A Collection of Michael Stipe’s Favorite Albums, Listed
In interviews with Pitchfork and FarOut Magazine, Michael Stipe revealed details about some of his favorite albums of all time. Each album is from a different artist, and there is only one R.E.M. album on the list. In no particular order, here are Michael Stipe’s favorite albums of all time:
Michael Stipe’s Favorite Albums of All Time
- The B-52’s – The B-52’s
- Nevermind – Nirvana
- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
- Velvet Goldmine – Velvet Goldmine
- Santogold – Santigold
- Sir – Fischerspooner
- New Adventures in Hi-Fi – R.E.M.
1. The B-52’s – The B-52’s
The B-52’s is the debut self-named album for the band, The B-52’s. What made this album stand out for fans worldwide is that it had kitschy lyrics and hook-laden harmonies that were hard to miss. It’s not often that you see a band making it big straight from their debut.
In fact, this album even reached the number 59 spot on the Billboard 200 and number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. At the time in 2003, the TV channel VH1 even named it the 99th greatest album of all time. Several A-list artists placed the album on their hit list of all-time favs.
When asked about his favorite albums of all time, Michael Stipe spoke about The B-52’s and revealed, “That first B-52’s album still hasn’t gotten the recognition that it deserves as one of the most groundbreaking and influential records of all time—most certainly on me and everyone around the Athens scene. When all the punks in New York were still putting safety pins in their cheeks, the B-52s were like, “Well, that’s what you do, and this is what we do, and this is how we do it.”
“It was just fucking scorched earth. Right around that time, I fell into this group of nascent punk rockers in Athens. …That was the beginning of R.E.M. …There were all these records that came out around then that were so profoundly important. A lot of it had to do with the B-52’s traveling up to New York and coming back and saying, “You gotta hear this unbelievable record by this band called Joy Division.”
2. Nevermind – Nirvana
Rock fans won’t be surprised to find Nevermind by Nirvana on this list. In fact, this album is widely popular not just in Michael Stipe’s heart but in the hearts of fans worldwide as well. This was the second studio album released by Nirvana, but it was the first that actually sounded polished and radio-friendly. It was also the first album to feature drummer Dave Grohl.
Being the first polished album released by the band, no one expected the commercial success it was destined to receive. The album reached the top 10 on charts across the world and even the number one on the US Billboard 200. In fact, at the time, it was even selling about 300,000 copies a week, which is actually insane. This was the peak moment in their career.
Speaking about Nevermind by Nirvana, Michael Stipe dives into how he was actually living next door to Kurt Cobain at the time, and that’s what made the album extra special for him. He reveals, “Peter had moved to Seattle and started a family, and Kurt and Courtney bought the house next door. So suddenly, we were spending a lot more time in Seattle. Kurt and I bonded over a love of music. We felt like contemporaries, although I had 10 years on him. We were doing what we did, and there was a lot of crossover there.”
“People who are pushed toward the arts are sometimes flying a little too close to the sun. A lot of them are outsiders with a desire to express themselves or their position. And a big part of the job is that you find yourself on tour and performing in this adrenalized state that is sustained for, in my experience, a year and a half or two years at a time. When you’re moving at that velocity, stopping is a mighty, horrid crash. It’s devastating. And immense depression comes from that. Kurt was dealing with that.”
3. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
If you’re looking for an album that has quite the history behind it, there’s nothing better than In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. Although this is the second studio album by the band, it is also their final one. This was mainly because the album attracted quite a cult following, which negatively impacted the mental health of Mangum.
The album caused Mangum to withdraw from tours, which caused the band to go on a hiatus. Several years after its release, the album is still known as one of the best of the 1990s by critics worldwide. The lyrics are surrealistic and opaque, exploring themes that range from nostalgia to love. An important influence for the album was The Diary of a Young Girl, a book of writings from the diary of Anne Frank.
On his favorite albums, Stipe reveals, “This Neutral Milk Hotel record was written on the same street where I do a lot of my work here in Athens. [NMH leader] Jeff Mangum and the whole Elephant 6 collective were doing this really incredible live performance stuff everywhere all the time. They really reinvigorated the Athens scene and brought something very unique, and it felt incredibly collaborative. They were thoughtful towards R.E.M. and towards me, saying complimentary things about the work that we did, so I felt included in that particular movement.”
4. Velvet Goldmine – Velvet Goldmine
This next album on the list isn’t actually an album but a soundtrack to a glam rock film called Velvet Goldmine. The movie is about a glam rock star who tries to fake his own murder in 1974 to move away from the limelight but fails miserably. To make things more interesting, they show how, in 1984, a journalist is tasked with finding out the glam rock star’s real story.
