Automatic for the People#Track listing

What would become Automatic for the People had its origins in the mixing sessions for R.E.M.'s previous album Out of Time, held at Paisley Park Studios in December 1990. There, demos for "Drive", "Try Not to Breathe", and "Nightswimming" were recorded.{{cite web|title=R.E.M. Timeline - 1990/91 Concert Chronology|url=https://www.remtimeline.com/1990.html|website=The R.E.M. Timeline|access-date=23 November 2017}} After finishing promotional duties for Out of Time, the members of R.E.M. began formal work on their next album. Starting the first week of June 1991,Robbins, Ira. "R.E.M." Pulse!. October 1992 guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry met several times a week in a rehearsal studio to work on new material. Once a month they would take a week-long break. The musicians would often trade instruments: Buck would play mandolin, Mills would play piano or organ, and Berry would play bass. Buck explained that writing without drums was productive for the band members.Fletcher, p. 208 The band, intent on delivering an album of harder-rocking material after Out of Time, made an effort to write some faster rock songs during rehearsals, but came up with less than a half-dozen prospective songs in that vein.Fricke, David. "Living Up to Out of Time/Remote Control: Parts I and II". Melody Maker. October 3, 1992.

The musicians recorded the demos in their standard band configuration. According to Buck, the musicians recorded about 30 songs. Lead singer Michael Stipe was not present at these sessions; instead, the band gave him the finished demos at the start of 1992.Fletcher, p. 209 Stipe described the music to Rolling Stone early that year as "[v]ery mid-tempo, pretty fucking weird [...] More acoustic, more organ-based, less drums".Fricke, David. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080501001409/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/rem/articles/story/5938078/the_rolling_stone_interview_michael_stipe The Rolling Stone Interview: Michael Stipe]". Rolling Stone. March{{nbsp}}5, 1992. Retrieved on March 12, 2009 In February, R.E.M. recorded another set of demos at Daniel Lanois' Kingsway Studios in New Orleans.Black, p.{{nbsp}}190

The group decided to create finished recordings with co-producer Scott Litt at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, starting on March 30.Black, p. 191 The band recorded overdubs in Miami and New York City. String arrangements were recorded in Atlanta.Buckley, p. 216 After recording sessions were completed in July, the album was mixed at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle. "The countermelody I sing on "Try Not to Breathe" is one of my favorites because everybody else left," Mills explained in 2023. "I'm in the studio and looking in the control room — I know there's something that's going to be good in this spot of the song. I try all these different things and I'm not finding it. And then I hit the right thing and I locked eyes with Scott McCaughey from 40 feet away. We just both knew that was the direction. It was very thrilling to have that moment."{{Cite web |last=Ivie |first=Devon |date=2023-09-13 |title=The Most Heartfelt and Goofy of R.E.M., According to Mike Mills |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/mike-mills-rem-michael-stipe-superlatives.html |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=Vulture |language=en}} Seattle-based McCaughey spent time with the band while they were at Bad Animals Studio.{{Cite web |date=2021-11-22 |title=R.E.M.'s Prolific Scott McCaughey On THE NO ONES Band - AMFM Magazine.tv |url=https://www.amfm-magazine.tv/r-e-m-s-prolific-scott-mccaughey-on-the-no-ones-band/ |access-date=2024-01-27 |language=en-US}}

Despite R.E.M.'s initial desire to make an album of rocking, guitar-dominated songs after Out of Time, music critic David Fricke noted that instead Automatic for the People "seems to move at an even more agonized crawl" than the band's previous release. Peter Buck took the lead in suggesting the new direction for the album. The album dealt with themes of loss and mourning inspired by "that sense of [...] turning 30", according to Buck. "The world that we'd been involved in had disappeared, the world of Hüsker Dü and The Replacements, all that had gone [...] We were just in a different place and that worked its way out musically and lyrically."Buckley, p. 218 "Sweetness Follows", "Drive", and "Monty Got a Raw Deal" in particular expressed much darker themes than any of the band's previous material and "Try Not to Breathe" is about Stipe's grandmother dying.{{Cite web |url=http://songexploder.net/rem |title=Episode 125: R.E.M. |date=December 20, 2017 |work=Song Exploder}}

The songs "Drive", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Everybody Hurts", and "Nightswimming" feature string arrangements by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Of the fourteen classical musicians, eleven were members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra,{{Cite book |last=Duxbury |first=Janell R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-wyCE21VEQC&dq=automatic+for+the+people+atlanta+symphony+orchestra&pg=PA344 |title=Rockin' the Classics and Classicizin' the Rock:: A Selectively Annotated Discography: Second Supplement |date=2001-02-05 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |isbn=978-1-4628-0736-9 |pages=344 |language=en}} which had also been used on Out of Time. Fricke stated that "ballads, in fact, define the record", and noted that the album featured only three "rockers": "Ignoreland", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", and "Man on the Moon".

