or if it instead harms the album by removing the stylistic effect evoked by the 1994 mix's muddier sound (most prominently on "Let Me In").
• Tear Jerker: "Let Me In", a blunt rumination on Kurt Cobain's then-recent suicide and how it impacted Michael Stipe, who was friends with Cobain.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The album's rawer sound confused a lot of fans, which is one reason it was a notorious fixture in used bins and thrift stores.
• Vindicated by History: Despite being critically acclaimed upon release and a major commercial success, the album was initially reviled by fans as a result of its overtly grunge-inspired sound, which galvanized accusations among I.R.S. Records-era fans that the band had sold out during their time on Warner (Bros.) Records; so huge was the backlash that it in hindsight was the main catalyst in the band falling out from the mainstream eye. Grunge fans were baffled by an ironic rock album when American alternative rock was suffused with earnestness at the time. After the band split up in 2011 however, fans started going back to the Warner-era material and realized just exactly what R.E.M. were trying to do with Monster, leading it to be more and more praised over time as the album's satire of mainstream celebrity culture became more readily known.

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