"Bang and Blame" is a song by the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 group R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

 It was released as the second single from the album Monster in 1995. It is the last R.E.M. song to reach the top 40 in Billboard's Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart, peaking at number 19, and also their last number one on the Modern Rock Tracks

Modern Rock Tracks

Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

 chart.

When the album version of the song finishes, an untitled instrumental featuring vibrato effects on the guitar amp and amplified slap bass techniques follows, lasting approximately thirty seconds from fade in to fade out.

The song was the most successful single by the band in America since 1991's "Shiny Happy People

Shiny Happy People

"Shiny Happy People" is a song by the band R.E.M.. The song appeared on their 1991 album Out of Time and was released as a single in the same year. The song features guest backing vocals by Kate Pierson of the B-52's, who also has a prominent role in the song's music video.It peaked at #10 on the...

". Since "Bang and Blame", the band have not had a single that matched its success. Despite its success, it was left off of In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003.

"Bang and Blame" was featured in the Cold Case episode "Blackout" as well as in the Danish mini-series "Charlot og Charlotte" by Ole Bornedal (director of "Nattevagten"/"The Night Watch"). The song was also used in "Weird Al" Yankovic

"Weird Al" Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

's polka medley "The Alternative Polka" from his 1996 album Bad Hair Day

Bad Hair Day

Bad Hair Day is the 9th studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1996. This album was the third studio album self-produced by Yankovic. The musical styles on Bad Hair Day are built around parodies and pastiches pop and rock music of the mid 1990s, targeting alternative rock and hip-hop...

.

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry

Bill Berry

William "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....

, Peter Buck

Peter Buck

Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....

, Mike Mills

Mike Mills

Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...

, and Michael Stipe

Michael Stipe

John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...

.
12" and CD Maxi-single

1. "Bang and Blame" – 4:51
2. "Losing My Religion
   Losing My Religion
   "Losing My Religion" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. The song was released as the first single from the group's 1991 album Out of Time. Based around a mandolin riff, "Losing My Religion" was an unlikely hit for the group, garnering heavy airplay on radio as well as on MTV due...
   
   " (live)¹ – 5:24
3. "Country Feedback
   Country Feedback
   "Country Feedback" is a song by R.E.M. from their 1991 album Out of Time.Michael Stipe has claimed that he did not even write the whole lyric down, that he "just had a piece of paper with a few words. I sang it and I walked out." The following day, the hastily-improvised take was deemed good enough...
   
   " (live)¹ – 5:03
4. "Begin the Begin
   Begin the Begin
   "Begin the Begin" is the first song on R.E.M.'s fourth album, Lifes Rich Pageant. Lead singer Michael Stipe has called it "a song of personal, political activism." Though never released as a single, it still appears frequently in the band's live performances as a song early in the set...
   
   " (live)¹ – 3:47

7", Cassette and CD single

1. "Bang and Blame" – 4:48
2. "Bang and Blame" (instrumental version) – 4:48

Charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	29
Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....	1
Irish Singles Chart	14
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	15
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	19
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...	1
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...	3
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	13

External links

• Video clip at REMhq.com