“We always wanted to be timeless”, say R.E.M.

added 22 September 2008 at 10.30

In the third part of our world exclusive R.E.M. documentary, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe make no bones about their early ambition.

Mike Mills and Michael Stipe have admitted that R.E.M. always had designs on super-stardom. In their Xfm documentary, Mills said that the band found their unique musical voice early on which, in turn, had lent R.E.M. a ‘timeless’ quality.

“What we wanted to do was something that couldn’t be pinned down to a particular time”, said the bassist. When you listen to [the records] now, you can’t say ‘oh that was made in 1987 or 1999’.”

A move to Warner Brothers in 1988 is widely credited as laying the foundation for the band’s superstardom in the 1990s. The decision, say the pair, was borne of an ambition to convert their critical acclaim into commercial success.

“It was very frustrating for us because we thought we could do well [in the UK and Europe], we felt our music would be appreciated, but we couldn’t find any way of getting it to people over here”, said Mills.

“[The move to Warners] really took the band from being a national American band to being an international band”, said Michael Stipe.

Watch the third part of our world exclusive documentary right here.

Tagged as R.E.M., Albums, Documentary

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