Out of Time (album)
This article is about the album by R.E.M.. For other uses of the term, see Out of Time.Out of Time is
R.E.M.'s seventh album, and their second major label release for
Warner Bros., released in 1991. It was their international breakthrough album. Preceded by the idiosyncratic "
Losing My Religion," which became R.E.M.'s biggest US hit,
Out of Time gave them their first US and UK #1 albums, earning them a slew of additional fans and worldwide renown. The band decided not to tour to support the release, nor the following one.
Out of Time also birthed a further smash in "
Shiny Happy People" (featuring an appearance from
The B-52's Kate Pierson). The overtly
bubble-gum styling of the song has divided fans over the years as to its virtues. R.E.M. have never played it live, though this may be due to a lack of female vocalist to accompany Michael; they did play it on
Saturday Night Live with Kate Pierson on
April 13 1991.
A second cameo appearance arises in the form of rapper
KRS-One who makes a memorable appearance on the minor hit "
Radio Song." Bassist
Mike Mills handles lead vocal duties, aided by frontman
Michael Stipe, on "
Near Wild Heaven" and "Texarkana."
While hits, neither "Shiny Happy People" nor "Radio Song" were included on
In Time - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003.
Known for its eclectic nature,
Out of Time's critical standing has lessened in later years, and is generally seen as being unbalanced and inconsistent by some reviewers. Nonetheless, its musical virtues are considered to far outweigh its drawbacks, and R.E.M. were rewarded with their biggest-selling album to date, with
Out of Time going quadruple-platinum in the US and selling in excess of ten million copies worldwide. At the 1992
Grammy Awards ceremony,
Out of Time won the newly-launched "Best Alternative Album" award.
In 1998
Q magazine readers voted
Out of Time the 38th greatest album of all time; in their 2005 follow-up list it rose one place to 37.
In 2005, Warner Bros. Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of
Out of Time which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by
Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. The CD (as with all in this series) is not remastered.
All songs written by
Bill Berry,
Peter Buck,
Mike Mills and
Michael Stipe.# "
Radio Song" â€" 4:13# "
Losing My Religion" â€" 4:26 # "Low" â€" 4:55 # "
Near Wild Heaven" â€" 3:17 # "Endgame" â€" 3:48 # "
Shiny Happy People" â€" 3:45# "Belong" â€" 4:05# "Half a World Away" â€" 3:26 # "Texarkana" â€" 3:37# "Country Feedback" â€" 4:07 # "Me in Honey" â€" 4:06
*
Bill Berry â€"
drums,
percussion,
congas on 3, bass on 8 10, backing vocals
*
Peter Buck â€"
acoustic guitar on 5 8 10,
electric guitar,
mandolin on 8,
electric octave guitar on 2
*
Mike Mills â€"
bass,
organ on 1 3 6 8 10, keyboard strings on 2 9,
piano on 7,
harpsichord on 8, percussion on 8, vocals
*
Michael Stipe â€"
lead vocals,
bass melodica on 5,
string arrangements on 5,
horn arrangements on 5
Additional personnel
*
Peter Holsapple â€" bass on 1 3, acoustic guitar on 2 6 9, electric guitar on 7
*
KRS-One â€" vocals on 1
*
Kate Pierson â€" vocals on 6 10 11
*
Mark Bingham â€" string arrangements on 1 3 4 5 6 8 9
**
Dave Kempers â€"
violin**
David Braitberg â€" violin
**
David Arenz â€" violin
**
Ellie Arenz â€" violin
**
Paul Murphy â€"
viola (lead)
**
Reid Harris â€" viola
**
Andrew Cox â€"
cello**
Elizabeth Murphy â€" cello
**
Ralph Jones â€"
double bass*
Kidd Jordan â€"
baritone saxophone on 1 4,
tenor saxophone on 1 5,
alto saxophone on 1,
bass clarinet on 3 5
*
Cecil Welch â€"
flugelhorn on 5
*Scott Litt â€"
echo-loop feed on 1
*
John Keane â€"
pedal string guitar on 9 10
AlbumSingles| Year | Song | Chart | Position | | 1991 | "Losing My Religion" | Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |
| 1991 | "Losing My Religion" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1991 | "Losing My Religion" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1991 | "Losing My Religion" | Billboard Adult Contemporary | 28 |
| 1991 | "Shiny Happy People" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 3 |
| 1991 | "Shiny Happy People" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 8 |
| 1991 | "Shiny Happy People" | Billboard Hot 100 | 10 |
| 1991 | "Texarkana" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 4 |
| 1992 | "Texarkana" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 7 |
|