"It pretty much went according to plan," Litt reported. "Compared to Monster, it was a walk in the park. Out of Time had an orchestral arrangement—so, when we did Automatic, judging where Michael was going with the words, we wanted to scale it down and make it more intimate."Mojo #21, August 1995

"Song by song [...] the whole album is referencing the 1970s," recalls Stipe. "Everybody Hurts" was inspired by Nazareth's cover of "Love Hurts". "Drive" was an homage to David Essex and "Rock On", especially that song's early glam rock production style.{{cite podcast |url=https://www.pushkin.fm/episode/michael-stipe/ |title=Broken Record Podcast: Michael Stipe |website=Puskin.fm |publisher= |host=Rick Rubin |date=April 26, 2022 |access-date=May 15, 2022}}

The album name refers to the motto of Athens, Georgia-based eatery Weaver D's Delicious Fine Foods.Thompson, Jim. "[http://onlineathens.com/stories/041807/living_20070418027.shtml Weaver D's deemed 'American Classic' by James Beard Foundation]". OnlineAthens. April 18, 2007. Retrieved on March 17, 2009. The photograph on the front cover is not related to the restaurant; rather, it shows a star ornament (a so-called "Sputnik star" that was common in the 1960s{{Cite web |title=Sputnik Signs {{!}} RoadsideArchitecture.com |url=https://www.roadarch.com/sca/roto2.html |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=www.roadarch.com}}) that was part of the sign for the Sinbad Motel on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami,{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/r-e-m-s-automatic-for-the-people-10-things-you-didnt-know-126545/ |title=R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People: 10 Things You Didn't Know |last=Runtagh |first=Jordan |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=October 5, 2017 |access-date=January 18, 2020}} near Criteria Studios, where the bulk of the album was recorded. The motel is still there, but the star is not since it was damaged during Hurricane Andrew. The slanted support where it was once attached is still present.{{cite web |url=http://www.feelnumb.com/2009/09/04/story-behind-the-rem-automatic-for-the-people-star-cover/ |title=R.E.M. Automatic For The People "Star" Album Cover Location |publisher=feelnumb.comcom |date=2009-09-04 |access-date=2016-09-21 |archive-date=2020-11-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124092517/http://www.feelnumb.com/2009/09/04/story-behind-the-rem-automatic-for-the-people-star-cover/ |url-status=dead }} "The album was going to be called Star at one point, hence the object on the cover that Michael had photographed and really dug," Scott Litt told Mojo. "It helps to have some kind of focus in the studio, so the photo was stuck up." The star photograph is placed over an embossed image, which is also included inside the album's booklet distorted on a white background.

The interior jacket shows a two–three story circular platform that was the sign for the old Bon Aire Motel on the former Motel Row on Miami Beach. The Bon Aire and other motel row establishments have mostly been demolished for new high-rise condominiums.

The back cover features a photograph of an old building with the track listing written over at the same angle from which the building is viewed. Other photographs, taken by Anton Corbijn, feature the band members on a beach.

The compact disc release was originally issued in a jewel case with a translucent yellow CD tray, traded out with a then-standard opaque black tray on later pressings; the cassette shell was also issued with the same color. The yellow was made to match the color of the CD. The band would later use a similar method for their 1994 album Monster, which was released with a metallic orange CD tray on early copies (though this matched the album cover).

File:Invitation to Automatic For The People Show.jpg

Automatic for the People was released in October 1992. In the United States, the album reached No.{{nbsp}}2 on the Billboard 200 album charts."[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r58373/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}} Automatic for the People > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums]". Allmusic. Retrieved on March{{nbsp}}12, 2009. The album reached No.{{nbsp}}1 in the United Kingdom, where it topped the UK Albums Chart on four separate occasions.Buckley, p. 230 Despite only making a handful of promotional appearances and conducting a short mini-tour for Out of Time, R.E.M. drastically scaled back their live appearances even further for Automatic for the People, and did not go any tours whatsoever. Automatic for the People has been certified four times platinum in the US (four million copies shipped), six times platinum in the United Kingdom (1.8 million shipped), and three times platinum in Australia (210,000 shipped).Buckley, p.{{nbsp}}358 The album has sold 3.52 million copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan sales figures {{as of|2017|lc=y}}.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7965626/rem-automatic-for-the-people-reissue-peter-buck-interview|title=R.E.M.'s Peter Buck Talks 'Automatic for the People' Before 25th Anniversary Reissue: 'I Didn't Expect It to Be a Huge Hit'|last=Rosen|first=Craig|magazine=Billboard|date=2017-09-14|access-date=2017-10-04}} In 1993, the album has sold 1.7 million copies in the US, according to Billboard{{'}}s lists of 1993's best-selling albums domestically.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FwgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA73 |title=Billboard |date=1994-01-15 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |language=en}}

