Though both introspective and diverse, Out Of Time quickly connected with the critics, with many of the industry’s most respected publications heaping five-star praise on the album. In a laudatory review, Rolling Stone’s Parke Puterbaugh cannily declared: “this band does not carry a map, and not knowing what lies around the next curve is part of the fun and fascination of following R.E.M.”
 
Given additional momentum by the runaway success of “Losing My Religion,” the positive critical notices quickly translated to sales, with Out Of Time rapidly outstripping expectations. Selling around 4.5 million copies in the US alone, the album topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and just kept right on selling. A fixture on the US Billboard 200 for a whopping 109 weeks, it also enjoyed multi-platinum success in countries such as Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands, and eventually went on to shift upwards of 18 million copies worldwide.