Maps of Music

Up (1998)

Where the lyrics of Up take you, and where it was really made.

Up was the first R.E.M. album made without drummer Bill Berry, who quit in October 1997, after the band had already moved toward a more electronic sound.

Key places

Recorded at La Casa del Elefante, Seattle (1998)

Recording site London Bridge Studio — The album's recording credits list La Casa del Elefante in Seattle as one of the studios where Up was recorded. The point is placed at city-centre level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Band's first sessions without Berry at Toast Studios (1998)

Recording site Soapbox West — The band's first sessions without Berry began on February 2, 1998 at Toast Studios in San Francisco. The point is placed at city-centre level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at John Keane Studios, Athens (1998)

Recording site John Keane Studios — The album's recording credits list John Keane Studios in Athens as one of the studios where Up was recorded. The point is placed at city-centre level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Baby Monster Studios, New York (1998)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album's recording credits list Baby Monster Studios in New York as one of the studios where Up was recorded. The point is placed at city-centre level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Up is the eleventh studio album by American rock band R.E.M.
• Released 26 October 1998 through Warner Bros. Records
• The first album without drummer and founding member Bill Berry
• Produced by Pat McCarthy, not Scott Litt, the first such album since Lifes Rich Pageant
• Heavy use of drum machines and keyboards, a larger electronic influence than any earlier R.E.M. record

Background

• Berry retired from the band in October 1997
• During the Monster tour, Berry suffered an aneurysm at a show in Lausanne, Switzerland, and made a full recovery after emergency surgery
• New Adventures in Hi-Fi, released September 1996, reached number two in the US and number one in the UK
• The band signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records estimated at $80 million, then regarded as the largest recording contract awarded up to that point
• The band parted ways with longtime manager Jefferson Holt in the spring of 1996 over sexual harassment allegations

Recording

• Rehearsals for the album began in February 1997 at West Clayton Street in Athens
• The band produced around 20 backing tracks in those first sessions
• Work moved to Buck's home studio in Hawaii in March 1997
• Berry announced his departure when the band reconvened in October 1997
• The band chose not to replace him and used session drummers and drum machines instead
• The first sessions without Berry began on February 2, 1998 at Toast Studios in San Francisco
• 'Airportman' was written, recorded, sung and mixed in one day

Sources: www.discogs.com · en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe, all University of Georgia students
• Released the single "Radio Free Europe" in 1981 on the independent label Hib-Tone
• Signed with I.R.S. Records in 1982

Members

• Michael Stipe (lead vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass, vocals), Bill Berry (drums) until 1997
• Bill Rieflin served as touring drummer from 2003 until his death in 2020

Career

• Breakthrough hit "The One I Love" in 1987 from Document; signed with Warner Bros. in 1988
• Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992) made them leaders of alternative rock
• Continued as a trio after Berry left in 1997
• Broke up in 2011 after selling more than 90 million albums worldwide
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2024

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone: Ann Powers compared the album to Radiohead's OK Computer, citing a shared theme of alienation
• Los Angeles Times: Mike Boehm found it an improvement on New Adventures in Hi-Fi, praising its resourceful and cohesive soundscape
• Entertainment Weekly: David Browne called it R.E.M.'s most cohesive album since Automatic for the People
• Q: Danny Eccleston gave it four stars and wrote that fans of the band would find it more accessible than casual listeners would
• Spin: Sally Jacob praised the album as lushly arranged and compared it to the debut Murmur
• Pitchfork: the original review was mixed, finding the change in sound contrived and forced
• The Guardian: Adam Sweeting credited the band for diversifying its sound but found the experiments only intermittently successful

Reappraisal

• AllMusic: Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album accomplished and varied, but felt the band was playing catch-up
• Blender: Karen Schoemer gave four stars out of five and called it the band's most intimate album in years
• Uncut: Louis Pattison noted that its electronics were prescient for groups that followed Kid A

Records

• US Billboard 200: debuted at number three
• First-week sales of 117,000 copies in the US, followed by a drop
• RIAA Gold certification on 22 January 1999
• Top of the charts in Italy, Germany, Austria and Norway
• Number two in the UK, Ireland and Sweden
• Ranked 74th by Nude as the News and 38th by Juice in 1990s lists
• US sales of 664,000 copies as of March 2007

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Stipe chose to print his complete lyrics in the CD booklet, a practice he kept on all later R.E.M. studio albums.
• Stipe sought an 'automatic, unconscious' lyrical style inspired by Patti Smith.
• 'Hope' credits Leonard Cohen even though he did not take part in writing the song, because of its similarities to Cohen's 'Suzanne'.
• The 25th-anniversary edition released on 10 November 2023 added a second disc of a February 1999 live performance for the sitcom Party of Five.
• Warner Bros. chose 'Daysleeper' as the first single, a choice the band was unhappy with.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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