R.E.M's "Automatic For the People" celebrated its 25th anniversary back in October, though the real celebration has been this month with the release of the new remastered version, which is great and you should immediately buy. All anniversaries hit me hard anymore -- it has been 28 years, for example, since I was the age of Roy Moore interest -- but something about that album turning 25 kills me. The first time I ever listened to it, I was working at the Cinema 1-2-3 in Mattoon as a projectionist and usher. My job was to splice the movies together reel-to-reel onto a massive platter and then run them through the projector to make sure they were in the right order. (I once screwed up "Cool World," mixing reels two and three, not that anyone noticed or cared.) This process took about an hour and was very loud. I would listen to my Discman while splicing them together, and the day "Automatic For The People" came out, I was putting together "A River Runs Through It." I listened to the album as loud metal plates clanged all around me, which has to be the worst possible way to listen to "Automatic For The People" for the first time. (It might have worked for a Nine Inch Nails album. I think that might have
Volume 1, Issue 81: Hairspray Queen
Volume 1, Issue 81: Hairspray Queen
Volume 1, Issue 81: Hairspray Queen
R.E.M's "Automatic For the People" celebrated its 25th anniversary back in October, though the real celebration has been this month with the release of the new remastered version, which is great and you should immediately buy. All anniversaries hit me hard anymore -- it has been 28 years, for example, since I was the age of Roy Moore interest -- but something about that album turning 25 kills me. The first time I ever listened to it, I was working at the Cinema 1-2-3 in Mattoon as a projectionist and usher. My job was to splice the movies together reel-to-reel onto a massive platter and then run them through the projector to make sure they were in the right order. (I once screwed up "Cool World," mixing reels two and three, not that anyone noticed or cared.) This process took about an hour and was very loud. I would listen to my Discman while splicing them together, and the day "Automatic For The People" came out, I was putting together "A River Runs Through It." I listened to the album as loud metal plates clanged all around me, which has to be the worst possible way to listen to "Automatic For The People" for the first time. (It might have worked for a Nine Inch Nails album. I think that might have