Legendary Rock Album Topped Charts 35 Years Ago — And Stayed There For Over 3 Years
On March 23, 1991, R.E.M. topped the charts in the U.K. with Out of Time, their seventh studio album and their first international chart-topping record.
While the band had previously found success as a smaller rock group with a cult following, Out of Time catapulted them onto the global stage and made them one of the '90s' most talked-about music groups.
Out of Time was driven to the No. 1 spot by "Losing My Religion", the lead single that peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and thrust the band into the spotlight almost overnight. The song won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 1992 Grammys, and the music video took home awards for Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, and Best Direction.
"Losing My Religion" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017, and has since been ranked at No. 112 on Rolling Stone's famous list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
But "Losing My Religion" wasn't the only popular hit on Out of Time; the album also housed songs including "Radio Song", "Near Wild Heaven", and "Shiny Happy People". It was a rare example of a rock album landing several major hits rather than coasting on the success of a hit single.
Despite coming out of America and boasting an incredibly American sound, R.E.M. generally found more success on the British charts. Out of Time immediately shot to No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart upon release, and stayed in the Top 40 for over three years afterwards.
This lengthy charts performance was helped by the subsequent release of "Losing My Religion" as a single, which maintained public interest in R.E.M. for years. They continued to release new music, but audiences just kept coming back to Out of Time as the perfect distillation of their unique sound.
The record's popularity was slightly more short-lived in the United States, but the enduring success of "Losing My Religion" also kept it on the charts for a long period of time. Today, the album remains an emormous critical success with 5-star reviews from NME and Select