R.E.M. Monster [Deluxe Anniversary Edition] (5-CD + Blu-ray)

4 stars out of 5 -- "MONSTER now sounds more like the next logical step for the band -- it's loose, loud, and unsentimental..."
4.5 Stars - Excellent - "...MONSTER is a deeply felt, thematically coherent, consistently invigorating challenge to 'evolve or die,' with all the courage of its convictions..."
Ranked #6 in Spin's list of the '20 Best Albums Of '94.'
Highly Recommended - "...this is its most implacable --and convincing--music since MURMUR....Even as MONSTER flirts with unreason and breaks down old taboos, it observes the strict protocols of the forms it plays havoc with..."
"...MONSTER proves no one cranks the amplifiers and mumbles lyrics in quite the same thrilling way as the originators..." - Rating: B+
3 Stars - Good - "...MONSTER is a balder and starker bit of landscaping and whether everything in the garden remains lovely is up to debate..."
"MONSTER found them settling back into their old roles and becoming a more traditional rock band again, but this wasn't the Southern post-punk of their early albums. These new songs were grounded in the stomp and crackle of '70s glam rock..."
"...Lulled by the aural Prozac of their more melodic tunes, it's easy for one to forget that R.E.M. are a rock 'n' roll band. Their new MONSTER puts them back on the block of their noisy origins and Stipe's buried-in-the-mix lyrics..."
"...the band hasn't really changed at all: the songs still stress melody over meaning, the playing still emphasizes the unit over the individuals, and the sound remains as fresh as it was a dozen years ago..."
Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #3 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
4 stars out of 5 - "With '92's AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE, R.E.M. reached their creative peak."
Included on Jon Pareles' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94 - "...Peter Buck's guitars blare and buzz to carry the pioneering collegiate-rock band into the age of grunge."
Included on Neil Strauss' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94 - "...This is R.E.M.'s big, dumb rock record. Except it's not dumb at all..."
Ranked #14 in NME's list of the 'Top 50 Albums Of 1994.'
7 - Very Good - "...At best stunning, at worst merely diverting, MONSTER sounds like the album they 'had' to make, to clear out their system..."
5 stars out of 5 -- "MONSTER is music of a moment -- '90s alt-rock perfected."
Pitchfork (Website) - "[T]he original songs remain strangely oblique, full of glam rock poses and sly subterfuge."