R.E.M.'S AWAKENING ALTERNATIVE-MUSIC HEROES LOOKING TO CONNECT WITH AUDIENCES AGAIN.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

There was a time when Peter Buck's band was at the vanguard of the alternative rock scene. Smart young hipsters and grad students around the country were in the thrall of the mad genius of R.E.M., its sound and elusive intentions dominating college radio.

But that was so 1990s - or thereabouts anyway.

``In America,'' Buck says, ``we just don't have the profile we used to have.''

Still, it's not the end of the world (as Buck knows it). The 46-year-old guitarist is talking about how times have changed for the pioneering alternative rock band, now in the midst of its first North American outing in four years. The crew is older, some have families, and the famously cryptic Michael Stipe is ever more comprehensible these days.

On Wednesday the tour pulls into the Hollywood Bowl - more than a month before the release of the new anthology ``In Time: Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003.'' The set, due Oct. 28, includes two new tracks and augurs more to come - a full-length CD of new material. But before the band unveils that release next year - followed by another global trek to boot - R.E.M. is planning on introducing its jangle of folk-rock, punk and pop to a new meaning-starved generation.

One of the new songs on the greatest-hits release, ``Bad Day,'' attempts to bridge the past and present. Stipe began writing it in 1987 but finished only the chorus. He filled it in with new stanzas this year. ``Lyrically, I think Michael tried to maybe encompass a little bit of what it's like to be living in America these days,'' Buck says from Seattle, where he lives with his wife and 9-year-old twin daughters, both of whom like music but whose father prefers they do something else. Why?

``It's a creepy business, and it's also really sexist,'' he says. ``When we were popular and on the cover of Rolling Stone we wore what we wore, you know? But if you're a female you have to be in your underwear, and I just don't like that aspect of it.''

A new reckoning

Yes, much has changed in America and in the band since 1987. Wars raged, grunge happened, hip-hop went platinum and the music industry suffered through many Madonna phases and the rise of warbling, bumping and grinding American Idols. And let's not forget Britney. Then in 1995, Bill Berry, R.E.M.'s first and only drummer, had a brain aneurysm and two years later left the band. Berry had been with the foursome since 1980. In those days the group, which includes bassist Mike Mills, toured every little pizza joint in the South.

They were based in Athens, Ga., where Stipe befriended Buck, then a manager of a record store. And the rest is, as they say, history. A year after R.E.M.'s inception, its single ``Radio Free Europe'' started a buzz that followed the band from college radio to Rolling Stone magazine to a deal with Warner Bros. To date the band has sold 40 million records, which takes into account ``Up'' and ``Reveal,'' both of which were recorded without Berry. Some purists still have a hard time with his absence.

``It just isn't the same without Bill Berry,'' says John Stevens, associate professor of songwriting at the Berklee College of Music and author of ``The Songs of John Lennon: The Beatles Years.'' He adds, ``It's like doing away with Ringo.''

But R.E.M. was adamant about staying together. And that doesn't surprise Howard Kramer, curatorial director at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. ``They were the flag bearers of American alternative rock,'' Kramer says. ``R.E.M. was not in it to get hit singles or rack up the album sales. They were in it because they wanted to be musicians and make music. All the rest of it came later.'' Although there was times when the band nearly crumbled - especially during the making of ``Up,'' the first studio recording without Berry that was released in 1998 - it managed to work things out and three years later issued ``Reveal.''

Ignoreland?

That album wasn't exactly a hit with American audiences, selling a disappointing 400,000 copies. Worldwide it topped the 2.5 million mark. But this was not a surprise to Buck, considering R.E.M.'s later work has consistently been a top seller everywhere but in its home country. It's no wonder, he says, given the landscape.

``Whenever I turn on the radio, all I hear is heavy metal and hip-hop,'' Buck says. ``Then there's ballads about everlasting love between teenagers and, well, I could understand why we don't get played on a lot of stations.

``On the other hand, we just want to tour,'' he adds. ``We're enjoying the idea of just going out and performing. We're at the age where we really want to accomplish as much as we can before it's all over.''

The newest of R.E.M.'s songs on the greatest-hits release is ``Animal,'' a psychedelic trip into the future. And there's more to come. Already 30 songs have been recorded for the studio album scheduled for release in the spring. And that doesn't even begin to count the work Buck puts in with, among other things, his jazz collective, Tuatara, featuring Luna's Justin Harwood, Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin and Skerik of Critters Buggin. Buck admits it can be overwhelming but he isn't daunted by the tasks that lie ahead.

``The thing is, I'm really lucky,'' Buck says. ``I have this great job and I get to make this great music with these people I really like. All this stuff I do on the side just has to fit around it, you know, because R.E.M.'s the most important thing.''

R.E.M.

Where: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood.

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Tickets: $33.50 to $79.50. [phone] or www.ticketmaster.com.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) R.E.M.ember them?

Older now, pioneering alt-rockers bring new perspective to first North American tour in four years

(2) Peter Buck, left, Michael Stipe and Mike Mills are preparing for two tours, a greatest-hits album and a new CD of original songs.