If you aren’t familiar with Mr. Pardo, he’s pretty much one of the worldwide experts on metal, jazz, and prog. I don’t know if he’s ever evaluated R.E.M.’s oeuvre, but he’s definitely commented on some of my other favorite bands like Rush, King’s X, and Starcastle (who never heard of you either LOL). In recent days, he was experiencing some mental clarity issues, and he turned out to have, in so many words, a large, aggressive brain cancer. I think we all know what that means. 
I also think he looks a lot like Peter. A GoFundMe has been started; am I allowed to post a link here?