Time to rank R.E.M. albums again! (July 26, 2026)

I like doing this periodically because I never check my previous rankings until after, and it’s always fun (to me, at least) to see how albums shift up and down the list. Onward! Out of Time (1991) Automatic for the People (1992) Monster (1994) Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) Murmur (1983) New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996) Green (1988) Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) Reckoning (1984) Document (1987) Up (1998) Accelerate (2008) Reveal (2001) Collapse Into Now (2011) Around the Sun (2004) Notes: My current top 10 is every album before Bill Berry (drummer) left the band. Around the Sun (2004) will never move from #15. As I’ve grown older, I’ve started to appreciate experimental R.E.M. more. But their later experiments were sometimes more indulgent and didn’t work well. Accelerate is a fine album, but 18 years later, it feels like they were trying to rock just a little too hard. Out of Time is #1 because it’s got everything: the band is mature, confident, willing to experiment, but still very…