When Michael Stipe added this soundtrack to the list, many were surprised. Although we haven’t actually seen this movie yet, we can already tell it must be a real banger to have its soundtrack included in the list of Michael Stipe’s favorite albums.
When speaking about the music that made him, Michael Stipe reveals, “Another big album for me around this time was the soundtrack to Velvet Goldmine, a film all about glam rock that I was an executive producer on. I was spending time in London, where we were filming and working with a lot of different musicians.”
“I recall specifically one breakfast at a hotel that was recommended by Elton John, where [director] Todd Haynes invited Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, and the cast of the film. And I think the two Brians had not sat at a table together for over a decade at that point. Through Velvet Goldmine, we were bringing together members of Roxy Music again. This is because they were signing off on a bunch of songs for the movie. That was pretty wild. I think Thom Yorke was also there because he was involved in that soundtrack, too.”
5. Santogold – Santigold
If you thought The B-52’s was going to be the only debut album on this list, then you’re wrong. Santogold by Santigold also made it to the list of Michael Stipe’s favorite albums of all time. This album incorporates a variety of musical styles, such as new wave, punk, electro, reggae, and dub, with the aim of defying boundaries and genre classification.
It’s not every day that we see an album defying genre boundaries. This is exactly why it gained praise from Stipe and music critics worldwide. The album was written and produced by Santigold and former Stiffed bandmate John Hill. There were contributions from other producers, including Diplo, Switch, and Disco D, and appearances from Spank Rock and Trouble Andrew.
In the interview about Michael Stipe’s favorite albums of all time, Stipe reveals, “This album is just filled with incredible songs and with a presentation the likes of which we haven’t really seen since. It definitely recalled my punk rock days—CBGB and Debbie Harry and female power. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were mind-blowing to me as well. As a 50-year-old, I was seeing this re-energized scene happening out of New York that was pulling from the same references that were incredibly inspiring for me as a teenager.”
6. Sir – Fischerspooner
While this next album is probably the least known to rock enthusiasts worldwide, Stipe knew that he still had to include it on his list since he worked really hard to produce it, and he’s really proud of it. Fischerspooner was released in 2018 and was the final album released by Sir.
We’re all for retro vibes, and this album gave us all the love when it decided to release 500 limited edition vinyl versions of the album. Although they no longer produce music at the moment, we can only hope that they bring back more limited-edition vinyl in the future.
When asked about this album, Michael Stipe reveals, “Around 2015, Casey Spooner asked me for some advice on a song, and I went into the studio in New York. The song needed work. It was not very good, but it had some really great ideas, so I wound up co-writing it. And then he asked me for help with another song, just arrangement ideas, and that one needed some work too. I wound up producing the album, which was released in 2018, and I’m really proud of it. It was fascinating for me to co-write songs and work with someone else’s voice.”
7. New Adventures in Hi-Fi – R.E.M.
There’s nothing harder for an artist than having to pick a favorite album from one of their own. Knowing how good R.E.M. was, we have no doubt that Michael Stipe struggled really hard with this decision. However, it is very well known that New Adventures in Hi-Fi is his favorite R.E.M. album of all time. He has spoken about this in several interviews over the years as well.
When asked about how this album became his favorite from R.E.M., Michael Stipe reveals, “That infusion, I think, is profoundly important. It is because you can really feel it in the tracks, what these guys were doing. We were in a hyper-adrenalized state, being on tour performing every night or every other night. And you could feel that in the music. It creates this bristling landscape for me with the narrative arcs and the characters I invented.”
“And It remains my favorite R.E.M. album. It remains my favorite out of any record that we made. Now, recently, in the past couple of years, it has been joined in the number one slot by Reveal. I have to admit I have a soft spot in my heart for that record. But New Adventures In Hi-Fi is absolutely my favorite record of us. Most definitely of us as a four-piece.”
Did you know that Michael Stipe also took advice from Madonna to create this masterpiece of an album? In a separate interview a while ago, Stipe revealed, “I took advice from Madonna for that record. She gave me some really great advice. And I accepted her advice, and I followed it to the T. Moreover, I think it really helped create a complete… for me, that record is about summer, really. It’s one of the records where I just said, ‘I’m gonna make this completely thematic about something. And then, within that, I can do whatever I want lyrically. So, at the very beginning of writing words for that, I said, ‘This is about summer – my favorite season. And I think it really holds together.”
