Steven Hyden of The Onion has written a great article on the band called “Perfect Circle: An R.E.M. Story.” The first installment in a six part series is called Talk About the Passion and covers the period from “Lifes Rich Pageant” to “Out Of Time.”
Here’s an excerpt from the introduction:
When you love a band—especially when you’re young—you end up forming a weird, sacred, and irrational bond that’s entirely one-sided and exists only in your mind. Even when that love lasts for years and years, outlasting “real” friendships and romantic entanglements and living on as one of the only constants in your life outside of family (and maybe not even family), it’s still essentially a construction you’ve made up for the sake of entertainment. Bands can’t love you back; the best they can offer is an abstract, “Hello Cleveland!” kind of appreciation.
Read the full story here.
Also, if you haven’t picked up a copy of Uncut magazine’s special R.E.M. issue, you can find out more about it here.