Editing Automatic for the People (section)

==Critical reception and legacy==
{{Music ratings
| MC = 96/100<ref name="MC">{{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}}</ref>
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/automatic-for-the-people-mw0000089350 |title=''Automatic for the People''&nbsp;– R.E.M. |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=July 28, 2015 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref>{{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}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
| rev3score = A<ref>{{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}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[The Independent]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{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&nbsp;– ''Jupiter Calling'', Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings&nbsp;– ''Soul Of A Woman'', REM&nbsp;– ''Automatic For The People'' |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=November 8, 2017 |access-date=November 12, 2017 |last=Gill |first=Andy}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref>{{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}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev6score = 10/10<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Final Reckoning? |magazine=[[NME]] |date=October 3, 1992 |last=Fadele |first=Dele |author-link=Dele Fadele |page=36}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev7score = 9.3/10<ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/rem-automatic-for-the-people/ |title=R.E.M.: ''Automatic for the People'' |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=November 14, 2017 |access-date=November 14, 2017 |last=Berman |first=Stuart}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{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 (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}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev9score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="RS">{{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}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[Select (magazine)|Select]]''
| rev10score = 5/5<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Everybody Hurts |magazine=[[Select (magazine)|Select]] |issue=29 |date=November 1992 |last=Cavanagh |first=David |author-link=David Cavanagh |page=83}}</ref>
}}

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."<ref>Buckley, p. 217</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' gave the album five stars. Reviewer Paul Evans wrote, "Despite its difficult concerns, most of ''Automatic'' is musically irresistible."<ref name="RS"/> ''[[Melody Maker]]'' reviewer [[Allan Jones (editor)|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."<ref>{{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}}</ref> [[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."<ref name="NYTimes">{{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}}</ref> [[Guy Garcia]], for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', also noted the album's themes of "hopelessness, anger and loss".<ref name="Time">{{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}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Time"/>

''Automatic for the People'' placed third in the ''[[Village Voice]]'' [[Pazz & Jop]] year-end critics' poll.<ref name="PazzJop">{{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}}</ref> ''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."<ref>{{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 }}</ref> The album was nominated for [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]] at the [[Grammy Awards of 1994]], but lost to [[Whitney Houston]]'s ''[[The Bodyguard (soundtrack)|The Bodyguard]]''.<ref name=Grammy1994>{{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}}</ref> It was later ranked number 247 in ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]],<ref name="RS500">{{cite book |chapter=247 &#124; ''Automatic for the People''&nbsp;— 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}}</ref> 249 in a 2012 revised list,<ref>{{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}}</ref> and 96 in a 2020 reboot of the list.<ref>{{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}}</ref> ''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 (writer)|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The album was also included in the book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

"I'm not so crazy about 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite'," Buck reflected in 2001, "but overall I think it sounds great."<ref>''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' October 2001</ref>  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."<ref>{{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]]}}</ref>

{{Metacritic album prose|{{noitalic|the 25th anniversary re-release of}} Automatic for the People|positive|96|17}}<ref name="MC"/> In 2017, ''[[Pitchfork (website)|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";<ref name="Pitchfork"/> in 2022, they ranked this album the 63rd best of the 1990s.<ref name="pfork150">{{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]]}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{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}}</ref>