Published on Apr 1, 1998
In 1994, some people started to wonder if R.E.M. had lost its
fire.
Oh, sure, they had put out two decent albums in the guise of
Out Of Time and
Automatic For The People, but Michael Stipe and company had
moved back almost to an AOR format, with their soft, introspective
ballads and string sections. R.E.M. needed something to kick them
in the ass and kick their sound back into overdrive.
Monster is the result of two such kicks – the suicide of
Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain (whom Stipe was supposed to collaborate with
on a project) and the drug overdose death of River Phoenix. What
came out of Stipe was some of R.E.M.’s best rock work in a while,
as well as some material which is quite forgettable.
The leadoff track “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” shows that
the lads from Athens, Georgia are back, and they have some musical
bones to pick. Peter Buck’s heavily distorted guitars are a welcome
change from the light acoustic clang of their previous album (not
that the acoustic vein was bad – but there’s such a thing as too
much of a good thing), while Mike Mills’s bass thunders through the
sonic clouds of sound. Bill Berry’s drums haven’t sounded this good
in a long time; they have a definite snap to them, especially the
snare work.
And while Peter Holsapple is nowhere to be found on this disc,
the band does turn to Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore for assistance
on “Crush With Eyeliner,” a great song with a guitar effect that
must be heard to be believed. It almost sounds like Buck had his
guitar running into a rotating speaker – it’s quite cool.
Some of the other radio hits off
Monster are just as good – “Bang And Blame” is a number that
grows on you quickly, while “Star 69” is a bundle of energy that
just waits to explode out of your speakers. However, I’ll never
understand why tracks like “King Of Comedy” and “I Took Your Name”
didn’t make it to the airwaves; they were just as good. Even
“Circus Envy,” a track which could have been called a throwaway, is
cute and funny enough to win you over.
If all the songs on
Monster were of this caliber, then this would unquestionably
rank as R.E.M.’s best work. However, there are a couple of boat
anchors on this disc. “Strange Currencies” is an attempt to run
back to the ballad days while keeping the electric feel to the
instruments. Three words: ain’t happenin’, gang. The song is
overblown and pompous – but that didn’t stop it from becoming a hit
on the radio.
A few other songs are too slow and, Lord help us, too moody to
fit in with the general alternative feel of
Monster. “I Don’t Sleep, I Dream” is an experiment that just
never gets off the ground, while “Let Me In” and “You” collapse
under their own weight.
Oh, it’s not that R.E.M. stumbled when they made
Monster – if anything, their return to a four-piece with the
volume turned to “10” was a return to form that long-time fans were
hoping for. And to R.E.M.’s credit, the few duds are evenly spaced
out though the disc’s 12 tracks; had they been all together, I
think I would have been running for the exits.
It remains to be seen whether R.E.M. will reach this apex again,
especially with the departure of Berry. Even if they never achieve
this kind of greatness,
Monster is a powerful, but flawed, portrait of a band who
had tasted the blood of creativity again.