AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE is a classic of "alternative" rock. Released soon after OUT OF TIME, it shows R.E.M. on a creative roll with no shortage of original ideas. Bold songs such as ominous " Drive" & the empathetic " Everybody Hurts" demonstrated that the band were not reluctant to experiment, while the Karl Denver opening on " The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" & the elegiac Andy Kaufman tribute " Man On The Moon" were as good as anything they had ever recorded.