Out of Time
Cover to the standard release of Out of Time
Studio album by
R.E.M.
ReleasedMarch 12, 1991 (1991-03-12)[1]
RecordedMid-1990
Studio
Genre
Length44:08
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
R.E.M. chronology
Green
(1988) 		Out of Time
(1991) 		This Film Is On
(1991)
Alternate cover
Spanish limited edition LP cover
Singles from Out of Time
  1. "Losing My Religion"
    Released: February 19, 1991
  2. "Shiny Happy People"
    Released: May 7, 1991
  3. "Near Wild Heaven"
    Released: August 5, 1991
  4. "Radio Song"
    Released: November 4, 1991

Out of Time is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on March 12, 1991,[1] by Warner Bros. Records. 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 and, with two separate spells at the top, and spending 183 weeks on the British charts, including one week at the top. The album has sold more than four and a half million copies in the United States and more than 18 million copies worldwide.[4][5] Out of Time won three Grammy Awards in 1992: one as Best Alternative Music Album, and two for its first single, "Losing My Religion."

Details

Out of Time combines 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 features guest appearances by KRS-One and Kate Pierson from The B-52's.[6]

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. In Germany, it is the band's best-selling album, selling more than 1,250,000 copies, reaching 5× gold.[7] Out of Time was the first R.E.M. album to have an alternative expanded release on compact disc, including expanded liner notes and postcards. In Spain, a contest was held to have a limited-edition cover, with the winner being an abstract oil painting.

For the 25th anniversary the album was remastered. The standard version of the reissue comes with a second disc of demos, the deluxe version adds a third disc featuring live acoustic tracks.[8] It was released through Concord Records on November 18, 2016.

Packaging

Warner Bros. Records executive Jeff Gold, alongside Rock the Vote campaign co-founder and Virgin Records executive Jeff Ayeroff, approached R.E.M. in regards to printing a petition on the back of Out of Time's CD longbox packaging in the United States, where buyers were encouraged to sign their name in support for Rock the Vote, who were in support of the Motor Voter Act to ease voter registration, and would allow voters "to register through their local DMV."[9] Gold reasoned, considering many of the album's buyers would be young, that this could "vote out" the controversial Parents Music Resource Center music censorship bill, who "put pressure on the creators and distributors of 'objectionable' music,"[10] as well as make good use of the popular longbox packaging format of the day, which many artists and customers considered unnecessary and wasteful.[9] Michael Stipe also appeared in a public service announcement for the campaign.[9]

In July 2014, radio show 99% Invisible said that because of this packaging, Out of Time is "the most politically significant album in the history of the United States."[10] They said that three weeks after the album's release, "they had received 10,000 petitions, 100 per senator, and they just kept coming in droves,"[10] and a month following its release, the campaign's political director and members of KMD "wheeled a shopping cart full of the first 10,000 petitions into a senate hearing."[10] The bill was eventually passed in 1993 by Bill Clinton and was in effect January 1, 1995; one commentary later said this happened "in no small part because of R.E.M.’s lobbying."[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Chicago Tribune[13]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA[14]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[15]
Los Angeles Times[16]
NME10/10[17]
Pitchfork8.4/10[18]
Q[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
Select5/5[21]

The album received mostly positive reviews from critics. Mark Cooper of Q contrasted Out of Time with its predecessor Green, 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".[19] Terry Staunton in his review for NME praised the album for its refreshing sound, calling it "easily their most eclectic and wildly inspired album yet, although it is still very identifiably REM".[17] At the same time, Entertainment Weekly's David Browne was left unimpressed with the record, criticizing the album for sounding boring, and describing it as "the least satisfying, most forced album they've ever made."[15]

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.

In 2000, Out of Time was voted number 49 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[22] It was featured in Time magazine's 2006 list of the "All-Time 100 Albums".[23]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, the 25th anniversary re-release of Out of Time received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 from nine critic reviews.[11]

Track listing

All tracks written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

Time Side

  1. "Radio Song" – 4:15
  2. "Losing My Religion" – 4:28
  3. "Low" – 4:55
  4. "Near Wild Heaven" – 3:17
  5. "Endgame" – 3:48

Memory Side

  1. "Shiny Happy People" – 3:44
  2. "Belong" – 4:03
  3. "Half a World Away" – 3:26
  4. "Texarkana" – 3:36
  5. "Country Feedback" – 4:07
  6. "Me in Honey" – 4:06

Personnel

Personnel adapted from Out of Time liner notes[24]

R.E.M.

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[59] Gold 30,000^
Australia (ARIA)[60] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[61] Platinum 50,000*
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[62] Gold 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[63] 7× Platinum 700,000^
France (SNEP)[64] 2× Platinum 600,000*
Germany (BVMI)[65] 5× Gold 1,250,000^
Italy
sales as of 1999 		— 500,000[66]
Italy (FIMI)[67]
sales since 2009 		Gold 25,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI)[68] 2× Platinum 200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[69] Gold 7,500^
Norway — 60,000[70]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[71] 5× Platinum 500,000^
Sweden (GLF)[72] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[73] 2× Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[75] 5× Platinum 1,786,954[74]
United States (RIAA)[76] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^
Summaries
Worldwide — 18,000,000[4]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

In 2005, Warner Bros. Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of Out of Time which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, lyrics, a photo album, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. In 2011 Warner Bros. released a 96 kHz, 24-bit and 192 kHz, 24 bit stereo release (the same High-Resolution stereo mix as featured on the DVD-Audio and later, the Blu-Ray editions) of the album at HDtracks.

Out of Time

Region Date Label Format Catalog
Germany March 8, 1991 Warner Bros. Compact Disc 7599-26496-2
United Kingdom March 11, 1991 Warner Bros. LP 7599-26496-1
Compact Disc 7599-26496-2
United States March 12, 1991 Warner Bros. LP 1-26496
Compact Disc 2-26527
Cassette 4-26496
Canada March 12, 1991 Warner Bros. Compact Disc CD 26496
France March 1991 Warner Bros. Compact Disc WE 833
Germany March 1991 Warner Bros. Digital Compact Cassette 7599-26496-5
Argentina 1991 Warner Bros. Cassette 4-26496
Bolivia 1991 Warner Bros. LP WEA WL-1152
Brazil 1991 Warner Bros. LP 6709323
Germany 1991 Warner Bros. LP 7599-26496-1†
Israel 1991 Hed Arzi Compact Disc 9 26496-2
Japan 1991 Warner Bros. Compact Disc WPCP 4195
Mexico 1991 Warner Bros. LP LPNB-7069
Russia 1991 Warner Bros. LP 1092MD/RGM 7028-1A/2
South Africa 1991 Warner Bros./Tusk Compact Disc WBCD 1701
South Korea 1991 Warner Bros. LP 7599-26496-1
Zimbabwe 1991 Tusk LP WBC 1701
Australia 1991 Warner Bros. Compact Disc 7599264962
United States 2005 Warner Bros. Compact Disc/DVD-Audio DualDisc 73951
Internet 2011 Warner Bros. LPCM FLAC 96 kHz/24bit, LPCM FLAC 192 kHz

/24bit

Note

Box sets

Region Date Label Format Catalog Notes
Australia 1995 Warner Bros. Compact Disc box set 9362460742 Packaged with Green

See also

References

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Bibliography

External links

R.E.M.
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
Authority control databases
Categories