Rocktrospectiva: The Underrated "Villains" Turns 30

Released on 26 March 1996 "Villains" was the 3rd., and first major label release by US alternative rock  band the Verve Pipe. The album contained the band's first hit single, "Photograph", which peaked in the top 10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. A year after the release of the album, a reformatted version of "The Freshmen" peaked at number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single was also the band's sole appearance in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 5. The success of the song helped this album go Platinum.Other singles taken from the album were "Cup Of Tea" & "Villains". The album remains the Verve Pipe's best-selling album. 

The Verve Pipe made their major-label debut under the direction of producer Jerry Harrison with Villains, recasting themselves in the inauspicious mold of a post-grunge act. On an initial listen, the album does little to distinguish itself from the masses, though patient revisiting reveals a band of more depth, with Brian Vander Ark's songwriting improving vastly over previous albums and more subtle aspects, like the tasteful organic keyboard arrangements, actually adding texture and dimension to the sound. The band seemed to acknowledge the misstep by re-recording "The Freshmen" for single release and subsequent pressings, which ultimately earned them their first national hit. With a raw anger in the vocals and melancholy instrumentation, this  easy album was perfect to relax to or sulk in a depressive state. The interesting  song "Villains" was a comment on the negativity and glorification of criminals on the news which represents the album as a whole, covering dark and depressing themes. In particular many songs on the album were heartbreaking and somber. "The Freshmen" one of the most remarkable songs ever written served as a climax of heartbreak, and the closer "Veneer" which was a sort of fading away and slow death, a fanfare with combined voices, everything fades away as the end comes near.

Considered it a very underrated album and one of the most ideal late 90s post-grunge/alternative rock records ever emerged. Unfortunately the band didn't get enough recognition but at least dropped their mark in the alternative music scene post grunge of the end of the 90s

 

Villains Track List:  

 

1. Barely (If At All)

2. Drive You Mild

3. Villains

4. Reverend Girl

5. Cup Of Tea

6. Myself

7. The Freshmen

8. Photograph

9. Ominous Man

10. Real

11. Penny Is Poison

12. Cattle

13. Veneer 

Rocktrospectiva: The Mature And Edgy "Candy Apple Grey" Turns 40

 

Released on 17 March 1986 "Candy Apple Grey" was the 5th., studio album by the US indie rock band Hüsker Dü, released through Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first major label release, though Warner Bros. had lobbied to release Flip Your Wig until the band decided to let SST Records have it. The album spawned two singles "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" & "Sorry Somehow". 

Candy Apple Grey also marked the completion of the band's transition from hardcore punk to a more well-rounded sonic style which would later come to be known as alternative rock. As usual, Bob Mould and Grant Hart individually wrote tracks on the album. While the band's earlier, more frenetic style is still evident, Another interesting featured was that the band move into a  more introverted, toned-down material, including a relatively large amount of acoustic guitar, although the production was more full-bodied than Spot's razor-thin work. 

Much of Candy Apple Grey chargeed along on the same frenzied beat that propelled New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig, and both Bob Mould and Grant Hart  were in fine form, spinning out fine punk-pop with "Sorry Somehow" and "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely." However, the sound was beginning to seem a bit tired, which is what maked Mould's two acoustic numbers, "Too Far Down" and "Hardly Getting Over It," so welcome. The opening track “Crystal” was a mind boggling scream fest by Mould that is one of the more challenging songs the band ever did. However, a lot of the album was indeed more accessible than the Husker Du of old, but it’s a natural progression rather than a forced one. "Eifel Tower High" was equally as successful, and continued Mould’s unique songwriting structure. 

The singles released from this album were "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" and "Sorry Somehow", both written and sung by Hart. The latter was accompanied by a promotional video which earned airtime on MTV. Indeed "Candy Apple Grey" was the first Hüsker Dü album to chart on the Billboard Top 200, but despite receiving exposure on radio as well as MTV, it peaked at No. 140. 

 

Candy Apple Grey Track List:  

 

1. Crystal

2. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely

3. I Don't Know For Sure

4. Sorry Somehow

5. Too Far Down

6. Hardly Getting Over It

7. Dead Set On Destruction

8. Eiffel Tower High

9. No Promise Have I Made

10. All This I've Done For You 

New Music: Sliced By A Fingernail

           

Dry Cleaning have released a new single, "Sliced By a Fingernail." The song comes with an unsettling visualizer by Bullyache, where a dancer takes frontperson Florence Shaw's lyrics quite literally—"Do a headspin / When it's a grubby round ball, grubby round ball"—by... spinning their head in circles on top of a basement washing machine?. The track was inspired by illustrator Jooyoung Kim's Welcome to My Life, a humorous picture book about a dog with a long body. "A lot of attention makes them feel sliced up. So they fantasize about being hidden inside a huge flower bud and about being anonymous in a crowd at night,"nt. 

New Music: Wired

            

Basement have been making waves over the past few years. They have toured consistently with fantastic bands on both headline tours and support tours for behemoths like Turnstile, and also headlined the coveted Outbreak festival in 2024. Now Basement have returned with two singles but we are focused on this "Wired" contain not only the essence of their songwriting, snappy and immediate riffs with a foreboding sense of urgency, only amplified by the relentless hardcore adjacent drums that are expertly coupled with the forlorn and scathing lyricism to create a perfect dichotomy of sound, but a distinct evolution in the mixing and general sound. Both of these tracks sound inherently alive, both with individual identities carried by the heartbeat of the group’s creativity. "Wired" is an expertly dialled-in track that hits top speed before the light has changed. Its shrill and speedy chord progression kicks us into overdrive immediately, keeping the intensity sky high as the distinct and biting vocals begin to viciously serenade the rest of the band as they carry through the verses with haste and break into an explosive pre-chorus, rife with lead lines and vicious blasts of the snare drum. This is basement at its best, and if this is the tempo that they continue to carry forward at, this will no doubt be a huge album for the Ipswich five-piece, the video was directed by Ashley Rommelrath

 

Rocktrospectiva: The Massive And Aclaimed "Joyride" Turns 35

Released on 28 March 1991 "Joyride" was the 3rd., studio album by Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, the album was the follow-up to their international breakthrough Look Sharp! (1988), as well as the non-album single "It Must Have Been Love", from the soundtrack to Pretty Woman (1990). The album spawned five singles "Joyride", "Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)", "The Big L", "Spending My Time" & "Church Of Your Heart". 

