Alan Cross is the preeminent chronicler of popular music. Here he provides a history of Michael Stipe and R.E.M. This look at the band—"Radio Free Athens"—is adapted from the audiobook of the same name.

This text presents a comprehensive and up-to-date reference work on popular music, from the early 20th century to the present day.

Refusing to kowtow to commercial pressures, the band achieved success on their own terms, and, like all the great rock acts that preceded them, they created a unique sound and style that many have copied but few can capture. This book collects the best of these critical essays, record and concert reviews, interviews, and other material that helps unlock the mystery of R.E.M."--BOOK JACKET.

Japan’s postwar urban imagination through the Metabolism architecture movement and visionary science fiction authors The devastation of the Second World War gave rise to imaginations both utopian and apocalyptic. In Japan, a fascinating confluence of architects and science fiction writers took advantage of this space to begin remaking urban design. In The Metabolist Imagination, William O. Gardner explores the unique Metabolism movement, which allied with science fiction authors to foresee the global cities that would emerge in the postwar era. This first comparative study of postwar Japanese architecture and science fiction builds on the resurgence of interest in Metabolist architecture while establishing new directions for exploration. Gardner focuses on how these innovators created unique versions of shared concepts—including futurity, megastructures, capsules, and cybercities—making lasting contributions that resonate with contemporary conversations around cyberpunk, climate change, anime, and more. The Metabolist Imagination features original documentation of collaborations between giants of postwar Japanese art and architecture, such as the landmark 1970 Osaka Expo. It also provides the most sustained English-language discussion to date of the work of Komatsu Sakyō, considered one of the “big three” authors of postwar Japanese science fiction. These studies are underscored by Gardner’s insightful approach—treating architecture as a form of speculative fiction while positioning science fiction as an intervention into urban design—making it a necessary read for today’s visionaries.

From The Joshua Tree to Blood Sugar Sex Magik, from Automatic for the People to OK Computer, they produced some of the most memorable rock albums of the post-punk era. Beyond the music, though, the members of U2, R.E.M., Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers share several common bonds. Having emerged from punk's do-it-yourself ethos, they embody collective creativity over individual artistry. With the exception of the Chili Peppers' revolving-door guitarists, each band's lineup has remained stable while the groups outlasted most of their contemporaries. The twin factors of group-inspired music and long-term collaboration make these four bands important case studies in modern rock and roll. With a focus on creative dynamics, author Mirit Eliraz studies four of the most popular, critically acclaimed, and prolific rock bands of the last quarter century. Introductory chapters offer band bios; reasons for formation; and each group's friends, collaborators and business partners. Middle chapters discuss the governing structures and general relations within the bands; obstacles to unity and survival; how diverse elements are merged into a productive whole; role divisions; the collaborative process; and life on the road. Concluding chapters cover external influences on band dynamics; the evolution of each band's communal life; and challenges to the band paradigm.

The Nineties has been a thrilling and varied decade for pop, with a renaissance of both rock and roll and pop music. Along with new acts like the Spice Girls, Oasis, Beck, Bjork and Nirvana, there has been an explosion of dance music and the emergence of powerful new genres like drum'n'bass and thrash metal. All the entries have been created from the massive data-base of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, first published in 1992, which is the acknowledged champion of contemporary music reference books.