Customer Reviews

Out of Time

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

There's a weird country twist in both tone and sound ("Texarkana" and "Country Feedback") and maybe that's what the title refers to of these tunes being out of another time.

Whatever. Far be it for me to analyze whatever it is Michael Stipey is on about, I just dig the sounds and how he slaps lyrics together over that sound. This album showed a bit of a shift for the band but it's one that had to be done (how long can you survive in the "Radio Free Europe" college radio mode anyway?).

I can't believe I hated this when I first heard it! Brilliant, beautiful music worthy of the classical greats. It is my all-time favorite album. Each song is a unique and perfict gem, weather you're talking about the dark beauty of "Low", the up-beat melodies of "Radio Song", or the spine-tingling "Losing My Religion". This album is also home to the infamous "Shiny Happy People", a wonderful and genuinely happy song that has gotten loads of scorn exactly for that reason. Too bad. R.E.M. is just as great happy as they are bitter. And this album features the best of both worlds. It has an acoustic, almost classical music feel to it. One of the guest artists here was Kate Pierson from the B-52's. Her fantastic singing is added to three songs, including "Shiny Happy People" and the addictive gem "Me In Honey".

This is one of the best albums by one of the best bands in world history. There is absolutely nothing here for anyone to pick at. The brilliant rythems, stunning lyrics, and high feelings. Every member shines in their craft. R.E.M. at their peak of success and artistic genius. Not to be missed!

This is the first R.E.M. cd I have owned. I bought it when it first came out, and I'm still listening to it since. It is a great cd, full of classic, memorable songs, with surprising cameo appearances. Only a few flaws prevent it from getting the perfect 5 star rating...

Losing My Religion is the main song off this album, and it's brilliant, of course. It's a fantastic, catchy song that will have you hooked... that is, if you aren't already!

The brilliant Low and Half A World Away occupy this album, both great pieces of music that deserved more recognition. Country Feedback is another great song, and keen R.E.M. fans may tell you that it's one of their best.

This cd also contains the single... um, Shiny Happy People. This song has a mixed opinion about it; some love it, some can't stand it. I suppose the same can apply for Radio Song (which I, personally, can't stand.) With "Automatic", generally everyone can relate to, and love, the songs on it, but with these...

As for the others, well, they're a mixed bag, really. Near Wild Heaven is catchy, though perhaps a bit poppy. Endgame is a great instrumental, and the remaining Belong and Me In Honey are certainly good songs, though they are dwarfed by the more popular songs on the cd.

So what's the verdict? Well, despite 2 or 3 poppy songs that some people are bound to oppose to, this is still a great album that I recommend to anyone!

While a few long-time R.E.M. fans eschewed this album as an abrupt departure from the band's previous modus operandi, many non-fans embraced the band because of this album. "Out of Time" brought in many fans, me included, because of the powerful song "Losing My Religion" and a few other very catchy songs that accompanied it on the album. Though uneven (more on that in a bit), "Out of Time" overall is a great album and probably the band's second most emotionally powerful album (at times, anyway) behind only "Automatic for the People".

I have to disagree with the reviews that bash "Losing My Religion"; just because a song resonated with the masses doesn't detract from its artistic value. And though "Shiny Happy People" is mocked more than any other R.E.M. song except "Stand", I like that the band was willing to experiment and do such a song. R.E.M. has pumped out enough meaningful songs to be given license to do an occasional fluff piece.

I alluded earlier that I feel the album suffers from an unevenness; though most of the songs stand alone very well, as a whole the album feels like a hodgepodge of songs from different albums. Some fast, some slow, some thoughtful, some fluff, some experimental sounds, some traditional. It's akin to something a fan would burn as a CD today rather than a studio-produced, coherent whole. Don't get me wrong, though; the songs that don't quite fit in are still good songs in their own right.

While not perfect, any serious R.E.M. fan has to have this seminal R.E.M. album in their collection. It has terrific songs and marks the band's leap from relative obscurity to the beginning of the band's apogee.

