.E.M. were the undisputed kings of American-bred alt-rock by the time the mid-1990s rolled around. Emerging from the college-town kudzu of Athens, Georgia, with the game-changing jangle of July 1981’s “Radio Free Europe” single and August 1982’s subsequent EP, the underground quartet perfected a more fully realized signature sound on their April 1983 full-length debut, . (Hmm, was lead singer Michael Stipe one of the foremost progenitors of mumblecore? A discussion for another time.) Soon enough, R.E.M. vaulted from indie-label darlings to major-label envelope-pushers, bringing their garage-and-club-bred sonics into the mainstream with bigger-budget and most especially October 1992’s . Following September 1994’s primal-driven , R.E.M. wanted to reconnect with the charge they got from creating new music during their lengthy, rousing soundchecks—hence, the blueprint for the lively, propulsive feel of September’s 1996’s .