Automatic for the People yielded six singles over the course of 1992 and 1993: "Drive", "Man on the Moon", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Everybody Hurts", "Nightswimming" and "Find the River". Lead single "Drive" was the album's highest-charting domestic hit, reaching No.{{nbsp}}28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other singles charted higher overseas: "Everybody Hurts" charted in the top ten on the United Kingdom singles chart, Canada, and Australia.

A live, harder, version of "Drive" appears on the Alternative NRG, recorded at Athens' 40 Watt Club on November 19, 1992, during an invitation-only concert supporting Greenpeace Action. A re-recorded, slower version of "Star Me Kitten", featuring William S. Burroughs, was released on Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files in 1996.

The music videos from the album were included in the 1995 video release Parallel.

In 2005, Warner Bros. Records issued a two-disc edition of Automatic for the People which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

A 25th anniversary edition was released on November 10, 2017, by Craft Recordings, featuring four discs of live recordings, demos, and the album remixed in Dolby Atmos, making Automatic for the People the first music release on this format.{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7965626/rem-automatic-for-the-people-reissue-peter-buck-interview|title=R.E.M.'s Peter Buck Talks 'Automatic for the People' Before 25th Anniversary Reissue: 'I Didn't Expect It to Be a Huge Hit'|website=Billboard.com|access-date=5 November 2021}}

{{Music ratings

| MC = 96/100{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/automatic-for-the-people-25th-anniversary-deluxe-edition/rem |title=Automatic for the People [25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition] by R.E.M. Reviews and Tracks |publisher=Metacritic |access-date=November 9, 2019}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/automatic-for-the-people-mw0000089350 |title=Automatic for the People – R.E.M. |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=July 28, 2015 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}

| rev2 = Chicago Tribune

| rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/10/04/the-new-automatic-rings-low-key-but-deep/ |title=The New 'Automatic' Rings Low-Key But Deep |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=October 4, 1992 |access-date=November 3, 2015 |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = A{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1992/10/16/automatic-people/ |title=Automatic for the People |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=October 16, 1992 |access-date=September 22, 2011 |last=Sandow |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Sandow}}

| rev4 = The Independent

| rev4score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/the-corrs-jupiter-calling-sharon-jones-the-dap-kings-rem-jim-white-blitzen-trapper-peter-oren-a8044536.html |title=Album reviews: The Corrs – Jupiter Calling, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Soul Of A Woman, REM – Automatic For The People |newspaper=The Independent |date=November 8, 2017 |access-date=November 12, 2017 |last=Gill |first=Andy}}

| rev5 = Los Angeles Times

| rev5score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-04-ca-927-story.html |title=Playfulness, Profundity From a Rusticated R.E.M. |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 4, 1992 |access-date=October 1, 2011 |last=Cromelin |first=Richard}}

| rev6 = NME

| rev6score = 10/10{{cite magazine |title=The Final Reckoning? |magazine=NME |date=October 3, 1992 |last=Fadele |first=Dele |author-link=Dele Fadele |page=36}}

| rev7 = Pitchfork

| rev7score = 9.3/10{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/rem-automatic-for-the-people/ |title=R.E.M.: Automatic for the People |website=Pitchfork |date=November 14, 2017 |access-date=November 14, 2017 |last=Berman |first=Stuart}}

| rev8 = Q

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.qonline.co.uk/reviews/server.asp?id=9656%26ss=R.E.M.%26cs=artist%26st=cn%26stars=NaN%26cp=1 |title=R.E.M.: Automatic For The People |magazine=Q |issue=74 |date=November 1992 |access-date=May 22, 2024 |last=Sutcliffe |first=Phil |page=117 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000122063446/http://www.qonline.co.uk/reviews/server.asp?id=9656%26ss=R.E.M.%26cs=artist%26st=cn%26stars=NaN%26cp=1 |archive-date=January 22, 2000 |url-status=dead}}

| rev9 = Rolling Stone

| rev9score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/automatic-for-the-people-2-104206/ |title=Automatic For The People |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=October 29, 1992 |access-date=August 26, 2012 |last=Evans |first=Paul |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523082801/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/automatic-for-the-people-2-104206/ |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |url-status=live}}

| rev10 = Select

| rev10score = 5/5{{cite magazine |title=Everybody Hurts |magazine=Select |issue=29 |date=November 1992 |last=Cavanagh |first=David |author-link=David Cavanagh |page=83}}