I am saddened by the way this album is regarded by many so-called long term REM 'fans'. Mind you, I think REM themselves haven't helped by unfairly dismissing Shiny Happy People.
Like Me in Honey, Shiny Happy People is unashamedly joyous with a hippy feel. Considering that Country Feedback, probably Stipe's favourite REM song, appears on this album, he should be singing the album's praises a bit more. Some people don't like Out Of Time for being too 'pop' sounding. I disagree- the polished sound only enhances the talented musicianship. They recorded the instruments in analogue and the voices in digital, the opposite to how most people record, because they wanted to emphasise the baroque instrumentation and knew that Stipe's voice would be warm enough to shine through.
In 2 words, this album is 'baroque pop', which is pretty unique. Probably 'Half The World Away' sounds more than any song like those off their next album. Its' natural successor is 'Try not to breathe'- both have an almost medieval sound- you can imagine them being played on a lute round a campfire. 'Losing My Religion', 'Endgame' and parts of 'Shiny Happy People','Belong' and 'Me in Honey' have a similar quality. Unlike Out Of Time's often more celebrated successor, Automatic for the People, which , if you want to be cynical, could in places sound like elevator music for an old people's home (Find the river, Nightswimming.), Out Of Time is modern and youthful in spirit even when harking back to a distant past.

REM went from being a great band to a shallow corpse of its former self in one album. GREEN was okay, and a great drop from DOCUMENT, but they fell off a bloody cliff with this. Every album since is about half/half, but better than OUT OF TIME, itself. Still, they have tons of money now, so why not do great music again? Listen to the great early five, and it shows they can do "pop" music, yet have a quality edge to them. This cd is the same as a bad meal.

Being a fan of R.E.M., I want to like Out of Time. There are so many people out there who are getting something out of this album that I am not, and I wish I could see what the attraction is. I listened to this the moment it was released and I listened to it a few weeks ago. My opinion remains the same.

The main problem with Out of Time is that you don't get a really good track until track eight! Eight songs into it! I understand having to go through one or two before you hit a good one, but this is the main reason I think this is R.E.M.'s most inconsistent album.

As for the first seven tunes, all of them have more potential than substance. In other words, with a little more work, they could have been lots better. Frustratingly, you have to deal with them as they are. Radio Song, Shiny Happy People and Near Wild Heaven are hoaky exercises in what R.E.M. thought was whimsy, but are really contrived, corny, and warrant no second listen. Endgame, Belong, and Low are obvious pieces of filler. I challenge anyone to sit through such trying songs and and end up being moved.

Losing My Religion, long considered the wild card and pivitol point in R.E.M.'s career, just leaves me shrugging my shoulders. Peter Buck plays a nice mandolin and the song has a nice, subtle feel to it, but Michael Stipe couldn't have come up with a more uninteresting melody (accompanied by trite lyrics) if he tried. It sounds like he's making it all up as he's going along and not quite getting the hang of it.

The magic three in this album are Texarkana (old R.E.M. vibe visits the new R.E.M. production with good results), Half a World Away (acoustic balladry) and Country Feedback (needs no explanation). Herein lies the only reason, that I see at any rate, to get Out of Time. Me In Honey? I can take it or leave it. A very insignificant track.

Thank heavens for rebounds though. With just one release, R.E.M. astounded estranged fans, hushes their critics, and established themselves as a relevant musical force for at least another decade. That album was Automatic For The People.

There are albums more deserving of critical praise, but this is one I'd rather listen to. If I had to pick 5 albums to take with me to a desert island, this would be one of them.

Only Automatic For The People can compete. This is a great rock album. I wouldn't call it an all-time great, it's not quite of that caliber imo, but nontheless it's a great album. Buy it for 'Losing My Religion' and 'Endgame' if for nothing else. Extremely enjoyable listen.

this record has 3 decent songs...Losing My Religion, Shiny Happy People and Me In Honey. otherwise this cd is pretty dull. Low is terribly boring with Stipe reciting his high school poetry over a nothing arrangement. REM's records are all about the same. Nonsensical lyrics combined with thin melodies. only the production changes from album to album. occasionally they find a decent musical hook like the mandolin riff in Religion but over all they have a fairly limited musical and lyrical reach. this can be considered a review for all of REM's cds now out and probably to come. vastly overrated band.