Critics' Choice 1992

1. REM Automatic For The People [warner brothers]
Arguably REM’s greatest (and equally arguably, their last great) album, Automatic was by turns energised (the Andy Kaufman commemorating ‘Man On the Moon’, the playful ‘Sidwinder Sleeps Tonight’) and melancholic (the bleak Gus Van Sant tones of ‘Drive, the Flannery O’Connor informed ‘Try Not To Breathe’). It also contained the irony free anthem ‘Everybody Hurts’ and possibly their most wistful ever song, ‘Nightswimming’. String arrangements came courtesy of ex Led Zep man John Paul Jones.
2. Fatima Mansions – Valhalla Avenue [kitchenware]
3. Lou Reed – Magic And Loss [sire]
4. Arrested Development – 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days [cooltempo]
5. Lemonheads – It’s A Shame About Ray [atlantic]