Critic Raises Stakes In "When Did R.E.M. Lose Its Cool Card" Debate

This in amusing in light of yesterday’s discussion: “R.E.M. is in one of the longest middle periods in the history of popular music. (I’d say it started in 1987, with ‘Document,’ four years after the group’s first album, ‘Murmur.’)” Oh yeah? Well, screw you, Ratliff, I’m calling the “middle period” at the 3:13 mark of “Talk About the Passion.” They were never the same band after that.