William Thomas Berry is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M. albums. In 1995, Berry suffered a cerebral aneurysm onstage and collapsed. After a successful recovery he left the music industry two years later to become a farmer, and has since maintained a low profile, making sporadic reunions with R.E.M. and appearing on other artists' recordings. His departure made him the only member of the band to not remain with them during their entire run. Berry eventually returned to the industry in 2022.
Monster is the ninth studio album by American rock band R.E.M., released on September 27, 1994, by Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by the band and Scott Litt and recorded at four studios. The album was an intentional shift from the style of their previous two albums, Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992), by introducing loud, distorted guitar tones and simple lyrics.
Reckoning is the second studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on April 9, 1984, by I.R.S. Records. Produced by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, the album was recorded at Reflection Sound Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, over 16 days in December 1983 and January 1984. Dixon and Easter intended to capture the sound of R.E.M.'s live performances, and used binaural recording on several tracks. Lead singer Michael Stipe dealt with darker subject matter in his lyrics, with water-related imagery being a recurring theme on the album.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was their fifth major-label release for Warner Bros. Records, released on September 9, 1996, in Europe and Australia, and the following day in the United States. New Adventures in Hi-Fi was the last album recorded with founding member Bill Berry, original manager Jefferson Holt, and long-time producer Scott Litt. The members of R.E.M. consider the recorded album representative of the band at their peak, and fans generally regard it as the band's last great record before a perceived artistic decline during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It has sold around seven million units, growing in cult status years after its release, with several retrospectives ranking it among the top of the band's recorded catalogue.
Up is the eleventh studio album by American rock band R.E.M., released on October 26, 1998, by Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album without drummer Bill Berry, who retired from the group in October of 1997. In his place, R.E.M. used session drummers like Joey Waronker and Barrett Martin, as well as programming drum machines. The band has said that the album probably would have sounded much the same with Berry, as initial rehearsals with him had commenced, but his departure almost “broke” them and "hung over" the resulting recordings.
"Man on the Moon" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in November 1992 as the second single from their eighth album, Automatic for the People (1992). The lyrics were written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck. The song was well received by critics and reached number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 17 on the US Cash Box Top 100, number 18 on the UK Singles Chart, and number one in Iceland. It remains one of R.E.M.'s most popular songs and was included on the compilations In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 and Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011.
"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., which first appeared on their 1987 album, Document. It was released as the album's second single in November 1987, reaching No. 69 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and later reaching No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart on its re-release in December 1991.
"Electrolite" is a song by R.E.M. released as their third single and closing track from their tenth studio album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi. The song is a piano-based ballad to Los Angeles, Hollywood icons and the closing 20th century. Initially, Michael Stipe objected to including the song on the album, but was won over by Peter Buck and Mike Mills. It has since become one of his favorite R.E.M. songs as well as one of Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke's; Radiohead has covered the song.
"Radio Free Europe" is the debut single by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1981 on the short-lived independent record label Hib-Tone. The song features "what were to become the trademark unintelligible lyrics which have distinguished R.E.M.'s work ever since." The single received critical acclaim, and its success earned the band a record deal with I.R.S. Records. R.E.M. re-recorded the song for their 1983 debut album Murmur. The re-recording for I.R.S. became the group's first charting single, peaking at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song is ranked number 389 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2009, it was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for setting "the pattern for later indie rock releases by breaking through on college radio in the face of mainstream radio's general indifference."
"Bittersweet Me" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their 10th studio album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996). Like much of the album, the song originated while the band were on the road for the Monster tour, although the song was only ever soundchecked and has never been played live as part of a concert. The song was a bigger hit in the United States than the first single from the album, "E-Bow the Letter", except on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, where the first single's number-two peak bested the number-six peak of "Bittersweet Me".
Athens Andover is a collaborative album between the Troggs and what was then three-quarters of R.E.M. Released in March 1992, the name of the album is derived from the hometowns of the two bands: Andover, Hampshire, in England, and Athens, Georgia, in the United States.
R.E.M. Live is a live album from R.E.M., recorded at the Point Theatre, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on February 26 and 27, 2005, the closing nights of the winter European leg of the Around the World Tour in support of their thirteenth studio album Around the Sun, released in late 2004. It was released in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2007 and in the United States a day later as a two-CD audio set and a DVD, then released in February 2008 as a triple vinyl set. The performance was filmed by Blue Leach, who also directed Depeche Mode's Touring the Angel: Live in Milan.
"Sitting Still" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. that was issued on their first single in 1981 and on their 1983 debut album Murmur.
Live from London is a live EP by R.E.M. that was recorded on March 26, 2008 and released exclusively on iTunes on July 1, 2008. It is one of several releases in the Live from London series.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style; Stipe's distinctive vocal quality, unique stage presence, and obscure lyrics; Mills's melodic bass lines and backing vocals; and Berry's tight, economical drumming style. In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left the band in 1997, the band continued its career in the 2000s with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011 with members devoting time to solo projects after having sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music acts.
Live at The Olympia is a live album by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was recorded during the band's five-night residency at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, between June 30 and July 5, 2007, and released on October 27, 2009. In this series of "working rehearsals" the songs on Accelerate were debuted, with many still works in progress. Every song from "Accelerate" appear on the album with the exception of "Hollow Man" and "Sing for the Submarine". The album is a two-CD release, and contains a total of 39 songs. In addition, a DVD with a documentary entitled This Is Not a Show directed by Vincent Moon is included. A special edition box set containing the album on four LPs as well as the two CDs and the DVD is also available.
Collapse into Now is the fifteenth and final studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on March 7, 2011, on Warner Bros. Produced by Jacknife Lee, who previously worked with the band on Accelerate (2008), the album was preceded by the singles "It Happened Today", "Mine Smell Like Honey", "Überlin" and "Oh My Heart".
Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011 is a 2011 greatest hits album from alternative rock band R.E.M. Intended as a coda on their career, this is the first compilation album that features both their early work on independent record label I.R.S. Records in addition to their 10 studio releases through Warner Bros. Records. The double-disc retrospective was released through Warner Bros. on November 11, 2011, and was compiled by the band members; the existence of the compilation was revealed simultaneously with the group's announcement that they were disbanding on September 21, 2011.
REMTV is a six-disc DVD box set collecting appearances by American alternative rock band R.E.M. on MTV and related channels, from 1983 to 2008, released November 24, 2014. The collection was compiled by the former band members as they looked through all of the MTV film footage in their vault to prepare the release of Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions.
R.E.M. at the BBC is a 2018 live album box set by American alternative rock band R.E.M. released on October 19, 2018. The eight-disc compilation features sessions recorded between 1984 and 2008, including a bonus DVD of videos. Additionally, a two-disc best-of collection was released on the same day.
