R.E.M - Complete Rarities 1988-2011

R.E.M - Complete Rarities 1988-2011 @320

Unlike its companion, Complete Rarities: IRS 1982-1987, the music collected on the 2014 digital-only Complete Warner Bros. Rarities 1988-2011 hasn't been anthologized often. Bits and pieces have been rounded up in singles boxes, and there was a "Rarities and B-sides" bonus disc added to the 2003 compilation In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, but there was no Warner-era equivalent of Dead Letter Office, and the expanded editions of the albums often skimped on bonus tracks. So this mammoth collection -- 131 tracks, all instrumentals, alternate, and singles, mixes, covers, and live tracks that never appeared on albums -- is noteworthy for providing a service for dedicated fans who nevertheless stopped buying all those multi-part CD singles somewhere around New Adventures in Hi-Fi or Up. The eagle-eyed will notice there are a few songs missing -- usually, these are alternate versions from the early '90s -- but there are also a couple of live cover versions M.I.A., along with instrumental B-sides from Automatic for the People -- but the sheer heft of the set guarantees that almost all will take its title claim of "Complete" as factual; it's close enough to complete for most intents and purposes. Also, as it's a digital clearinghouse and not a sequenced compilation, it's designed to be cherry-picked and not listened to straight through (after all, it'd take many hours to finish). Unlike its I.R.S. cousin, there aren't many major songs tucked away here -- only the Automatic-era "It's a Free World Baby" and "Fretless" count, with the Accelerate flips "Redhead Walking" and "Airliner" also coming close -- which in itself suggests the shifting dynamics within the band and in the industry in the '90s and 2000s. Once Bill Berry left after 1996's New Adventures, R.E.M. worked harder to complete records, so there weren't as many rarities lying around, and that explains the lack of originals, but the real key to this absurdly large set is that the band was required to churn out B-sides for multi-part singles in every market in the world. The easiest way to do this was through live versions, covers and, for a brief moment, remixes (R.E.M.'s music never lent itself to dance mixes but 808 State did overhaul "King of Comedy"). It's flotsam and jetsam, and although it sometimes sounds like filler, there's enough enjoyable music here to make it worthwhile for those dedicated fans wishing to round out their collection. (AllMusic)

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(A thankyou is always appreciated)

 

R.E.M - Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011

R.E.M - Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage
1982-2011 @320

 Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011-- the band's first career-spanning anthology-- does an exceptional job of presenting this body of work as a chronological survey that neatly summarizes their major themes and artistic tangents while being highly listenable. The song selection is exceptional-- a few relatively minor singles didn't make the cut, but every major hit is here, presented alongside crucial album tracks such as "Country Feedback", "Begin the Begin", and "Life and How to Live It". The quality of the material up through at least the middle of the second disc is unimpeachable; the sheer concentration of classic tunes makes a strong case for the band ranking among the 20th century's greatest songwriting partnerships. The set handles the band's leaner years with grace and minimal revisionism, though the electronic and ambient textures of Up are sidelined in favor of that album's delicate Beach Boys homage "At My Most Beautiful". A few wild card selections from their more recent records, such as Accelerate's "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" and "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter" from Collapse Into Now, shine in this context.

Nearly every hits set must include previously unreleased material, and this one is no different. The three new tracks featured here are the final completed songs of the band's career and serve as a coda of sorts for their recorded output. The single "We All Go Back to Where We Belong" is the keeper; a wistful ballad with a delightfully schmaltzy Burt Bacharach-like arrangement that barely conceals its subtext of basically being about the end of R.E.M. The other two cuts sound like a band crossing a few ideas off their bucket list before calling it a day: "Hallelujah" comes off like them giving one last attempt at nailing the hazy sophisti-pop they explored on Reveal, while the dreadful "A Month of Saturdays" meets the title's "garbage" requirement by sounding as though they realized at the last moment that they never wrote a song about loving the weekend and scrambled to remedy that with only a few minutes of studio time.

Though R.E.M.'s dissolution is not necessarily a cause for celebration, having a clearly defined end point makes it much easier to grasp the scope of their achievements. Part of a collective anxiety about R.E.M.'s ongoing existence up until this year was based in a desire on the part of the audience to impose a manageable narrative on their career. Now that they have disbanded, it's much easier to understand the trajectory of their post-Berry output in particular: Basically, they spent some time in the 2000s trying out new sounds and ways of working, but they eventually reconnected with their rock'n'roll roots before wrapping up their career with Collapse Into Now, a set of songs that revisited their creative strengths. Those records are never going to as beloved as their first 10 brilliant and remarkably consistent albums with Berry, but Part Lies makes a good case that their later period has value too, and that the group had raised the bar so high for themselves that merely being very good could be interpreted as a failure. (Pitchfork)

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(A Thankyou is always welcome)

 

1992 - Automatic For The People (25th Anniversary Edition) (2017)

1992 - Automatic For The People
(25th Anniversary Edition) (2017) @320

Admittedly, you need your own home studio to get the benefit of the Dolby Atmos treatment given to REM’s superstardom album, but you only need ears to hear why it sold 18m copies. From start to finish, it’s a perfect mix of sombreness, playfulness, anger and melancholy, with one moment of great mass communication – Everybody Hurts, a song whose power is undimmed by constant exposure. A stunning live disc repositions Drive as a stomping rock song, and showcases the playful side of the group with covers of Love Is All Around (pre-Four Weddings) and Funtime. The disc of demos is occasionally revealing but inessential: the version of Everybody Hurts (called Michael’s Organ) shows just how much minor alterations added to the song; Mike’s Pop Song is a charming little frippery. But when you get down to a minute of Pete’s Acoustic Idea, then you know the end of the line has been reached. However, for the original album and the live disc, five stars are wholly merited. Non-completists should get the two-disc version, unless they’re desperate for the Blu-Ray of promo clips. (The Guardian)

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