Now, mind you, I like all REM, but I think that Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi are two of their best albums by a longshot, nostalgia purposes notwithstanding. I don't even know how anyone could claim Monster was a "pop" album; coming off the last two, it was a brutally un-pop, loud, raucous mess. And Hi-Fi just plain had some of their most interesting songwriting ever, which is why it's such a shame that it's their worst-selling album ever.

Way I see it, here's how REM's career has gone:

Stage 1: Indie darlings writing sad jangly Byrds rip-offs - Chronic Town thru Fables.

Stage 2: Indie darlings get, like, political and stuff - Lifes Rich Pageant and Document.

Stage 3: Indie darlings make a bid for the mainstream - Green and Out of Time (an album only memorable for "Country Feedback, one of their best songs - and let's just ALL forget "Radio Song")

Stage 4: Mainstream darlings realize how bad their last album was and make a dark, spooky, quirky album called Automatic For the People, which is roughly 80% brilliant but also brought the horror of "Everybody Hurts" to the world.

Stage 5: Mainstream staples remember they're getting older and decide to ROCK OUT, producing Monster and Hi-Fi, both of which are every bit as good as, and in some places far better, than Document, their last great album before The Rolling Stone Cover years.

Stage 6: Reclusive rockers get old and lose the plot, resulting in the largely godawful Up and Reveal.

Me, I like early (EP, first two) then faded out until the poppy era (Monster, etc.) then lost interest again.