Blue Plate Special: R.E.M. – buckleyPLANET

Blue Plate Special: R.E.M. – buckleyPLANET

Few bands evoke the same emotional texture and mythic resonance as R.E.M., born under the steeples and kudzu-lined streets of Athens, Georgia. When Michael Stipe and Peter Buck bonded over crates of Patti Smith and Television LPs, they sparked a sound that felt both timeless and rooted in Southern mystique. R.E.M.’s early work—driven by Bill Berry’s tight drumming, Mike Mills’s melodic bass, and Stipe’s cryptic, dreamlike lyrics—was less about c…