Re-signed with Warner Bros.

R.E.M. re-signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1996 for a reported $80 million (a figure the band constantly asserted originated with the media), rumored to be the largest recording contract in history at that point. The group’s 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi debuted at number two in the US and number one in the UK. Critical reaction to the album was mostly favorable. In a 2017 retrospective on the band, Consequence of Sound ranked it third out of R.E.M.’s 15 full-length studio albums. The album is Stipe’s favorite from R.E.M. and he considers it the band at their peak. Mills says, “It usually takes a good few years for me to decide where an album stands in the pantheon of recorded work we’ve done. This one may be third behind Murmur and Automatic for the People . According to DiscoverMusic: “Arguably less immediate and less accessible […] New Adventures in Hi-Fi is a sprawling, ” White Album “-esque affair clocking in at 65 minutes. However, while it required some time and commitment from the listener, the record’s contents were rich, compelling and frequently stunning. Accordingly, the album has continued to lobby for recognition and has long since earned its reputation as R.E.M.’s most unsung LP.” While sales were impressive, they were below their previous major label record; Time’ s Christopher John Farley argued that the lesser sales of the album were due to the declining commercial power of alternative rock as a whole. That same year, R.E.M. parted ways with longtime manager Jefferson Holt, allegedly due to sexual harassment charges levied against him by a member of the band’s home office in Athens; the group’s lawyer Bertis Downs assumed managerial duties.