The album was recorded over an 11-month period in Sweden. The duo experienced considerable pressure from their record label to deliver a successful follow-up album, and resisted pressure to relocate to Los Angeles and work with experienced American producers.Fortunately for the duo, the album was a critical and commercial success upon release.

Roxette's primary songwriter, Per Gessle, began work on the album in February 1990 at the Tits & Ass recording studio in Halmstad—which he co-founded in 1984 with his then-Gyllene Tider bandmate, lead guitarist Mats "MP" Persson. The pair recorded rough demo versions of ten songs over a three-week period, after which they were joined by vocalist Marie Fredriksson, who then provided input on re-arranging some of the material. By the end of April, the three had completed work on over twenty-five demos.

Work was transferred to EMI Studios in Stockholm in May, where Gessle and Fredriksson were joined by producer Clarence Öfwerman. With the success of previous album Look Sharp! (1988) and its singles, as well as the non-album single "It Must Have Been Love", the duo resisted pressure from record company EMI to relocate to Los Angeles and work with American producers and musicians, opting instead to "develop our own sound" with the Swedish musicians they had worked with previously. 

Gessle has described the pressure to deliver a successful follow-up album as "intense", with EMI investing almost US$2 million on pre-release promotion for Joyride. Gessle later said that he wrote the album with the intention of it sounding "like a greatest hits record. ... It was never a given that Joyride was gonna be a major success just because Look Sharp! sold millions. We were lucky that the Pretty Woman movie happened in between those albums, so the world never got the chance to forget about us! I knew that Joyride had to be really focused with lots of single 'wannabes', so I think I wrote about 30 songs to make it happen. It was fun. All of us were very motivated.

All of the lyrics on the album were written by Gessle, who also composed the majority of its music—with the exception of "Spending My Time", "(Do You Get) Excited?" and "Perfect Day", which were co-composed with Persson; Fredriksson co-wrote the music to one of the album's louder rock songs, "Hotblooded", and is the sole composer of ballad "Watercolors in the Rain". She composed its music using lyrics which were written several years prior by Gessle, who expressed interest in the pair composing this way more regularly on future material, saying: "When it's happening like that [me writing lyrics and Marie composing music], it makes Roxette even better because it widens up what we can do, what kind of music we can make, even more. So I think she should write more." Her limited input in the songwriting of Roxette material stemmed from difficulty with writing English lyrics: she has said that it "feels very strange to write in another language." The song is more folk-orientated than any material previously recorded by the duo, and is indicative of Fredriksson's Swedish-language solo work. 

The title track was released as the album's first single. It became one of Roxette's biggest ever hits, and was one of the most successful singles of 1991. It was the duo's first number one single in their home country, and topped the charts in numerous other territories. The song spent eight weeks at number one in Germany, "Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)" was released as the second single. It also became a hit, particularly in North America, where it peaked at number two in both Canada and on the US Billboard Hot 100—held off the top spot in both countries by Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You". "The Big L." was released as the third single outside of North America in August, peaking within the top twenty of numerous territories.

The end of 1991 saw the merger of the SBK, Chrysalis and EMI record labels to form EMI Records Group North America. The merger resulted in the new company firing over a hundred members of staff, and saw Roxette receiving little support from their new label. Subsequent singles from the album, "Spending My Time" and "Church of Your Heart", peaked at numbers thirty-two and thirty-six, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100—in stark contrast to the duo's previous five singles which all peaked within the top two of the chart.

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, by calling the record the work of "two pop artists at the top of their game", and praised the album's consistency, others compared the band to ABBA, calling them "worthy successors to the tradition of air-headed catchiness set down by their fellow Swedish pop tarts", and complimented the album for an abundance of hooks, by emphasizing its sense of personality, Roxette delivered more than just well-constructed hooks; this music had heart, something that made even the catchiest melody more appealing."

 

Joyride Track List: 

 

1. Joyride

2. Hotblooded

3. Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)

4. Knockin' On Every Door

5. Spending My Time

6. I Remember You

7. Watercolours In The Rain

8. The Big L.

9. Soul Deep

10. (Do You Get) Excited?

11. Church Of Your Heart

12. Small Talk

13. Physical Fascination

14. Things Will Never Be The Same

15. Perfect Day&

Rocktrospectiva: The Vigorous And Innovatie "Discovery" Turns 25

Released on 12 March 2001 "Discovery" was the 2nd., studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk. It marked a shift from the Chicago house style of their first album, Homework, to a house style more heavily inspired by disco, post-disco, garage house, and R&B. Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk described Discovery as an exploration of song structures, musical forms and childhood nostalgia, compared to the "raw" electronic music of Homework.

Discovery was recorded at Bangalter's home in Paris between 1998 and 2000. It features extensive sampling; some samples are from older records, while others were created by Daft Punk. The electronic musicians Romanthony, Todd Edwards, and DJ Sneak collaborated on some tracks. For the music videos, Daft Punk developed a concept involving the merging of science fiction with the entertainment industry. Inspired by their childhood love for Japanese anime, the duo collaborated with Leiji Matsumoto to produce Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, an anime film with Discovery as the soundtrack. The album produced six singles: "One More Time" was the most successful and became a club hit, and also "Aerodynamic", "Digital Love", "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", "Face To Face", & "Something About Us".

Daft Punk recorded Discovery in their studio, Daft House, in Bangalter's home in Paris. Work started in 1998 and lasted two years. Bangalter and Homem-Christo made music together and separately, in a similar process to Homework. Rather than rely on the drum machines typical for house music, the Roland TR-808 and the TR-909, Daft Punk used an Oberheim DMX, a LinnDrum and a Sequential Circuits Drumtraks. They used samplers including the Akai MPC and E-mu SP-1200, Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos, vocoders including a Roland SVC-350 and a DigiTech Vocalist, and various phaser effects. They used the pitch-correcting software Auto-Tune on vocals "in a way it wasn't designed to work". Bangalter said: "We're interested in making things sound like something other than what they are. There are guitars that sound like synthesizers, and there are synthesizers that sound like guitars."

Described as a concept album, "Discovery" relates strongly to Daft Punk's childhood memories, incorporating their love of cinema and character. Bangalter said it deals with the duo's experiences growing up in the decade between 1975 and 1985, rather than it just being a tribute to the music of that period. The record was designed to reflect a playful, honest and open-minded attitude toward listening to music. Bangalter compared it to the state of childhood when one does not judge or analyse music. Bangalter noted the stylistic approach was in contrast to that of their previous effort. "Homework [...] was a way to say to the rock kids, like, 'Electronic music is cool'. Discovery was the opposite, of saying to the electronic kids, 'Rock is cool, you know? You can like that.'" He elaborated that Homework had been "a rough and raw thing" focused on sound production and texture; in contrast, the goal of Discovery was to explore song structures and new musical forms, which was inspired by Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker".

The opening track, "One More Time", featured heavily Auto-Tuned and compressed vocals from Romanthony. "Aerodynamic" had a funk groove, an electric guitar solo, and ends with a separate "spacier" electronic segment. The arpeggiated solo was compared to Yngwie Malmsteen, "Digital Love" contains a solo performed on Wurlitzer piano, vintage synthesisers and sequencers; it incorporates elements of pop, new wave, jazz, funk and disco. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was an electro song. It is followed by "Crescendolls", an instrumental. "Nightvision" was an ambient track. "Superheroes" leaned toward the "acid minimalism" of Homework. It begins with a drum roll and includes arpeggios that are said to resemble those in the soundtrack to the 1980 film Flash Gordon. "High Life" was built over a "gibberish" vocal sample and contains an organ-like section."Something About Us" was a downtempo song, with digitally processed vocals and lounge rhythms.

"Voyager" had guitar riffs, harp-like 80s synths, and a funky bassline. "Veridis Quo" was a "faux-orchestral" synthesiser baroque song; according to Angus Harrison, its title is a pun on the words "very disco". "Short Circuit" was an electro-R&B song with breakbeats and programmed drum patterns. "Face to Face" was a dance-pop song featuring vocals from Todd Edwards and was more pop-oriented than the other tracks on Discovery. "Too Long", the final track, was a ten-minute-long electro-R&B song.

Discovery used a number of samples. The liner notes credit samples from "I Love You More" by George Duke on "Digital Love", "Cola Bottle Baby" by Edwin Birdsong on "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", "Can You Imagine" by The Imperials on "Crescendolls", and "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" by Barry Manilow on "Superheroes". "One More Time" contains a sample of the 1979 disco song "More Spell on You" by Eddie Johns. Daft Punk pay royalties to the publishing company that owns the rights, but Johns has never been located; as of 2021, he was owed an estimated "six-to-seven-figure sum" based on streams. Edwards recalled that he and Daft Punk curated 70 samples each to incorporate into "Face to Face".

The ideas for music videos formed during the early Discovery recording sessions. The album was originally intended to be accompanied by "a live-action film with each song being a part of the film", according to Todd Edwards. Daft Punk decided instead to concentrate on an anime production. Their concept involved the merging of science fiction with entertainment industry culture. The duo recalled watching Japanese anime as children, including favourites such as Captain Harlock, Grendizer, and Candy Candy. Daft Punk brought the album and the completed story to Tokyo in the hope of creating the film with their childhood hero, Leiji Matsumoto, who had created Captain Harlock. After Matsumoto joined the team as visual supervisor, Shinji Shimizu had been contacted to produce the animation and Kazuhisa Takenouchi to direct the film. With the translation coordination of Tamiyuki "Spike" Sugiyama, production began in October 2000 and ended in April 2003. The result of the collaboration was an anime film, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, which features the entirety of Discovery as the soundtrack. 

Discovery has continued to accumulate praise since, being widely regarded as among the greatest albums of all time, and is credited for its influence on electronic and pop production over subsequent decades.

 

Discovery Track List: 

 

1. One More Time

2. Aerodynamic

3. Digital Love

4. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

5. Crescendolls

6. Nightvision

7. Superheroes

8. High Life

9. Something About Us

10. Voyager

11. Veridis Quo

12. Short Circuit

13. Face To Face

14. Too Long

Rocktrospectiva: The Notable And Commercially Succesful "Strange Free World" Turns 35

Released on 19 February 1991 "Strange Free World" was the 2nd., studio album by British alternative rock band Kitchens of Distinction. It was the follow-up to their 1989 debut Love Is Hell. Noted producer Hugh Jones, who worked with Echo & the Bunnymen helped the band to sound more at ease in the studio. The album spawned two singles "Quick As Rainbows" & "Drive That Fast".

With the help of noted producer Hugh Jones, the Kitchens sounded and felt more comfortable with the studio and just plain bigger. The amazing opener, "Railwayed," started with a sweet, echoed guitar riff aiming for the heavens above a brisk rhythm exchange then kicks into a catchy chorus. Following that, the re-recording of their early single "Quick as Rainbows" turned out even better, combining a great lyric melody, reflecting on a person's inability to find love, delivered with Fitzgerald's trademark dry yet emotional voice -- with ripping music, building higher and higher as the song goes until Swales' guitar beautifully explodes over everything down to the final angry lyric. 

Fitzgerald's gay-themed lyrics seemed almost more urgent and in many ways more powerful as on the forceful declaration of "Gorgeous Love" in the face of homophobia and in the sad, angry reflection on the past captured only in "Polaroids."  Musically, the tunes were quite ambitious in many ways, often steering away from conventional verse-chorus-verse formulas; "Aspray" was a fine example, ending with a repeated chant of "Beach/Burned/Nausea!" while guitars crashed like waves. World ends excellently, with the band's best tune, "Drive that Fast"(a hymn to escape and self-determination that charges forward and takes no prisoners, leading into the love-drunk "Within the Daze of Passion" and the slower-paced but still big-sounding "Under the Sky, Inside the Sea," with trumpets by Kick Horns member Roddy Lorimar. 

Considered one of the best 50 shoegaze album of all time, the album was an excellent effort at the time for the band and due of this, the record was  considered one of the group's best works, as well as possibly its most popular and commercially successful, peaking at number 45 on the UK Albums Chart. The album also includes their first UK charting single "Drive That Fast," which peaked at number 93 on the UK singles chart. 

 

Strange Free World Track List:  

 

1. Railwayed

2. Quick As Rainbows

3. Hypnogogic

4. He Holds Her, He Needs Her

5. Polaroids

6. Gorgeous Love

7. Aspray

8. Drive That Fast

9. Within The Daze Of Passion

10. Under The Sky, Inside The Sea

New Music: Automatic

           

Jessie Ware shares new single, the smooth "Automatic" taken from the artist forthcoming new album "Superbloom". This the third single taken from Jessie Ware’s hotly anticipated sixth studio album, Featuring the dulcet tones of Euphoria actor Colman Domingo, ‘Automatic’ was co-written with Kamille, Karma Kid and Baz and leans into the soulful '70s disco sound Ware has made her own in recent years. Explaning how the collaboration with Domingo came about, Ware says, “‘Automatic’ was the first song where I really felt like I was bringing the dance and soul world together for this album. I wrote it with Kamille, Karma Kid and Baz. Karma had this amazing sample and groove, and it all clicked instantly. Kamille and I couldn't stop writing; it just flowed really naturally. That's probably what I love most about it, it feels effortless and like it can exist in any setting. It's a celebration of romance and connection. 

Rocktrospectiva: The Stilistic Grunge-Free "Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop" Turns 30

Released on 26 March 1996 "Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop" was the 3rd., studio album by the US rock band Stone Temple Pilots. After a brief hiatus throughout 1995, the band regrouped to record the album together at Westerly Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, where they also lived at the time. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and all three of its singles—"Big Bang Baby", "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart", and "Lady Picture Show"—reached the top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The band promoted the album with a tour throughout 1996 and 1997, although it had to be cut short due to Scott Weiland's ongoing battles with substance abuse.

The period leading up to the recording of Stone Temple Pilots' third album, Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, was marked by serious internal challenges, largely stemming from the singer, Scott Weiland's struggles with substance abuse. Although the band had managed to complete Purple (1994), it had been a difficult process due to Weiland's addiction, which had already begun to disrupt the group's stability. By early 1995, the situation had worsened. During initial sessions for the album in February, the band was forced to discard two weeks' worth of recordings as Weiland's condition deteriorated. On May 15, 1995, he was arrested for possession of heroin and cocaine. After being released on bond, Weiland sought out more drugs and eventually secluded himself at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles, where he reportedly spent time using drugs with Courtney Love.

During Weiland's absence, the remaining members of Stone Temple Pilots, the guitarist Dean DeLeo, the bassist Robert DeLeo, and the drummer Eric Kretz, began developing a new project. Believing the band had hit a low point, they decided to form Talk Show in the spring of 1995, recruiting the former Ten Inch Men singer Dave Coutts. While the members did not view Talk Show as a temporary side project, Stone Temple Pilots had not officially disbanded. At the same time, Weiland started his own group, the Magnificent Bastards, and contributed tracks to the Tank Girl soundtrack and the Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon compilation. Weiland spent the rest of 1995 cycling through rehabilitation centers, leaving the band's future uncertain.

In October 1995, Stone Temple Pilots regrouped and went to Westerly Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, a 20,000-square-foot estate, with the producer Brendan O'Brien to begin work on Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. According to Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo had been spending time in the Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley area and suggested recording there. With the help of a woman named Bobby, the band secured the property, which allowed them all to live on-site while making the album. Only twelve people, the band, O'Brien, crew members, engineers, and a cook were present. Robert DeLeo explained that recording in a house was something the band had long wanted to do. He cited albums such as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John as examples of records made in residential settings. At the same time, he acknowledged that Westerly Ranch was booked for Tiny Music partly in the hope that it would help keep Weiland focused and on schedule, as maintaining attention in a traditional studio environment had become challenging.

The DeLeo brothers first sorted through their collection of roughly 30 songs they wrote during Weiland's absence, deciding which would suit Stone Temple Pilots and which would be used for Talk Show. As Dean DeLeo later recalled, "Robert and I had about 30 songs, and we sat in the room one night and basically went down the list and marked next to every song: Scott, Scott, Dave, Scott, Dave, Dave, Scott... It's really weird, because in all reality it was like 'Big Bang Baby' could've been on [the] Talk Show record and 'Everybody Loves My Car' could've been on Tiny Music." Kretz described the period leading up to the recording as stressful. However, once the band settled into the house where they were working, the atmosphere shifted. "Once we got there, the house contained only our egos and our dogs," he said, adding that living together again and reacquainting themselves without getting on one another's nerves allowed the process to fall into place.

Compared to the relatively fast creative process of Purple, the band was able to "stretch out" and experiment even more for Tiny Music. Kretz explained that while Core consisted largely of songs the band already had before bringing in producer Brendan O'Brien, Purple marked a shift toward greater studio experimentation after learning new techniques during their first collaboration with him. That experimentation, he said, "opened up the floodgates" for Tiny Music. Robert DeLeo said that the house itself inspired exploration, as the band felt curious enough to record in several different rooms. Kretz described it as a setting "where we could live and bring in all the recording equipment in the world", with microphones, drums, guitars, amplifiers, and even a Fender Rhodes placed throughout the space.

The band utilized each room for its own distinct acoustics. The tiled foyer, with its 20-foot ceilings, created a natural reverb effect that can be heard on "Lady Picture Show". O'Brien encouraged spontaneity, and Kretz noted that "Brendan loves to try different things", leading to guitar parts recorded in spaces such as the bathroom and entryway. Some of the percussion was tracked in a large bathroom to capture what Kretz described as "beautiful, natural reverbs and crazy sounds". For "Lady Picture Show", Kretz recorded drums in the attic's cedar closet, while the drums for "Big Bang Baby" were recorded on the front lawn. He added that many of the songs were written "right there, in the heat of the moment", and said the process resulted in a record that avoided standard studio effects. Robert DeLeo described it as "a great experience to make the sounds up yourself rather than be in a studio and assume the sounds were going to be good because of the space you were at and the gear that was there".

According to Kretz, recording and living together at Westerly Ranch created a playful atmosphere, with days that might include playing tennis and drinking margaritas. Dean DeLeo described the sessions as "too much of a paradise to feel anything other than joy and laughter". Despite this, the period was also marked by tension. Robert DeLeo said there were times when, after walking past Weiland's bedroom on the way upstairs, they would check on him to see if he was alive, "literally". Kretz said Weiland would occasionally disappear for days and return in poor condition, calling the situation heartbreaking. He added that it was naïve if the intention behind recording outside a major city was to cut off Weiland's drug supply. "Where there's a will, there's a way," he said. Kretz described cycles in which Weiland would be sober and "laughing and witty and enjoyable to be around", followed by abrupt downturns. "It definitely put the gloom and the ugliness in there," he stated, adding that the record reflected "the good, the bad and the ugly" of what the band was experiencing.

