r.e.m.

It was one of the last great years of more melodic alternative rock before alternative stations radio flipped to heavier programming.

Did these acts leave any meat on the bone? Let's take a closer look and rank the best deep cuts from the biggest-selling rock albums of the 1990s.

These underrated gems from the 1980s absolutely need to be in your vinyl collection.

Radio played them a lot in 1996, but these songs don't get much attention these days.

The territory south of the Mason-Dixon Line has always been musically fertile.

The R.E.M. singer says he's currently "writing the final lyrics" for his long-delayed debut solo album.

Let's hop in the way back machine and visit 1986 when R.E.M., The Smiths and more were ruling the college rock airwaves.

Nearly four decades after it was released, the singer reveals some of the song's garbled words.

College rock thrived off discovering the next big acts. Here we look at some of the biggest success stories of those that started off as underdogs en route to becoming huge successes.

All four members of the band appeared onstage at a hometown show.

Well that's rad. These 31 rock and metal albums have hit the four decade mark. How many of these 1985 records have you listened to?

"This is an epic moment for us," Michael Stipe says.