}}

The album received widespread acclaim from critics upon release. R.E.M. biographer David Buckley wrote, "Automatic for the People is regarded by Peter Buck and Mike Mills, and by most critics, as being the finest R.E.M. album ever recorded."Buckley, p. 217 Rolling Stone gave the album five stars. Reviewer Paul Evans wrote, "Despite its difficult concerns, most of Automatic is musically irresistible." Melody Maker reviewer Allan Jones commented, "It's almost impossible to write about the record without mentioning the recent grim rumours concerning Stipe's health", in reference to the rumors at the time that the singer was dying of AIDS or cancer. Jones concluded his review by noting, "Amazingly, initial reactions to Automatic for the People in this particular vicinity have been mixed. [...] Psshaw to them. Automatic for the People is R.E.M. at the very top of their form."{{cite magazine |title=From Hearse to Eternity |magazine=Melody Maker |date=October 3, 1992 |last=Jones |first=Allan |author-link=Allan Jones (editor) |page=36}} Ann Powers, reviewing the album for The New York Times, noted that only three of the songs on the album went beyond mid-tempo and said, "Only 'Man on the Moon' shines with a wit that balances R.E.M.'s somber tendencies." Powers finished her review by saying, "Even in the midst of such disenchantment, R.E.M. can't resist its own talent for creating beautiful and moving sounds. [...] Buck, Mills and Berry can still conjure melodies that fall like summer sunlight. And Stipe still possesses a gorgeous voice that cannot shake its own gift for meaning."{{cite news|last=Powers |first=Ann |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0D9153AF932A25753C1A964958260&sec=&spon= |title=RECORDINGS VIEW; A Weary R.E.M. Seems Stuck in Midtempo |newspaper=New York Times |date=1992-10-11 |access-date=2011-09-22}} Guy Garcia, for Time, also noted the album's themes of "hopelessness, anger and loss".{{cite magazine|last=Garcia |first=Guy |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977067,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812200311/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977067,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 12, 2010 |title=That Sinking Feeling |magazine=TIME |date=1992-11-23 |access-date=2011-09-22}} Garcia added that the album proves "that a so-called alternative band can keep its edge after conquering the musical mainstream" and that it "manages to dodge predictability without ever sounding aimless or unfocussed."

Automatic for the People placed third in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop year-end critics' poll.{{cite web|author=Christgau, Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres92.php|title=The 1992 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll|work=Village Voice|date=March 2, 1993|access-date= March 16, 2009}} The Village Voice{{'}}s Robert Christgau later gave the album a three-star honorable mention rating, indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure."{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2924 |chapter=R.E.M.: Automatic for the People |access-date=November 3, 2015 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |year=2000 |isbn=0-312-24560-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/christgausconsum00chri_0 }} The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1994, but lost to Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mPghAAAAIBAJ&pg=3904,3174680&dq|title=Sting Leads Grammy Nominations With Six|date=January 7, 1994|access-date=May 12, 2013|work=Reading Eagle|publisher=Reading Eagle Company}} It was later ranked number 247 in Rolling Stone{{'}}s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,{{cite book |chapter=247 | Automatic for the People — R.E.M. |chapter-url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/r-e-m-automatic-for-the-people-20120524 |last=Levy |first=Joe |author2=Steven Van Zandt |title=Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |orig-year=2005 |edition=3rd |year=2006 |publisher=Turnaround |location=London |isbn=1-932958-61-4 |oclc=70672814 |ref=RS500}} 249 in a 2012 revised list,{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/r-e-m-automatic-for-the-people-2-170315/| year=2012| title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time| magazine=Rolling Stone| access-date= September 16, 2019}} and 96 in a 2020 reboot of the list.{{Cite magazine|date=2020-09-22|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/|access-date=2021-10-09|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}} Rolling Stone also ranked it at number{{nbsp}}18 on its 100 Greatest Albums of the 90s list. It was also voted number 6 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and Automatic for the People was placed at number 37 on the list.{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article670515.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070408232353/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article670515.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 8, 2007|title=Oasis album voted greatest of all time|work=The Times|date=June 1, 2006|access-date=May 12, 2013}} The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.{{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Dimery|first2=Michael|last2=Lydon|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition|date=7 February 2006|publisher=Universe|isbn=0-7893-1371-5}}

