On Music
The band R.E.M. is easy to love—and hate. In the 1980s the group from Athens, Georgia, defined college and indie rock. It grafted locomotive Rickenbacker guitar and bass onto the no-nonsense beats of Bill Berry and the barely audible but alluring vocals of Michael Stipe. Automatic for the People (1992) ranks as one of the most beautiful, plaintive pop albums of its time. Document (1987) remains a quirky gem.