Fables of the reconstruction

This album was one of the hardest R.E.M. had made. The band abandonned Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, partially because Mitch went away with his own band, "Let's active". R.E.M. decided to use Joe Boyd, because he produced some good folk-rock records that Peter liked. During this time, R.E.M. was going through some tough times. Peter: "We couldn't agree on tempos, we'd argue about things like keys...". Michael also suffered from what he called "a nervous, physical and mechanical breakdown." In many ways it was a misery album, although it outsold Reckoning and picked up the New Music award for 'Album of the year'. Although many critics liked the album, finding it a more mature album than previous ones, Joe Boyd confessed that: "I always felt frustrated that I didn't get a better record. There was a raw energy about the first two albums that this one lacked a bit." Alternate names for the album were "The sound and the fury", and "High on drugs". It was promoted with the Reconstruction III tour.