R.E.M. "Automatic for the People" [1992]

In the very title of R.E.M.'s "Automatic for the People," the band is confessing in plain sight they'll just put out any crap as long as their fans will buy it. Half-assed rip-offs of David Essex and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," among other random embarrassments, solidly mark R.E.M. fully ensconced in their middle sell-out period -- after major label disasters "Green" and "Out of Time," but before Michael Stipe shaved his head and turned himself into the biggest fool in arena rock not named Billy Corgan. This album absolutely crawls at a snail's pace right out of the gate, indicating exactly how willing they are to not rock out. I mean, these guys always sounded like old farts, even when they were young, but they really go for the porch swing here. What else could explain renting out Aerosmith's orchestra (from that band's old-balls comeback/sellout phase), if not to oblige Warner Bros with a new release while at the same time copping out with the most flaccid "effort" of R.E.M.'s entire career? Stipe even admits he can "always just sleep standing up;" not really a problem here with all the ball-less strings and electric piano all over the place. That it remains the band's most successful album in terms of sales, however, actually says less about the quality of the songs and execution than it does about how unbearably shitty most grunge music was at the time.