The album where REM peaked, according to Michael Stipe

The album where REM peaked, according to Michael Stipe

By the start of the 1980s, it was pretty obvious that rock music, at least in the traditional sense, was becoming obsolete and transforming into something different that appealed to a new generation. The emergence of post-punk as a more cerebral interpretation of the punk ethos was a slight indication of the change, while the emergence of new wave as the other, alternative spawn of punk rock took a lighter approach than its counterpart, with syn…