Monster: 25th Annversary

R.E.M.のリマスター・シリーズ新作は2019年リリース25周年を迎えた1994年オリジナル・リリースの9枚目で全米、全英チャートでNO.1に輝いた作品『MONSTER』。
こちらはオリジナル・アルバムのリマスターのみを収録した180g重量盤LP。

Rolling Stone (10/6/94, p.84) - 4.5 Stars - Excellent - "...MONSTER is a deeply felt, thematically coherent, consistently invigorating challenge to 'evolve or die,' with all the courage of its convictions..." Spin (12/94, p.76) - Ranked #6 in Spin's list of the '20 Best Albums Of '94.' Spin (11/94, p.91) - Highly Recommended - "...this is its most implacable --and convincing--music since MURMUR....Even as MONSTER flirts with unreason and breaks down old taboos, it observes the strict protocols of the forms it plays havoc with..." Entertainment Weekly (9/30/94, pp.56-57) - "...MONSTER proves no one cranks the amplifiers and mumbles lyrics in quite the same thrilling way as the originators..." - Rating: B+ Q (11/94, p.118) - 3 Stars - Good - "...MONSTER is a balder and starker bit of landscaping and whether everything in the garden remains lovely is up to debate..." Vibe (12/94-1/95, p.142) - "...Lulled by the aural Prozac of their more melodic tunes, it's easy for one to forget that R.E.M. are a rock 'n' roll band. Their new MONSTER puts them back on the block of their noisy origins and Stipe's buried-in-the-mix lyrics..." Musician (11/94, p.91) - "...the band hasn't really changed at all: the songs still stress melody over meaning, the playing still emphasizes the unit over the individuals, and the sound remains as fresh as it was a dozen years ago..." Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #3 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Mojo (Publisher) (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 - "With '92's AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE, R.E.M. reached their creative peak." New York Times (Publisher) (1/5/95, p.C15) - Included on Jon Pareles' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94 - "...Peter Buck's guitars blare and buzz to carry the pioneering collegiate-rock band into the age of grunge." New York Times (Publisher) (1/5/95, p.C15) - Included on Neil Strauss' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94 - "...This is R.E.M.'s big, dumb rock record. Except it's not dumb at all..." NME (Magazine) (12/24/94, p.22) - Ranked #14 in NME's list of the 'Top 50 Albums Of 1994.' NME (Magazine) (9/29/94, p.47) - 7 - Very Good - "...At best stunning, at worst merely diverting, MONSTER sounds like the album they 'had' to make, to clear out their system..." Blender (Magazine) (p.106) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "MONSTER is music of a moment -- '90s alt-rock perfected."

Monster is indeed R.E.M.'s long-promised "rock" album; it just doesn't rock in the way one might expect. Instead of R.E.M.'s trademark anthemic bashers, Monster offers a set of murky sludge, powered by the heavily distorted and delayed guitar of Peter Buck. Michael Stipe's vocals have been pushed to the back of the mix, along with Bill Berry's drums, which accentuates the muscular pulse of Buck's chords. From the androgynous sleaze of "Crush With Eyeliner" to the subtle, Eastern-tinged menace of "You," most of the album sounds dense, dirty, and grimy, which makes the punchy guitars of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and the warped soul of "Tongue" all the more distinctive. Monster doesn't have the conceptual unity or consistently brilliant songwriting of Automatic for the People, but it does offer a wide range of sonic textures that have never been heard on an R.E.M. album before. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine