Demos in Kauai

In April 1997, the band convened at Buck’s Kauaʻi vacation home to record demos of material intended for the next album. The band sought to reinvent its sound and intended to incorporate drum loops and percussion experiments. Just as the sessions were due to begin in October, Berry decided, after months of contemplation and discussions with Downs and Mills, to tell the rest of the band that he was quitting. Berry told his bandmates that he would not quit if they would break up as a result, so Stipe, Buck, and Mills agreed to carry on as a three-piece with his blessing. Berry publicly announced his departure three weeks later in October 1997: “I’m just not as enthusiastic as I have been in the past about doing this anymore . . . I have the best job in the world. But I’m kind of ready to sit back and reflect and maybe not be a pop star anymore.” Stipe admitted that the band would be different without a major contributor: “For me, Mike, and Peter, as R.E.M., are we still R.E.M.? I guess a three-legged dog is still a dog. It just has to learn to run differently.”