Despite the tension, the band rediscovered the joy of recording together during the sessions. Kretz said he was "really blown away" after reading Weiland's lyrics. He admitted that the band had initially worried the material might be self-indulgent, but instead found it inspiring, adding that he wished Weiland would assemble a book of poems. Robert DeLeo noted that the home setting gave the band more freedom to explore musical directions without second-guessing. He had been deeply immersed in bossa nova at the time, and the openness of the environment encouraged him to bring that influence into the sessions. Dean DeLeo said the group believed the setting would help them "get back to basics" and reconnect with their blues background. However, the creative atmosphere did not entirely eliminate the strain within the group. Weiland's history of addiction loomed over the sessions, and the band remained aware of the instability that had previously disrupted their plans. 

The album saw the band deviate from the grunge sound present on their first two records and incorporate a wider variety of different influences, including psychedelia, shoegaze, jangle pop and glam rock. Weiland opted for a higher, raspier tone for much of the album's material, as opposed to the deeper vocals present on Core and Purple. It also features a wider array of instrumentation, including organ, vibraphone, and trumpet. 

Tiny Music opened with "Press Play", an instrumental featured a Rhodes piano and runs for 81 seconds. "Pop's Love Suicide" and "Tumble in the Rough" moved with a "newfound speed and ease", "Tumble in the Rough" was the only Stone Temple Pilots track credited solely to Weiland for both music and lyrics, the song leaned toward punk rock with a layered sound influenced by the 1960s, prioritizing texture, tone, and mood over directness. "Big Bang Baby" explored themes of fame's emptiness, with references to Weiland's own death multiple times in the lyrics. "Lady Picture Show" combined melodic elements of early '70s rock with a structure reminiscent of Beatles-style pop. Garner compares it to "You Never Give Me Your Money", noting its emotional restraint and the detached, observational tone of Weiland's vocal delivery, which lends the song a subtle melancholy that the critic contrasts with the "clumsiness" of the band's breakthrough hit "Sex Type Thing". 

"And So I Know" showcased Robert DeLeo's interest in jazz and bossa nova, creating a laid-back, swaying atmosphere. Bryan Rolli in Consequence highlighted the song's lithe quality,  "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" incorporated a riff reminiscent of Led Zeppelin's "Dancing Days" and built to a large-scale chorus where Weiland declares himself as "not dead and not for sale". The track also featured a prominent guitar solo from Dean DeLeo, described by Rolli as "scorching", "Art School Girl" blends British post-punk with jazz elements, according to Reyes-Kulkarni, and stands out for its irony and humor. "Adhesive" combined elements of shoegaze and indie rock, with a slow, ambient arrangement that features trumpet solos reminiscent of Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain.  

Tiny Music reviews were mixed with some acknowledging its stylistic shift but questioning its coherence and substance. Some viewed Tiny Music as the band's most stylistically liberated and best "grunge-free" effort to date,  also found merit in the band's reinvention, calling the album "immense fun". Other critics were more severe in their assessments by noted the band's attempts at eclecticism, but concluded that "it's for naught" and led to "a particularly bumpy listen". 

 

Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop Track List:  

 

1. Press Play (instrumental)

2. Pop's Love Suicide

3. Tumble In The Rough

4. Big Bang Baby

5. Lady Picture Show

6. And So I Know

7. Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart

8. Art School Girl

9. Adhesive

10. Ride The Cliché

11. Daisy (instrumental)

12. Seven Caged Tigers

Rocktrospectiva: The Fresh And Gentle "Musicforthemorningafter" Turns 25

 

Released on 27 March 2001, "Musicforthemorningafter" was the debut studio album by US artist Pete Yorn, the album spawned the singles "Life On A Chain", "For Nancy ( 'Cos It Already Is)", & "Strange Condition".  

Back in May 1998, Pete Yorn recorded what was to be his debut album, thenightbefore, with producer Don Fleming. The album was recorded over the course of a week in New York City with Yorn playing all of the instruments. Virgin Records was interested in releasing the album, but wanted to rework the entire second half of the record; which Yorn refused to do. Shortly thereafter, Yorn returned to California and befriended R. Walt Vincent at a Sloan concert. Vincent introduced Yorn to digital recording and encouraged him to move away from the "alt-country feel" that his original recordings had. 

After that, Yorn and Vincent recorded Musicforthemorningafter throughout 1999 in Vincent's garage, after signing with Columbia Records, the label offered a slew of "super well-known producers" to work on their material, but Yorn declined. However, Yorn and Vincent later brought in Brad Wood to help "clean up and tie the room together." Ken Andrews, of the alternative rock band Failure, performed on and produced the album's sixth track "For Nancy ('Cos It Already Is)", while "Simonize" was the only holdover from the Fleming sessions in 1998.

The end resulted of Yorn's unfettered ambition is an undeniably self-assured mélange of rock, folk, and pop, with electronic flourishes and insanely catchy hooks throughout. A raspy yet lucid vocalist, even Yorn would likely agreed that he was not the most technically gifted singer by any stretch of the imagination. But his unique phrasing, yearning emotiveness, and unmistakable sincerity more than make up for it, with his evocative lyricism arguably his greatest asset.

With zero filler material across musicforthemorningafter's fourteen tracks, was a daunting task to identify the handful of standout songs. Album opener and lead single "Life on a Chain" had a great use of filtered vocal effects that gave to blasts of infectious, guitar-driven melodies, as Yorn examined finding redemption from the disenchantment of a stunted marriage. The percussive, harmonica-blessed "Strange Condition" followed, as Yorn outlines the fragility of his tortured soul, as he pines for the elusive object of his affection. The uptempo stormer "For Nancy (‘Cos It Already Is)" was loosely inspired by Yorn finding the name Nancy scratched on the back of an old guitar he stumbled upon. More broadly, it can be interpreted as a grass-is-always-greener themed ode to appreciating the love that’s right in front of you and acknowledging that something (or someone) better may not exist after all.

A trio of more subdued compositions also represented notable highlights. The album's most memorable chorus ("You were lying wide awake in the garden / Trying to get over your stardom"), the stripped-down "Just Another" is a hazy daydream of a song built around Yorn's proven penchant for conversational intimacy, as he relegates a past love to the status of "just another girl." The introspective, gorgeously executed "On Your Side" was a stirring exploration of trying to heal the wounds of a fractured relationship, followed by the equally exquisite depiction of co-dependence, "Sleep Better." And the shimmering, acoustic-guitar fueled pop of "Sense" rose to the top. The song showcased Yorn at his confessional best, as he lamented the futile exercise of trying to change an obstinate lover who fails to reciprocate the energy and hope he has invested in her.

Musicforthemorningafter was well received by critics upon release, praising the work as the stunning beginning of a long, varied career. a brilliant West Coast college rock record, with an arresting and continually interesting style but Yorn's vocals were criticized here also, even though, the record still sounds amazingly fresh 25 years later. 

