▁Sun ▁( 2 0 0 4 ) ▁only ▁sold ▁ 2 4 0 , 0 0 0 ▁copies ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁and ▁was ▁poor ly ▁received ▁by ▁critics . ▁The ▁band ▁members ▁later ▁expressed ▁dis ple asure ▁with ▁the ▁album . ▁Gu itar ist ▁Peter ▁Buck ▁told ▁Q , ▁" I ▁personally ▁h ated ▁it . ▁[ Qu ick ly ] ▁No , ▁h ated ▁is ▁too ▁hard . ▁I ▁h ated ▁the ▁fact ▁that ▁it ▁wasn ' t ▁as ▁good ▁as ▁it ▁should ' ve ▁been ." ▁Buck ▁admitted ▁the ▁band ▁felt ▁pressure ▁to ▁subsequently ▁make ▁a ▁better ▁record ; ▁he ▁told ▁Q , ▁" E ven ▁Michael ▁[ St ipe ] ▁was ▁going , ▁' Y ' know , ▁if ▁we ▁make ▁another ▁bad ▁record , ▁it ' s ▁over .' ▁It ' s ▁like , ▁' No ▁k idd ing .' " ▁ ▁Buck ▁and ▁bass ist ▁Mike ▁M ills ▁began ▁working ▁on ▁instrument al ▁dem os ▁in ▁winter ▁ 2 0 0 7 , ▁assist ed ▁by ▁tour ing ▁members ▁Bill ▁R ie fl in ▁and ▁Scott ▁McC aug he y . ▁The ▁music ▁they ▁wrote ▁was ▁faster ▁and ▁more ▁ag gress ive ▁than ▁other ▁material ▁they ▁had ▁written ▁in ▁years . ▁M ills ▁suggested ▁the ▁band ▁work ▁out ▁its ▁new ▁songs ▁in ▁a ▁live ▁setting ▁before ▁recording ▁them , ▁as ▁it ▁had ▁done ▁in ▁its ▁early ▁years . ▁Between ▁June ▁ 3 0 ▁and ▁July ▁ 5 , ▁ 2 0 0 7 , ▁R . E