I tend to agree that Out of Time and Automatic for the People at least were a creative peak for REM. I still think they're good, but like a lot of bands that have been around for many years, they seem to have declined to 1 or 2 outstanding songs per album, which is better than nothing I suppose.
UP is miles better than Reveal. Monster is better than its detractors think but not as good as REM themselves thought. New Adventures in Hi Fi has Ebow the Letter and Leave and Electrolite, which kind of counts in its favour in a big way. Of course it also has Binky the Doormat, but I'll ignore that.
Fall on Me is my favourite early(ish) REM song.