R.E.M. Drummer Quits In 1998 Replaced By Machine [VIDEO]

When drummer Bill Berry left R.E.M., Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills could have taken the route that dozens of bands before them had by hiring a new guy. But that’s not who R.E.M. were. Instead, the remaining members took the road less traveled: they hired a drum machine. “I guess a three-legged dog is still a dog” Michael Stipe told SPIN. “It just has to learn to run differently.” With Berry’s foot no longer holding down the bottom end, the band broadened their sonic landscape. Fans expecting the rocking R.E.M. of the I.R.S. years (or even the dark and distorted Monster) eagerly unwrapped the band’s latest on October 26, 1998, loaded it up and heard this:

remhq, YouTube