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Automatic for the People (CD & DVD Audio) | 
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| Artist: R.e.m.
Label: Rhino / Wea
Category: Music
Buy New: $24.98
New (27) Used (11) from $9.99
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 127241
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 081227817527
EAN: 0081227817527
ASIN: B0006ICF9K
Release Date: March 1, 2005
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Drive | | • | Try Not to Breathe | | • | Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite | | • | Everybody Hurts | | • | New Orleans Instrumental, No. 1 | | • | Sweetness Follows | | • | Monty Got a Raw Deal | | • | Ignoreland | | • | Star Me Kitten | | • | Man on the Moon | | • | Nightswimming | | • | Find the River |
Disc 2
| • | Drive [DVD] | | • | Try Not to Breathe [DVD] | | • | Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite [DVD] | | • | Everybody Hurts [DVD] | | • | New Orleans Instrumental, No. 1 [DVD] | | • | Sweetness Follows [DVD] | | • | Monty Got a Raw Deal [DVD] | | • | Ignoreland [DVD] | | • | Star Me Kitten [DVD] | | • | Man on the Moon [DVD] | | • | Nightswimming [DVD] | | • | Find the River [DVD] |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Continuing to specialize in the art of curve-throwing, R.E.M. followed up its 1991 smash, Out of Time, with this fragile album of soft melodies and string arrangements. The sympathetic ballad "Everybody Hurts" must have prevented countless suicide attempts, while the Andy Kaufman tribute "Man on the Moon" (with Michael Stipe affecting an Elvis Presley imitation) and the rock-into-oblivion "Drive" are among the quartet's strongest hits. (The opening line, "Hey, kids, rock and roll," isn't so much a rallying cry as an expression of anxiety.) It takes a few listens for its charms to unfold, but Automatic is the gem between bigger hits Out of Time and Monster. --Steve Knopper Now expanded, this edition features the regular, remastered album as well as a newly produced bonus DVD. Included on that disc are both new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes of Scott Litt's evocative studio productions and a previously unreleased, 15-minute 1992 documentary featuring band interviews and in-studio clips, as well as song lyrics and a gallery of still photos.
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| Customer Reviews:
Excellent February 10, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Everything everyone else has said. But, I do have to add this one: The song Find the River ALONE could easily make this their best record. I lack the words.
Brilliant Album, Good Sound Quality, Great Packaging! February 26, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is not only R.E.M.'s best ever album but is very probably one of the best ever albums. A classic from start to finish with excellent songwriting, musicianship and like a true classic, the whole is a great deal more than the sum of the individual tracks; change anything about this album e.g. track order, track additions etc and you destroy it.
The whole theme of this album centres on death and mortality and suggests that there may be more to life than what's here on earth and perhaps the afterlife is not to be feared after all. The album's tour de force, "Man On the Moon" even alludes to this, suggesting that such diverse personalities such as Elvis, Andy Kaufman, Mott the Hoople, Isaac Newton, Fred Blassy may all be rubbing shoulders and goofing around in heaven if they "made the list, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah".
John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame has also done a brilliant job with the orchestrations on a few of the tracks and most notably on "Nightswimming". The album ends with my favourite track, "Find the River" which has simply wonderful lyrics that very poetically describes the feeling of a soul leaving this earth to head for the afterlife and an expectation of better things on the other side.
Without a doubt, Michael Stipes' lyrics have never exceeded the heights that they attained on this album. No fillers here as every track is a classic gem. How this album didn't witn the Grammy for Album of the Year, I cannot understand but I suppose like most all-time classic albums, it takes time before the true brilliance shines through and for the mainstream to catch on.
This version of the album has both a remastered cd and a dvd-audio that plays in 5.1 surround sound as well. The dvd sounds excellent and even accentuates some parts that you just don't hear on the regular cd. There is also a humorous short documentary on the making of the album interspersed with funny shots of the proprietor of the restaurant that coined the album title.
Great album, great tracks and great sound plus video make this an excellent buy. Highly recommended.
 New Re-Release Package November 5, 2005
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
If one album were to be fingered as R.E.M.'s masterpiece, this would be it. Automatic For the People is the most pensive, reflective and well-paced album of the band's career. With nothing really left to prove, R.E.M. could afford to please themselves first - something they've always done, to be sure, but usually with a sideways glance over their shoulder - and this time around, they run with it. The result is an album whose sum is much greater than the individual parts. The ratio of ballads to rockers is shifted heavily toward the former, which provides singer/lyricist Michael Stipe with the basic framework to stretch out lyrically. Mystifying tunes ("The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight", "Star Me Kitten") sit comfortably beside some of his most literal lyrics yet ("Everybody Hurts", "Man On the Moon"), while all are ensconced within creative and contagiously appealing melodies (did you happen to notice the sly four-note allusion to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" buried in "Sidewinder"?). As the saying goes, death and taxes are the only things in life that are unavoidable, but this record shuns fear and is full of acceptance. Human frailty hovers over the proceedings like the ghost of Christmas past ("Everybody Hurts", "Sweetness Follows", "Man On the Moon"), painting mortality in a light that is downright agreeable. Not many artists are capable of making you smile while contemplating death. Taxes may still suck, but on "Automatic For the People", R.E.M. provide evidence that our ultimate destination need not be something to fear. ATom Ryan
Automatic Classic May 6, 2005
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Automatic for The People is R.E.M.'s follow-up to their greatest commercial triumph, Out Of Time. The success allowed R.E.M. a bigger forum to get their message out. Automatic For The People finds the band exploring such subjects as suicide, euthanasia, Republicanism, lost stars, groupies and pop culture. The album opens with "Drive" which riffs on the David Essex classic "Rock On". "Try Not To Breathe" deals with the subject of euthanasia and is sung from the perspective of an elderly person asking for understanding in his request. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" lightens the mood a bit. Michael Stipe has fun with the song singing it in a "Subterranean Homesick Blues" style, even affecting an Elvis Presley imitation. He can actually be heard laughing on the track. Things get serious again with "Everybody Hurts" in which they broach the subject of suicide. They could've sounded preachy on the song, but Mr. Stipe sings with such compassion and understanding that song reaffirms life. "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" is a throwaway track and "Sweetness Follows" is a very pretty number. "Monty Got A raw Deal" is the first song on the album about a late misunderstood actor. It's about Montgomery Clift and is quite powerful with some stirring music. "Ignoreland" is a hard-edged rocker that speaks out against the indifference towards people created by Republicans in their White House years of the 80's and early 90's. "Star Me Kitten" is their ode to groupies and is done in almost sleepy sound. "Man On The Moon" is the second actor song and probably the most famous song from the album. It is about the late Andy Kauffman and served as the title for the recent biopic starring Jim Carrey. It's got a honky tonk sound and some good slide guitar work by Peter Buck. The album closes with two slow numbers. "Nightswimming" is heavily laden with strings and is about longing for days gone by while "Find The River" closes the album on high note. The band finally seemed to be comfortable in the spotlight and they created a personal and enduring classic. The previously unreleased documentary is good and the DVD also contains Mr. Stipe's original handwritten and typed lyric sheets.
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