Returned to studio for Automatic for the People

After spending some months off, R.E.M. returned to the studio in 1991 to record their next album. In late 1992, the band released Automatic for the People . Though the group had intended to make a heavier album after Out of Time , the somber Automatic for the People “[seemed] to move at an even more agonized crawl”, according to Melody Maker . The album dealt with themes of loss and mourning inspired by “that sense of … turning thirty”, according to Buck. Several songs featured string arrangements by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones . Considered by a number of critics (as well as by Buck and Mills) to be the band’s best album, Automatic for the People reached numbers one and two on UK and US charts, respectively, and generated the American Top 40 hit singles ” Drive “, ” Man on the Moon “, and ” Everybody Hurts “. The album would sell over fifteen million copies worldwide. As with Out of Time , there was no tour in support of the album. The decision to forgo a tour, in conjunction with Stipe’s physical appearance, generated rumors that the singer was dying or HIV -positive, which the band vehemently denied.