"I'm not so crazy about 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite'," Buck reflected in 2001, "but overall I think it sounds great."Q October 2001 Buck added in 2003, in regard to the song, "We included this song on Automatic in order to break the prevailing mood of the album. Given that lyrically the record dealt with mortality, the passage of time, suicide and family, we felt that a light spot was needed. In retrospect, the consensus among the band is that this might be a little too lightweight."{{Cite AV media notes| title = In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 | year = 2003 | last = Buck | first = Peter | type = booklet | publisher = Warner Bros. Records}}

{{Metacritic album prose|{{noitalic|the 25th anniversary re-release of}} Automatic for the People|positive|96|17}} In 2017, Pitchfork called Automatic for the People a "nakedly emotional album consumed by the anxiety of aging, the inevitability of death, the loss of innocence, and the impossibility of holding on to the past"; in 2022, they ranked this album the 63rd best of the 1990s.{{Cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-best-albums-of-the-1990s/ |language=en-US |date=2022-09-28 |accessdate=2022-09-30 |title=The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s |publisher=Pitchfork Media}} According to Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger, R.E.M.'s achievement on Automatic for the People "was to wear their craft on their sleeve, making everything Michael Stipe sang sound both homespun and hard-won – a distillate of a decade making music and a lifetime hearing it."{{cite web |last1=Ewing |first1=Tom |title=All one can do is die (CRASH TEST DUMMIES – "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm") |url=https://freakytrigger.co.uk/nylpm/2019/10/all-one-can-do-is-die-crash-test-dummies-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm |website=Freaky Trigger |access-date=26 February 2024 |date=13 October 2019}}

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe

Side one – "Drive side"

1. "Drive" – 4:31
2. "Try Not to Breathe" – 3:50
3. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" – 4:06
4. "Everybody Hurts" – 5:17
5. "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" – 2:13
6. "Sweetness Follows" – 4:19

Side two – "Ride side"

1. "Monty Got a Raw Deal" – 3:17
2. "Ignoreland" – 4:24
3. "Star Me Kitten" – 3:15
4. "Man on the Moon" – 5:13
5. "Nightswimming" – 4:16
6. "Find the River" – 3:50

Sources:{{Cite AV media notes |title=Automatic For The People |others=R.E.M. |date=1992 |type=CD Liner notes}}{{Cite AV media |last1=Mills |first1=Mike |author-link1=Mike Mills |last2=Stipe |first2=Michael |author-link2=Michael Stipe |last3=Kennedy |first3=John |author-link3=John Kennedy (radio broadcaster) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnGwA5gK29g |title=R.E.M - Automatic For The People {{!}} Track By Track {{!}} X-Posure |publisher=Radio X |via=YouTube |date=15 November 2017 |access-date=23 March 2025}}Cavanagh, David. "Tune in, cheer up, rock out". Q. October 1994.{{cite web | url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rem-find-the-river/ | title=R.E.M. 'Find the River' and Discover a Sweet Release | date=4 October 2022 }}{{Cite web |title=R.E.M. - Automatic Unearthed (Official Full Documentary) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaiLpMsz2FE |date=December 8, 2017 |website=Youtube}}

R.E.M.

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion, backing vocals, electric piano on "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1"
• Peter Buck – electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, dulcimer on "Try Not to Breathe", bouzouki on "Monty Got a Raw Deal"
• Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals, organ, piano, accordion, double bass on "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1", acoustic guitar on "Find the River"
• Michael Stipe – lead vocals

Additional musicians

• Scott Litt – harmonica and clavinet on "Ignoreland"
• John Paul Jones – orchestral arrangements on "Drive", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Everybody Hurts", and "Nightswimming"
• George Hanson – conductor on "Drive", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Everybody Hurts", and "Nightswimming"
• Denise Berginson-Smith, Lonnie Ottzen, Patti Gouvas, Sandy Salzinger, Sou-Chun Su, Jody Taylor – violin on "Drive", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Everybody Hurts", and "Nightswimming"
• Kathleen Kee, Daniel Laufer, Elizabeth Proctor Murphy – cello on "Drive", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Everybody Hurts", and "Nightswimming"
• Knox Chandler – cello on "Sweetness Follows" and "Monty Got A Raw Deal"
• Reid Harris, Paul Murphy, Heidi Nitchie – viola on "Drive", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Everybody Hurts", and "Nightswimming"
• Deborah Workman – oboe on "Nightswimming"

