Best Albums !: R.E.M.. Up (1998)

Up was their first album without 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 electronica-influenced territory after delivering the challenging New Adventures in Hi-Fi in 1996, Up alienated – to some extent – both critics and fans of the band's 1980's 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 for Up were indeed strained, with R.E.M. subsequently admitting that they came close to breaking up during its recording. Not surprisingly, the album is considered to have a laboured and melancholic feel to it. Many R.E.M. albums had made references to sleeping and dreaming but this was perhaps their most drowsy to date. In spite of the tension, "Daysleeper", which recalled Automatic for the People's "Try Not to Breathe" somewhat, became a Top 10 UK hit, and was followed by "Lotus", The Beach Boys-influenced "At My Most Beautiful" and "Suspicion", which is reminiscent of the song "Tongue" from their Monster album.

Breaking with a tradition that stretched back to their 1983 debut Murmur, Michael Stipe elected to have his complete lyrics included in Up's CD booklet, a practice Stipe has maintained on all subsequent R.E.M. releases.