Reveal was a critical and commercial success. The album reached the top 10 in the United States while topping the charts in the UK and throughout mainland Europe. Three singles were released: "Imitation of Life," "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" and "I'll Take the Rain"—with the former reaching the top 10 throughout Europe. Reviews were generally positive, with many highlighting the album's melodic nature and combination of R.E.M.'s classic sound with electronic elements. The band did not tour in support of the album, with promotion consisting mainly of television appearances, music videos, and a number of free concerts within major cities.
Back in 1998, R.E.M. released Up, their eleventh studio album and first without drummer Bill Berry. While not as commercially successful as previous albums, it still sold well and spawned the hit singles "Daysleeper" and "At My Most Beautiful". The recording of Up was a troubled process, due in no small part to Berry's absence, and the band almost disbanded as a result. Stipe has said of the album's mixing process: "when we were mixing Up, we decided that it was all over. That record broke up the group."[
After mixing for Up had completed, manager Bertis Downs organized a week-long meeting in Idaho in an effort to keep the band intact. Described as a "self-administered group therapy session" in Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. by Johnny Black, the band recognized the changes and struggles caused by Berry's absence and their reaction to his departure, while also deciding they wanted to continue as a band.
In February 2000, R.E.M. began rehearsals at West Clayton Street in Athens in preparation for a new album, with further rehearsals occurring in March at Royaltone Studios in Hollywood. The band began recording the basic tracks for the record in May, choosing Vancouver for the location due to its proximity to Seattle, where both guitarist Peter Buck and McCaughey lived. Additionally, for the recording process, Stipe wanted to work outside the United States, both because he felt the album would be "more at home away from home" and to avoid writer's block, which had previously plagued him during the writing of Up. While in Vancouver, the band laid down tracks for more than 20 songs, with some being described by the band as "embryonic" and others being "fully-realized."
In June, Buck left for Seattle, leaving Stipe to complete lyrics. While writing, Stipe would travel to prevent writer's block from reoccurring, which he has credited with helping him complete "All the Way to Reno" and "Disappear". The band reformed in July at West Clayton Street to continue work. The bulk of the album was recorded between August and October at Dalkey Lodge in Ireland with Pat McCarthy returning as producer. String parts, arranged by Johnny Tate, were recorded on October 3–4, 2000 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, while the final recording sessions were done at John Keane Studios in Athens.
Mills stated that while recording Reveal, the band made an effort to use synthesizers to create sounds which possibly "hadn't been heard before" and which were not made with the natural patches built into the synthesizers. While Stipe's intention during the sessions was "to be really melodic", Stringfellow would be asked to create a more dissonant, experimental counterpoint. The members of R.E.M. were particularly enthusiastic about Stringfellow's contributions: "The more off into my own personal vision of the deep end, the more they liked it," Stringfellow stated in Perfect Circle: The Story of R.E.M. by Tony Fletcher. "All sorts of messed up crazy distorted things run through pedals, they were loving that." Waronker noted that Buck's demos would frequently already feature fully-fledged drum parts programmed with drum machines, causing him to focus on "what not to play" or how to add to these programmed parts which stood on their own. After tracks were recorded, Buck would frequently bring tapes to his Seattle home and record overdubs by night.
Once recording was complete, Stipe compared the process favorably to that of Up, calling it "remarkably happy" and stating the band had "become acclimated to new conditions and potentials." McCaughey echoed this, speaking fondly of the experience recording in Vancouver for its relaxed environment and the atmosphere in the studio. McCaughey noted that since Stipe already had some of the lyrics while songs were being recorded, the band would track with his vocals, which he credited with causing the Reveal sessions to feel more like a "real band" working in the studio as opposed to those for the previous album.
Reveal features a meld of electronic and live instrumentation, with the material being more melodic and accessible than on Up. The album has generally been regarded as a more optimistic and upbeat album compared to its predecessor. Buck has described the sound of Reveal as "warm and layered and analogue" while also having "a distance and breath to it that's modern and complete and liberating... like a beautiful vacuum." Stipe intended for Reveal to be a "summer record", which Fletcher notes is displayed in song titles such as "I'll Take the Rain", "Beachball", and "Summer Turns to High". Additionally, Stipe utilizes a more relaxed singing style throughout.
The album was split in two section "Chorus Side" the album's opener "The Lifting" was written as a prequel to "Daysleeper," and features the same character. David Buckley, author of R.E.M Fiction: An Alternative Biography, states that the song references psychic and spiritual healing programs while relating to themes of self-improvement and self-help. The song includes a guitar solo in which Buck uses an e-bow, while Buckley compares its "mantric" drum figure to that of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows". The final version of "The Lifting" is a "funkier" arrangement devised by the band after its earlier arrangement was deemed too similar to "All the Way to Reno." Johnny Black lists "I've Been High" among the album's "gorgeously atmospheric ballads" while Buckley considers it to be "solemn, stately and emotional," with "subtle dance textures and beats" beneath Stipe's vocal. Stringfellow considered the song to be the "masterwork" of the record, as he felt it "push[ed] the boundary of what defines [R.E.M.] musically." For "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)," Stipe wrote lyrics from the point of view of, according to Buckley, "an aspirant female on the road to fame." Buck has noted an "ironic" element to the lyrics. Black considers the song one of R.E.M.'s "most lush and blatantly commercial pieces of work," while Buckley noted its "echoes of old-style R.E.M. rootsiness."
"She Just Wants to Be" started with "organic" instrumentation such as acoustic guitar, and ended with "computer-driven synth strings" intertwined with traditional orchestration. "Disappear" begins with an acoustic intro similar to the band's earlier song "Swan Swan H" (1986), while its verses contain a "Nick Cave-style tension". The song was inspired by Stipe's trip to Israel, while Buck has called it a song about "self-effacement." During the trip, Stipe attended a rave in Tel Aviv, in which a fan asked what he was doing there; his response was "I came to disappear. "Buckley considers "Saturn Return" to be the "oddest" track on Reveal, as well as "the creepiest track R.E.M. ever cut." During the demo session which spawned the song, Buck encouraged the other musicians to find "the weirdest sound on [their] instrument that [they could] possibly imagine."
The Ring side started with "Beat A Drum" as one of multiple songs from Reveal to earn comparisons to the Beach Boys. Buckley considers the track to be the only other likely single choice on the album after from "Imitation of Life" (though the former did not receive a single release), crediting its "beautiful" melody by Mills. "Imitation of Life" takes its title from the 1959 Douglas Sirk film of the same name, as the band found it to be a "perfect metaphor for adolescence. "Summer Turns to High" was another Beach Boys-influenced track. After hearing the original version of the song, which had an "Irish feel" utilizing acoustic guitars and accordions, Stipe liked it but found it to be too busy, and so it was re-arranged to consist of just drums, bass, and a single keyboard with Stipe's vocal melody, which "pushed it completely out to left field." I'll Take the Rain" as "humble offering with an acoustic structure deftly adorned with orchestral strings and Ken Stringfellow’s keys." the song "pairs self-empowering but melancholic lyrics with optimistic instrumentation and vocals." "Beachball", the closing track, contained live strings in the verses and synth strings in chorus.
- Chorus side
- 1. The Lifting
- 2. I've Been High
- 3. All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)
- 4. She Just Wants To Be
- 5. Disappear
- 6. Saturn Return
- Ring Side
- 7. Beat A Drum
- 8. Imitation Of Life
- 9. Summer Turns To High
- 10. Chorus And The Ring
- 11. I'll Take The Rain
- 12. Beachball
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