 

Musicfrothemorningafter Track List:  

 

1. Life On A Chain

2. Strange Condition

3. Just Another 

4. Black

5. Lose You

6. For Nancy ('Cos It Already Is)

7. Murray

8. June

9. Sense

10. Closet

11. On Your Side

12. Sleep Better

13. EZ

14. Simonize

Rocktrospectiva: The Influential Masterpiece "Black Celebration" Turns 40

Released on 17 March 1986 "Black Celebration" was the 5th., studio album by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, it was produced by Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones. At the prompting of Miller, the band recorded the album using the "live the album" ethos inspired by the film director Werner Herzog, which led to considerable tension between the band and both Miller and Jones, resulting in neither being involved in the production of subsequent Depeche Mode albums.

The album was promoted by the singles "Stripped", "A Question of Lust", and "A Question of Time". In the US, "But Not Tonight" was released as a single instead of "Stripped". In support of the album, Depeche Mode embarked on the five-month-long Black Celebration Tour across Europe, North America, and Japan, which ran from early to mid-1986.

After touring through July 1985 in support of their previous album Some Great Reward (1984). Depeche Mode released two compilation albums in late 1985, The Singles 81→85 in the UK in October, and Catching Up with Depeche Mode in the US in November. Both albums included two new tracks which were both issued as singles, "Shake the Disease" (single released April 1985) and "It's Called a Heart" (single released September 1985). On a personal level, singer Dave Gahan married his partner Jo Fox, songwriter Martin Gore was still living in West Berlin with his girlfriend Christina Friedrich, and Andy Fletcher and Alan Wilder had moved in with their girlfriends, Grainne Mullen and Jeri Young, respectively, in London. However, after their exhausting year of touring and recording, the band found themselves at odds when they reunited. Tensions within the band and their producer Daniel Miller had already come up during recording sessions earlier that year for "Shake the Disease".

Said Gahan, "If we were ever going to split up the band it was at the end of 1985. We were really in a state of turmoil. Constant arguing. Very intense. We weren't really sure where to go [musically] after Some Great Reward, so we decided to slow things down. But it left us with too much time on our hands. So we spent most of our time arguing. Sometimes, it seems incredible that we came out of that period with the band and our sanity intact." The inter-personal conflict within what was normally a tight-knit group led Gore to hide away with a friend at a farm for a week, with Gore later saying "I freaked out. I had to go away for a few days." Ultimately, the band agreed to reconvene in London in November to try to record their new material.

Depeche Mode entered Westside Studios in London in the first week of November 1985 to start recording their new album. In starting to work on the new album, producer Miller said that he "was a bit frustrated because [he] couldn't get the guys to think about working in different ways," and to that end, Miller asked the band to attend the studio every day to work on the production to "live the album", wanting "a kind of intensity". Miller was inspired by the history of German film director Werner Herzog, saying that Herzog had made historical films "and [the people involved in production of the movies] really lived the films, and it was a very intense way of working." The band agreed to this approach, and Gore moved back to London from West Germany, where he had been living since the Some Great Reward recording sessions of 1983–84.

Typical of Depeche Mode's previous few albums, Gore arrived at the sessions with demos of new songs for the album, and, determined to make their new album "a lot heavier, harder and darker [than their previous album]", brought in demos that were less structured and formal than he had in the past. Miller and the band's label, Mute Records, upon hearing the demos, were concerned about the morbid, slow demos, and worried that they lacked any radio-friendly singles. After a week-long standoff, Miller and the label relented, allowing the band to "make the record you want to make." This stand-off preceded a tense 120 days in the studio, with the band and producers working 14 hours a day to complete the album, with few days off. Adding to the tension was that both Miller and Gareth Jones returned in their production roles from the band's previous album, but alongside them was now Alan Wilder, who had grown into production responsibilities for their music over the past few years. With three co-producers sharing space at the production desk, Miller said "Alan [Wilder] was becoming very adept in that studio-bod role which I'd filled before. That left my own position less defined but I still had a very strong point of view. I think that created a lot of tension." 

In addition, the entire group worked under tight timelines, intending to finish recording and mixing all their material, as well as completing all artwork for their album and singles, by Christmas 1985, although they missed this deadline and ended up working into the first few months of 1986. Years later, Miller remembered that the Black Celebration sessions "turned in a nightmare ... There was definitely tension in the studio" as a result of the "live the album" ethos of recording. Alan Wilder said that the way the album was made, combined with Miller's brooding and Gore's dark songs, resulted in an "underlying darkness" in the material they created. In an attempt to cope with the stress of the album's production, the band and production crew smoked a lot of marijuana while recording the album, and this instilled a feeling of paranoia in the sessions.

The band continued to use new, bespoke sampled sounds while recording Black Celebration, fed into the Synclavier the band had used on their previous two albums. Andy Fletcher said "we had this theory at the time that every sound must be different and you must never use the same sound twice."

By the end of their recording sessions, the band and producers Jones and Miller had moved back to Hansa Studios in West Berlin. Despite all the tension, Wilder later said that "the album's claustrophobic feel was probably down to the tension. I think it did add a chemistry to the sound of the record, more than any others we have done. It's one of my favourite records we have ever made."

One of the first songs the band recorded was "Stripped", which, according to Wilder, was one of the few songs that was "easy" to record for the album. "Stripped" incorporated the sound of Gahan's idling Porsche 911 and of a bottle rocket,

Wilder spoke about the way they approached sampling for the album, using the track "It Doesn't Matter Two" as an example: "There are a lot of choir samples on that. It would have been very easy to take just one sample and play it back polyphonically. But instead, we took a different sample for each choir note, so each note is slightly out from the others. It gives it a very realistic feel. We spent a long time getting that to work, so that it sounded human. That goes for all the stuff we do, not just that one track." Lyrically, Gore summarized "It Doesn't Matter Two" as a "very desperate [song]. Very very morbid." Of "Sometimes", he described it as "about someone who questions their surroundings and ends up becoming tiring and embarrassing and over apologetic." "Fly on the Windscreen", which was the b-side to Depeche Mode's previous single, "It's Called a Heart", was deemed by the band to be "too good" to remain just a b-side, so it was re-mixed and included on the album. Title song "Black Celebration" started with Miller's distorted voice saying the phrase "A brief period of rejoicing", taken from Winston Churchill's 8 May 1945 speech after the surrender of Germany to end World War II in Europe.

