1. Get a real drummer Since Bill Berry retired in 1997, R.E.M. has relied on drearily unobtrusive studio pros who don’t contribute creatively. (Latest evidence: the band’s lackluster new album, Around the Sun.)
2. Reassert a big guitar sound Stipe & Co. are using a wash of keyboards to disguise bland songwriting.
3. Stop playing producer Instead, bring on Mike Mogis, who helped the pop wunderkinds in Bright Eyes realize their grand ambitions.
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The Transformation of TV Into an Art Form
The Draw of Dream Worlds in Film
Gosselin, Prince of the Professional Nobodies
A Decade of Defining Moments in Pop-Culture
The Invention of New York's Local Cuisine 
Thirty-Five Short-Lived Looks of the Decade
Two Views of a Swath of the Upper West Side
An Older Generation Moves Into Williamsburg
Ten Years That Changed Everything
A Generation of Overparenting
The Sports Rivalry of the Decade
What Is the Point of the United States Senate? 
