Reveal (R.E.M. album)

Music

After the electronic experimental direction of Up (1998), Reveal was referred to by Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic as "a conscious return to their classic sound," although Matt LeMay of Pitchfork Media noticed that Reveal relies "more heavily on synthesized sounds than any of their past albums" with an "increased reliance on burbling, jittering synthesizers". Erlewine himself later acknowledged the album is "heavy on keyboards," whilst Pitchfork's Stephen M. Deusner said it was "effects-heavy."

The lead single, "Imitation of Life," became another U.K. Top 10 hit as well as the band's first number one single in Japan, but floundered at the bottom of the U.S. singles charts. Further singles from Reveal were "All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)" and "I'll Take The Rain." Building on examples from their previous album, Up, "Beat A Drum," "Summer Turns To High" and "Beachball" are musical homages to The Beach Boys, of whom both Mike Mills and Peter Buck are major fans.

Radiohead's Thom Yorke was going through a period of extreme depression during the late 90's, which led to severe stage fright. Around that time, Yorke and Michael Stipe were close friends, and Stipe recommended him to tell himself: "I'm not here, this isn't happening" whenever he felt he was losing emotional control. This motto eventually became the chorus of Radiohead's "How To Disappear Completely", from Kid A (2000). In turn, this song supposedly inspired Stipe to write Reveal's "Disappear".

The opening track, "The Lifting", is a prequel to "Daysleeper" from R.E.M.'s 1998 album, Up, and features the same character.

Critical reception

Initial critical response to Reveal was positive ("Probably because it's more melodic than the one before," remarked Peter Buck). At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 76, based on 20 reviews. Q Magazine gave high praise to the album, awarded it the full 5 stars, and listed it as one of the best 50 albums of 2001. Kludge included it on their list of the 25 best albums of 2001.

With early comparisons to Automatic for the People, the critical reaction to Reveal was warmer than the notices which greeted Up in 1998, particularly in the UK where it reached #1 with healthy sales. In the United States, Reveal peaked at #6 (with 10 weeks on the Billboard 200) and was certified Gold (500,000 units). The album was also certified Gold in Canada (50,000 units) in 2001, and Gold in Germany (150,000 units).

In 2004, the German version of Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 483 in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

1. "The Lifting" – 4:39
2. "I've Been High" – 3:25
3. "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" – 4:43
4. "She Just Wants to Be" – 5:22
5. "Disappear" – 4:11
6. "Saturn Return" – 4:55

7. "Beat a Drum" – 4:21
8. "Imitation of Life" – 3:57
9. "Summer Turns to High" – 3:31
10. "Chorus and the Ring" – 4:31
11. "I'll Take the Rain" – 5:51
12. "Beachball" – 4:14

Reveal Advance 2001

The February 2001 master of Reveal differed from the March 2001 master of the album, which ended up being the final version. Compared to the official, the differences of the Reveal Advance 2001 disc include:

Neither of the unreleased tracks or any of the alternative mixes have ever been released commercially. However, the band allowed the Murmurs.com fan community to offer downloads of "Fascinating", which had recently been covered by Fischerspooner.

Personnel

R.E.M.

Additional personnel