Out of Time landed on March 12, 1991, and turned a college-radio cult band into a No. 1 act on both sides of the Atlantic, R.E.M.’s first chart-topper in the US and the UK at once. The strange part is how they got there. They put down the jangle guitars that had carried six albums and reached for mandolin, strings, and acoustic textures instead. Then, exhausted after most of a decade on the road, they decided in advance not to tour it. The record that broke them worldwide is one they never played live. It carried guests most fans forget were there, KRS-One rapping over the opener, Kate Pierson of the B-52’s trading lines on more than one track, and it won three Grammys. But the whole turn starts with one song built on a mandolin figure nobody expected to hear on a hit. Start with “Losing My Religion,” then come back for the rest.