Reception
Initial critical response to Reveal was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 76, based on 20 reviews. Q Magazine gave high praise to the album and awarded it the full 5 stars.
With early comparisons to Automatic for the People, the critical reaction to Reveal was warmer than the notices which greeted Up in 1998, particularly in the UK where it reached #1 with healthy sales. In the United States, Reveal peaked at #6 (with 10 weeks on the Billboard 200) and was certified Gold (500,000 units). The album was also certified Gold in Canada (50,000 units) in 2001, and Gold in Germany (150,000 units).
"When a band that's been around as long as R.E.M. are still doing their best work, that's really unusual," said U2's Bono in 2003. "I think Reveal is one of the best records they've ever made: beautiful melodies, beautiful singing and really evolved songwriting."
Read more about this topic: Reveal (R.E.M. album)
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