By 19 November 1985, the band was recording "A Question of Lust", one of four Gore-sung songs on the record, an all-time high for any Depeche Mode album to date. Alongside "Lust", Gore sang lead vocals on "Sometimes", "It Doesn't Matter Two" and "World Full of Nothing", saying "we've noticed that my voice is more suited to the softer and slower songs than Dave's [Gahan]". After a single day off for New Year's Day 1986, the band returned to the studio, and on 14 January 1986 they had mixed the album track "World Full of Nothing" as well as recorded and mixed one of the album's B-sides. 

The album continued to be a transition album for Wilder, whose final songwriting credit with the band was the instrumental B-side "Christmas Island"; after Black Celebration Wilder continued to transition to spend more time arranging and performing songs and producing and engineering the band's sound. Years later, Wilder said he stopped songwriting for the band because it didn't come naturally to him, and he struggled with the lyrics, saying "My interest is more about atmosphere and production and editing and all the other things."

The title "Black Celebration" was not a reference to Black mass or rituals of the Occult, but rather, it was meant to "[describe] the daily boredom of a dreary life without climaxes or hope for improvement." Said Gore, "Our songs from Black Celebration capture the idea: Make the most of what you have, and find consolation whereever you can." Gahan elaborated, "it's a common thing: at the end of a working day you go out and drown your sorrows no matter how shitty you feel or how bleak your future looks."

Reviews for Black Celebration in the British press were mixed. Some found Gore's lyrics "adolescent" and the record's overall mood "dark yet faintly ridiculous", conceded that "within their own parameters, Depeche Mode created a resonant, if undemonstrative techno-pop tapestry" with "a rich textured sheen that is not without a certain depth." He added, "When the songs address topics other than the composer's state of mind, others were impressed by the album's "weirder" approach of mixing "dark, mysterious percussive" songs and "sweet, fragile and rather sinister ballads". In the years to come Black Celebration has since been reappraised in retrospective reviews, some considered it a transitional work for Depeche Mode, moving away from their earlier "industrial-pop" sound and towards "a path that in many ways defined their sound to the present: emotionally extreme lyrics matched with amped-up tunes, as much anthemic rock as they are compelling dance, along with stark, low-key ballads." 

 

Black Celebration Track List:  

 

1. Black Celebration

2. Fly On The Windscreen - Final

3. A Question Of Lust

4. Sometimes

5. It Doesn't Matter Two

6. A Question Of Time

7. Stripped

8. Here Is The House

9. World Full Of Nothing

10. Dressed In Black

11. New Dress

12. Breathing In Fumes

13. But Not Tonight 

14. Black Day

News: Erasure/Blancmange Project Doublespeak To Release Debut Album

Doublespeak – a new collaboration between Erasure's Vince Clarke, Blancmange's Neil Arthur and electronic producer-writer Benge – will release their self-titled debut album in May.

Arthur and Clarke first worked together back in the '80s, when the Blancmange man contributed an unused song to Clarke's short-lived project The Assembly. In 2017, Arthur approached Clarke with the idea for Doublespeak, pitching a collection of covers of artists including Young Marble Giants, ABBA, The Carpenters and David Essex using analogue electronics. Bengle – producer of the last six Blancmange albums and Fader – got on board, completing the three-piece.

"I knew so little about some of these songs that they were like demos to me," says Clarke. "They felt like brilliant new songs that you want to get your hands on. I’ve had people do cover versions of my songs and honestly there’s no better tribute. So that’s what we wanted to do here."

"What’s really stood out for us on this journey is how good these songs are," adds Arthur. "It's from doing your own version that you realise what incredible pieces of work they are."

Doublespeak is out 29 May 2026

 

Doublespeak Track List:  

 

1. Back To Nature (originally by Fad Gadget)

2. Brand – New – Life (Young Marble Giants)

3. The Visitors (ABBA)

4. I Can’t Escape Myself (The Sound)

5. Goodbye To Love (The Carpenters)

6. Rock On (David Essex)

7. Smoke And Mirrors (The Magnetic Fields)

8. Day Breaks, Night Heals (Thomas Leer and Robert Rental)

9. Gentle On My Mind (John Hartford)

10. Richard! (Ed Dowie)

11. End Credits (Laptop)

Rocktrospectiva: The Groundbreaking Masterpiece "Out Of Time" Turns 35

Released on 12 March 1991 "Out Of Time" was the 7th., studio album by US alternative rock band R.E.M. With Out of Time, R.E.M.'s status grew from that of a cult band to a massive international act. The record topped the album sales charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, spending 109 weeks on U.S. album charts, with two separate spells at the top, and spending 183 weeks on the British charts, including one week at the top. The album spawned four singles "Losing My Religion", "Shinning Happy People", "Near Wild Heaven", & "Radio Song".

Out of Time combined elements of pop, folk and classical music heard on the band's previous album, Green, with a new concentration on country elements that would continue on 1992's Automatic for the People. It featured guest appearances by KRS-One and Kate Pierson from The B-52's.

The release of the album was preceded by the release of "Losing My Religion", which became R.E.M.'s biggest U.S. hit, Out of Time gave them their first U.S. and UK No. 1 album. The band did not tour to support the release, although they did make occasional appearances on television or at festivals. 

The album first part called Time Side opened with "Radio Song" featuring KRS-One which begans with a spoken-word introduction by KRS-One of Boogie Down Productions, rather than with instrumentation or vocals from the band. This marked a departure from the group's typical introductions, which often feature Bill Berry's drumming, Peter Buck's guitar, Mike Mills' bass, or Michael Stipe's vocals. The inclusion of KRS-One, who expanded his contribution beyond what was originally requested, is cited by members of the band as a significant factor in the track's development. Berry noted that the song, while built on a strong groove, lacked impact prior to the addition of KRS-One's performance. The song's lyrics addressed radio programming practices, specifically the repetition of formulaic content. Although the tone of the lyrics includes critique, Stipe later stated that the intent was partly humorous and self-referential. Then the massive worldwide hit "Losing My Religion" emerged from an initial idea by Buck. He experimented with a mandolin while drinking beer and watching a baseball game, recording the result on a boom box. During rehearsals, the band worked on this initial idea, with Berry initially playing bass before switching to drums. The song developed into a full band arrangement, with Buck on mandolin and electric octave guitar, Mills on bass and keyboard strings, Berry on drums and percussion, and Holsapple on acoustic guitar. The strings, arranged by Bingham and Mills, were performed by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Soundscape Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, in October 1990.

