12 '90s Hard Rock Albums Everyone Should Own
10. R.E.M - Monster
In the mid-90s, R.E.M were well on their way to being the biggest band in the world off the back of two albums full of smart, contemplative, and occasionally rousing songs about death and loss and spiritual matters.
Boldly, they followed this with 1995’s Monster, a muscular celebration of all things glam and distorted. One of the more distinctive albums of a superb canon, this is R.E.M’s reinvention as a party band, with singer Michael Stipe in character as an amalgam of the ‘70s’ finest rockstars.
It’s a colossal sounding album from the off, with “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” showing off the group’s new toys: a lot of tremolo, walls of guitar, and a cocky sexiness in lieu of mumbled lyrics and mysticism.
They go full roleplay on “Tongue”, with Stipe somewhere between Prince and Jagger, and “Star 69” and “Crush With Eyeliner” continuing that playful spirit that led them to release an album of old fashioned classic rock at the tail end of grunge. R.E.M are one of the most influential bands of the late 20th century, but on Monster they just wanted to jam to the music they love.