Automatic for the People

“Is it my favorite album of all-time? Possibly. I’m not a huge R.E.M. fan like others, but I bought this album (on cassette!) the week it came out and it’s been a staple of my life ever since. I love that it came out during the height of grunge, an album that is almost the polar opposite of that sound. As I’ve gotten older, the themes of mortality and loss have hit home in ways that it didn’t when I was 16, or 25, or 33, or 40. And I will always contend that the final three song run is the greatest ending to an album ever. Ever. It’s better than ‘Abbey Road,’even. I want ‘Sweetness Follows’ to be played st my funeral.”