Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Entertainment Weekly	B
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	7/10
Pitchfork Media	5.0/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin	7/10
The Village Voice	B−

Reveal is the twelfth studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 2001 on Warner Bros. After having adjusted to former drummer Bill Berry's departure and releasing Up to mixed response in 1998, R.E.M. released the more upbeat Reveal, co-produced with long-time collaborator Patrick McCarthy. The album was released to generally positive reviews from music critics.

In 2002, R.E.M. allowed each track of the album to be remixed by different producers and members of the music industry. The resulting remix album, r.e.m.IX, was available as a free download from R.E.M.'s official website. In 2005, Warner Bros. Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of Reveal which includes a CD and a DVD, as well as the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes.

After the electronic experimental direction of Up (1998), Reveal was referred to by Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic as "a conscious return to their classic sound," although Matt LeMay of Pitchfork Media noticed that Reveal relies "more heavily on synthesized sounds than any of their past albums" with an "increased reliance on burbling, jittering synthesizers". Erlewine himself later acknowledged the album is "heavy on keyboards," whilst Pitchfork's Stephen M. Deusner said it was "effects-heavy."

The lead single, "Imitation of Life," became another U.K. Top 10 hit as well as the band's first number one single in Japan, but floundered at the bottom of the U.S. singles charts. Further singles from Reveal were "All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)" and "I'll Take The Rain." Building on examples from their previous album, Up, "Beat A Drum," "Summer Turns To High" and "Beachball" are musical homages to The Beach Boys, of whom both Mike Mills and Peter Buck are major fans.

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Wikipedia