Despite its title, the song does not reference religion in a literal sense. According to Stipe, the phrase "losing my religion" is a Southern expression meaning to be at the end of one's patience or composure. Stipe described the song as secular and categorized it as an "obsession song". The origins of the phrase were initially met with skepticism by Buck, who considered it potentially a fabrication.  "Low" was characterized by a subdued and somber tone. The composition centers on Mills' organ part, described as reminiscent of a funeral parlor, which serves as the song's primary melodic and atmospheric foundation. The recording features contributions from all members of the band: Berry played congas, Buck handled guitar, and Holsapple provided the bass part. The arrangement is augmented by a bass clarinet performance from Jordan and another string arrangement conducted by Bingham. Lyrically, "Low" includes a critique of conventional love songs. Stipe expressed a longstanding aversion to love songs, describing them as "horrible and manipulative". 

Near Wild Heaven" featured Mills as the primary vocalist, one of only two such instances on the album. According to Buck, the track functions as a duet between Mills and Stipe, with both contributing to the lyrics. The song exhibited a strong influence from the Beach Boys. Buck cited the release of Capitol Records' Beach Boys reissues during the Out of Time recording sessions, specifically the Smiley Smile and Wild Honey editions, as a factor in shaping the track's direction. "Endgame" was an instrumental composition characterized by orchestral textures and minimal vocal elements. Although the piece includes "la la la" vocalizations by Stipe, it does not contain lyrics. According to Buck, the track was originally conceived as "End Title Sequence," intended to evoke the feeling of a film's closing credits. Stipe described the mental imagery associated with the piece as that of Buck seated on a large stage, surrounded by classically trained musicians, with his guitar playing integrated into a broader orchestral context. 

The Time side opened with "Shiny Happy People" marked R.E.M.'s first collaboration with Kate Pierson of the B-52s. The song, which featured Pierson on guest vocals, was described by Stipe as an "abortion", while Mills characterized working with Pierson as a highlight. According to Mills, although the band was familiar with Pierson and her work, they had not collaborated with her prior to this recording. Stipe also expressed admiration for her, referring to her as "probably my favorite female singer". Stipe, offered a contrasting interpretation, at one point describing "Shiny Happy People" as a sincere composition and "the happiest song" he had written. He cited its lyrical sounds, particularly the abundance of "E" vowels, as contributing to its upbeat tone. "Belong" drawed structural and stylistic influence from the earlier R.E.M. recording "Voice of Harold", a reinterpretation of "7 Chinese Bros" featuring Stipe reading gospel liner notes in place of the original lyrics. While "Voice of Harold" was conceived as a humorous outtake, "Belong" employs a similar spoken-word vocal approach in a more serious context. Stipe's vocals in the song were not recorded in a professional studio but rather on a Walkman in a garage. Unsatisfied with the clarity of the initial studio recordings, he opted for a more ambient approach. "It was too clear, it was too studio", he said during a Rockline interview. Borrowing producer Litt's Walkman, Stipe recorded his vocal part in the garage of a rental home. He described the acoustics of the three-car garage, where he noted the presence of a large tank of unidentified gas, as providing the ideal reverberation for the track. The song's arrangement prominently features background vocals by Mills and Berry. 

"Half a World Away" continued the album's "bittersweet tone". The composition features a blend of organ, acoustic guitar, and mandolin, with Stipe beginning the song with the line, "This could be the saddest dusk I've ever seen." In live performances, Stipe has introduced the song by stating, "This may well be the saddest song ever written." The musical arrangement reflects influences drawn from Buck's experiences outside of R.E.M. at the time. Although the lyrics appear to express longing, Stipe has stated that the narrative of the song is entirely fictional. "Texarkana" featured a notable shift in vocal duties within R.E.M., with Mills performing lead vocals while Stipe provides background vocals. The title of the song references Texarkana, a city straddling the border between Texas and Arkansas with separate municipal governments in each state. However, the lyrics of the song make no reference to the city, and the content is unrelated to its name. According to Buck, Stipe initially began writing a song that included the name Texarkana in its working title but was unable to complete it. 

"Country Feedback" was developed in a spontaneous and informal manner during early recording sessions. According to Buck, the song originated without a predetermined structure. Buck entered the studio with a four-chord progression, which he recorded while Berry played bass.  Stipe's lyrical approach to "Country Feedback" involved a stream-of-consciousness technique that he described as "projectile vomiting". Buck recalled that Stipe arrived the following day and delivered the vocal part without written lyrics, using only two small drawings as reference—an Indian head and an arrow. The vocal delivery was largely improvised, and the band offered limited input or revision. The lyrics convey a sense of emotional turmoil, and Stipe characterized the song as a desperate expression focused on the end of a relationship. He referred to it as a love song told from what he described as the "uglier side." Buck, reflecting on Stipe's performance, considered the lyrics to be authentic to Stipe's mindset at the time of recording. "Me in Honey" originated from a minimal musical idea built around a single chord. According to Buck, the foundation of the song was a one-chord riff that Mills played once. Buck added a guitar line over it, and Berry contributed a drum pattern. The initial idea, which was approximately 30 seconds long, was placed at the end of a cassette containing five other tracks. Stipe then developed the lyrics by writing and revising lines on paper. Buck expressed surprise at the lyrical depth Stipe derived from a single-chord idea. Thematically, Stipe has described "Me in Honey" as a response to 10,000 Maniacs' "Eat For Two", written by his friend Natalie Merchant. He characterized the song as presenting a male perspective on pregnancy, involving conflicting emotions. 

The album received mostly positive reviews on release. Critics offered varied perspectives on the album, highlighting its experimentation and emotional depth. Some described the album as "a song cycle of love songs that sound intimate even in the wide open spaces of the arrangements". Others agreed, highlighting Stipe's vocals and the harmony singing while describing the album as a "brooding departure [that] offers them at their most reflective, challenging and intriguing". Out of Time was one of R.E.M.'s more successful albums in terms of awards and nominations. It was their only album to win a Grammy Award, for Best Alternative Music Album. It also won the Q Award for Best Album of 1991. 

 

Out Of Time Track List:  

 

Time Side 

1. Radio Song

2. Losing My Religion

3. Low

4. Near Wild Heaven

5. Endgame

 

Memory Side

1. Shiny Happy Peope

2. Belong

3. Half A World Away

4. Texarkana

5. Country Feedback

6. Me In Honey