Production

• Scott Litt – producer, mixing engineer
• Ed Brooks – second engineer (Seattle)
• George Cowan – second engineer (Bearsville)
• Adrian Hernandez – second assistant engineer (Hollywood)
• John Keane – recording engineer (Athens)
• Mark Howard – second engineer (New Orleans)
• Tod Lemkuhl – second engineer (Seattle)
• Ted Malia – second engineer (Atlanta)
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering engineer (Precision Mastering)
• Clif Norrell – recording engineer, mixing engineer
• Andrew Roshberg – second engineer (Miami)

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Argentina|type=album|title=Automatic Para La Humanidad|artist=REM|award=Gold|relyear=1992|certyear=1993|certref={{cite web|url=http://www.capif.org.ar/Default.asp?PerDesde_MM=0&PerDesde_AA=0&PerHasta_MM=0&PerHasta_AA=0&interprete=&album=&LanDesde_MM=1&LanDesde_AA=1980&LanHasta_MM=12&LanHasta_AA=2010&Galardon=O&Tipo=1&ACCION2=+Buscar+&ACCION=Buscar&CO=5&CODOP=ESOP |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110706084844/http://www.capif.org.ar/Default.asp?PerDesde_MM=0&PerDesde_AA=0&PerHasta_MM=0&PerHasta_AA=0&interprete=&album=&LanDesde_MM=1&LanDesde_AA=1980&LanHasta_MM=12&LanHasta_AA=2010&Galardon=O&Tipo=1&ACCION2=+Buscar+&ACCION=Buscar&CO=5&CODOP=ESOP |archive-date= July 6, 2011 |title=Discos de oro y platino |access-date=November 12, 2019 |publisher=Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas |language=es |url-status=dead }}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Platinum|number=4|certyear=2001|relyear=1992}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Austria|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1992|certyear=2001}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Platinum|number=7|relyear=1992|certyear=2003}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Platinum|certyear=2001|source=infodisc}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Gold|number=5|certyear=2011|relyear=1992}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=1992|certyear=2021|note=sales since 2009|id=8388}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Netherlands|title=Automatic for the People|artist=REM|type=album|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=1992}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|title=Automatic for the People|artist=REM|type=album|award=Platinum|id=1993-04-02|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|relyear=1992}}

{{certification Table Entry|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|relyear=1992|certyear=1993|region=Spain|award=Platinum|number=2|certref={{cite book|url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/vqzno2c0fe48zam|title=Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1991–1995|year=2005|publisher=Iberautor Promociones Culturales|isbn=8480486392}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1992|certyear=2000}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1992|certyear=1995}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Platinum|number=8|relyear=1992|certyear=2025|id=622-840-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|title=Automatic for the People|artist=R.E.M.|type=album|award=Platinum|number=4|salesamount=3,520,000|salesref=|relyear=1992|certyear=1995}}

{{Certification Table Summary}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Worldwide|artist=REM|title=Automatic for the people|type=album|nocert=true|salesamount=18,000,000|salesref=|access-date=21 November 12, 2019}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true}}

{{Portal|Rock music}}

• Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People

• Black, Johnny. Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. Backbeat, 2004. {{ISBN|0-87930-776-5}}
• Buckley, David. R.E.M.: Fiction: An Alternative Biography. Virgin, 2002. {{ISBN|1-85227-927-3}}
• Fletcher, Tony. Remarks Remade: The Story of R.E.M. Omnibus, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7119-9113-8}}.
• Platt, John (editor). The R.E.M. Companion: Two Decades of Commentary. Schirmer, 1998. {{ISBN|0-02-864935-4}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaiLpMsz2FE R.E.M. - Automatic Unearthed], official documentary about the making of the album

{{R.E.M.}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1992 albums

Category:Albums produced by Bill Berry

Category:Albums produced by Michael Stipe

Category:Albums produced by Mike Mills

Category:Albums produced by Peter Buck

Category:Albums produced by Scott Litt

Category:R.E.M. albums

Category:Warner Records albums

Category:Albums arranged by John Paul Jones (musician)

Category:Albums conducted by George Hanson

Category:Baroque pop albums

Category:Folk rock albums by American artists

Category:Chamber pop albums