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They were a wellspring of hits from day one.
Theyretired in 2011, having scored several classics and very few duds.
Their reluctance to follow trends made them unique and unpredictable.
Their constant quest to challenge themselves made magic.
is inarguably one of the greatest American rock bands of all time.
This month, R.E.M.
Its a big box and deservedly so, becauseMonsterwas a pivotal moment.
After touring extensively throughout the 80s, R.E.M.
Despite the tumult, R.E.M.
is proud of its achievements.
walked an interesting path in the 90s.
When grunge exploded, you were making beautiful, quiet music.
People adjusted to that, then you gave them guitars and distortion.
By the end of the 90s, there was no sense of what ground R.E.M.
What inspired you to evolve so quickly in that era?Mills: Rule No.
1: Dont do the same thing again.
Stipe:And he bought an amp that had tremolo.
We had disappeared after theGreenworld tour.
I didnt do press.
Wed made these two records that were hugely, hugely popular.
We never wanted to repeat ourselves, and we were going on tour.
Consequently, at the same time, I spoke publicly about my sexuality in the lead-up toMonster.
I shaved my head cause my hair was thinning.
Mike grew his hair out into a Prince Valiant and started wearing Nudie suits.
Mills:We had to present ourselves to the world for the first time in five years.
Nobody had really seen us.
They just heard our record.
We didnt want to present the same R.E.M.
It seemed like, if youd wanted to, you couldve been the undisputed biggest band of the 90s.
We just wanted to be the best band we could be.
We were perfectly willing to sink or swim on our own efforts.
If it didnt work, then we owned that.
If it worked, we owned that, too.
And then when Clinton came in, it felt like there was a bit of a weight off.
Those were the first U2 records I really loved.
Since we broke up eight years ago, its okay to look back now.
And we didnt want to drag that legacy into the dirt.
It just felt like the best way to honor it is to encapsulate it and walk away.
All this stuff is sitting in the archive.
Wed rather do it ourselves now then have someone do it much, much later.
Its not like were gonna chuck it in the trash, you know?
I mentioned King of Comedy the other day, and this guy said, Thats my favorite R.E.M.
It was a fun, good idea.
But, for me, it didnt completely gel in the recording.
Thats a song really we overworked and overthought.
And did not allow it to be … everything it could be.
Was that the intention?Mills: The record really is about ironic distance.
When you go on the stage, youre not the person you are ten seconds before you walk onstage.
We decided to run with that.
It was just a whole new persona for the band that they hadnt seen before.
Thats what I was trying to press back then.
I did an okay job of it, but I got blowback from all sides.
It did what it needed to do for me and for anyone who didnt quite understand.
It was pretty obvious from our first record that I was different in a bunch of ways.
I was never that guy.
I was always completely and uniquely myself, for better and worse.
But yeah, people did make a run at box me in.
Artists have a longer leash now to be themselves without really subscribing to a specific vision of sexuality.
And sometimes it can get a little attitude-y, but thats okay.
Desire is something that can shift from day to day.
You know who embodies that in a way I find very, very interesting isBillie Eilish.
Its less about her sexuality; I dont know a thing about her sexuality.
I was like, You were the female singer who doesnt have to do that.
And now shes doing it.
I like that Billie Eilish presents herself in these kind of baggy sweatshirts and the scary makeup.
So right now, theres an openness and an ability to teach different ideas.
But there are people actively resisting them too.Stipe: Of course.
Change is hard, particularly in a country this big and as young as we are.
We still have these locked-in ideas of our own mythology.
When that breaks into camps, it can get quite dangerous.
Were having an extreme contraction right now.Stipe: I would agree with that.
Do you see an end to that?
But he doesnt go easy.
So hes gonna claw.
Hes gonna cling.
And hes gonna be pulled away screaming and kicking.
It makes perfect sense that this is when its happening.
He was very self-deprecating.
He was really funny.
He was smart like Im smart.
He wasnt book smart or academic, Ivy League smart.
He had a different kind of smart, and it made sense.
You had to listen sometimes to make sense.
He was a good father.
He was a little bit shy.
His eyes were the bluest eyes you ever gazed into; his eyes were ultramarine.
They were so crazy.
When I first met him, I looked him in the eye and was like,Holy shit.
This is on.Like, the guy is part alien.
He really came from somewhere else.
How do you feel about the state of rock and roll in this decade?
Im not being arch.
Its not the kind of music I am drawn to listen to.
In fact, I dont listen to very much music at all.
Music, for me, becomes a barricade to everything else.
I listen to ambient music a lot.
I like Nils Frahm.
I like Billie Eilish.
I like some pop music but only in cars that are taking me places thats less than 15 minutes.
I really like Sia.
Mills: Oh, I hate her!
I wish to God I had written Chandelier.
Stipe: Yeah, me too.
What a great song.
Will theUpalbum ever get the reassessment it deserves?Stipe:You think it should?
But I think it was unfairly looked over.Stipe: Dismissed.
Mills: Its a weird record, and it was made at a very weird time.
Stipe:We forgot how to talk to each other.
And thats a record that shows that.
Mills: Its an alienation record.
But if the record company wants to [reissue] it, sure, well do it.
There was a time at which wed have been like, No, Ive got things to do.
I dont want to sit here and look at the past.
Lets unwrap this and see what it feels like 25 years later.
[Laughs] Well, therapy session over!
This interview has been edited and condensed.
