Gone are the manicured inter-weavings of strings, mandolins and other acoustic instruments, gone the pinpoint definition of instrumental and vocal parts that have characterized so many of R.E.M.'s recorded performances for so long. Monster is one urgent-sounding album, and that's as it should be; what the band has to say here is urgent, politesse be damned. Monster is concerned, in song after song, with problems of identity. In the course of Monster's 12 songs, Stipe goes at it from a variety of angles. What's truly impressive about Monster is the way R.E.M. make an album with such potentially grave subject matter so much fun, sweeping you into its vistas with the sure-footed élan of a band very confident of its considerable powers, Monster is a deeply felt, thematically coherent, consistently invigorating challenge to "evolve or die," with all the courage of its convictions. Monster became a platinum seller in Australia, and received critical acclaim by most critics, reaching #1 worldwide. There were several hits from the album, particularly "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", "Strange Currencies", and "Bang and Blame."