R.E.M. Album Details

Jan. 11, 2001 -- The set of new material that R.E.M. has been working on over the past year has finally earned itself a name: Reveal.

The forthcoming album — the band's first since 1998's Up — is due in May, and has been described by their manager, Bertis Downs, as "lush, atmospheric, and melodic."

Producer Pat McCarthy (U2, Counting Crows) and engineer Jamie Candiloro worked on finishing touches with the band before the trio jetted to South America for performances Saturday at Brazil's massive "Rock in Rio" festival and Jan. 17 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Since its start as a garage band in the early '80s, R.E.M. has been one of the most acclaimed rock acts in the United States. Its 11 full-length studio records, while not being concept albums, all have the feel of being distinct projects, from the jangle-pop of 1986's Life's Rich Pageant to its polished 1992 effort, Automatic for the People.

Reveal will be R.E.M.'s second album without drummer Bill Berry, who retired in 1997, two years after a death scare from a brain aneurysm. In his absence, the band experimented with drum machines on Up.