In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (Special Edition)

R.E.M.

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 28, 2003)
• Original Release Date: October 28, 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B0000DD535
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,039 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Jangle Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

How do you condense 15 years of music down to 76 minutes? In the case of this survey of the second phase of R.E.M.'s career, the answer is: Exceptionally well. The dangling carrot for diehards is two new songs; the rapid fire "Bad Day" hurtles along like the kissing cousin of "It's the End of the World as We Know It," while "Animal" is anchored by a majestic drone reminiscent of the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows." In a surprising, but gratifying move, the rest of the program shortchanges the band's breakthrough, Out of Time (no "Shiny Happy People"), to better accommodate movie soundtrack contributions, and spotlight gems from the less commercial, post-Bill Berry albums Reveal and Up; with its baroque piano and multi-tracked vocal harmonies, the Beach Boys homage "At My Most Beautiful" is particularly gorgeous, while the burbling keyboards and slightly dazed singing of "All the Way to Reno" will appeal to Flaming Lips fans. --Kurt B. Reighley

This expanded edition covering the band's first decade-and-a-half at Warner now includes a DVD featuring a new 5.1 surround sound mix of all the album's tracks. That new bonus disc also features an October, '03 Vancouver rehearsal of the new song "Bad Day" that allows viewers the unique experience of switching between four different camera angles. Also includes the smart, network-news spoofing video for the same track.

Product Description

SPECIAL EDITION: The two-CD set adds a 16-selection CD of rarities, including live and acoustic versions of some of R.E.M.'s most popular songs, and a 40-page booklet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How can you go wrong?, November 8, 2003

By	Robert T Edwards (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

I'm tapping this out as the demo version of "The Lifting" plays in the background. This song alone could make this a 5 star album--one of the most beautiful rock song versions I've ever heard. And that's track 11 on the second CD...

Any "best of" type album from a band worthy of putting one out is going to be sniped at for leaving off personal favorites of the reviewer. That is the main criticism levelled here, and although I could do the same, it seems pointless. The first disc, the actual best of, is selected and sequenced brilliantly. The juxtaposition of "Kenneth" with "All The Way to Reno" is just brilliant. Similarly, the closing three songs (Everybody Hurts, At My Most Beautiful, Nightswimming) in sequence sound....perfect. The two new songs (Bad Day and Animal) are both good, though neither measure up to their best. As for the rest, it's hard to argue with the band itself when they say it is a "best of" and not a "greatest hits." Interesting that Peter Buck, in the liner notes, finally says something a lot of people always believe--"Man on the Moon" IS the quintessential REM song. The first disc, as a survey of some of their best work, works terrifically both as a summation of the last 15 years and as an introduction for those who don't know the band, or those who know them only casually.

The second disc is, for me, a bit more hit or miss. Frankly, I think that is to be expected, and anyone who's read the liner notes for "Dead Letter Office" will chuckle at Buck's comment that the album should be like browsing through a junk shop. Highlights for me include the demo version of "The Lifting," as noted above, the acoustic version of "Pop Song 89," the live versions of "Drive," "Turn You Inside Out," "The One I Love," and "Country Feedback." The version of "Star Me Kitten," where William Burroughs does the vocal, can't be explained any better than by Buck's liner notes--he says the idea to have Burroughs do it doesn't just cross the line between genius and insanity, it took a running leap into la-la land. Exactly right, and also exactly why REM remain such a vital and interesting band--they're not afraid to try anything.

That courage to try anything is, perhaps, the best reason to buy this album. Even the "worst" songs here are better than almost ANYTHING coming out today--a very depressing thought, but also very true... All in all, a terrific, even inspired album in spots. Listening to this as an album restores faith in the idea that creativity in popular music is far from dead.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars real music for real music fans, November 10, 2003

By	R. Holt (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

if you're one of the ever growing numbers of people who have had it up to here with brainless top 40 "music"--and you don't already own REM's albums--by all means, buy this record!! nobody makes music the way REM makes music, especially in the current pop culture climate. you will regret not owning this.

a lot of people are getting confused between "greatest hits" and "best of." In Time is NOT a greatest hits album. REM have very few hit singles in their catalogue. certainly, most of the tracks on In Time hardly qualify as hits. this does not mean, however, that they aren't embarassingly great songs. In Time includes a selection of songs that the guys in the band thought best represented the last 15 years of their career. there are a lot of songs on this album that casual listeners have probably not heard. if you tuned in at "shiny happy people" and tuned out at "what's the frequency, kenneth?" then you have a lot to gain by checking out In Time. there is a lot of awesome REM music that has flown under the radar in the last 10 years and most music fans will appreciate the enormous creativity and boldness that REM has shown during this period.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bad combination of rarities and essential tracks, November 19, 2003

By	Gulley Jimson (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews

I'm not sure who the audience for this album is. If you don't have the albums that contain most of the tracks on Disc 1, you should definitely buy a couple of those first: Automatic for the People and New Adventures in Hi-Fi are both late REM masterpieces. And they have an atmosphere that makes them work as albums: the songs don't sound right plucked out and put on a greatest hits, especially when you've heard them where they belong.

In any case, there's very few weak tracks on either album: there's no need to "pick and choose" the best. Lots of people are divided on Green, but after a few listens I think it stands up with their best work: it's worth buying for You Are the Everything alone.

Now, for people that are already fans, it seems unfair to pay for two CDs when you're already going to have most of the material on Disc 1 already. A more well-thought out collection would have had just had have the rarities, plus the soundtrack contributions (their cover of Draggin' the Line from the second Austin Powers, by the way, is a song I wish was on here).

REM, for most of their career, have been an extraordinarily consistent album band (I regretted buying Eponymous, since I ended up getting most of the albums) but in recent years their albums have been spottier. So a compilation may have served some purpose in culling the best of their recent work - which, at its best, is still some of the most worthwhile music being written today. But this compilation doesn't even succeed in that. At My Most Beautiful is not, in my opinion, one of the band's highlights. How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us would have been a better choice - or, if you had to have something from Up, Lotus or Airportman or, well, anything else.

So - basically - this collection isn't really good for anyone. Hold out until the record company stops trying to make you pay for stuff twice and gives you what you want.