Customer Reviews

In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(58)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

If that's a compliment.

Here's a new and strange recipe for success. Release an unlistenable album every 18 months or so, but make sure that there's at least one song per disc that will make a bit of a splash on the radio. Watch fans buy the record--hoping for more of the great sound they heard on the air--then watch these disappointed fans flood used record stores across the country with a million billion copies of Monster and Reveal. After fifteen years of this, select out a few of the radio tracks and a few of the droning unlistenable stuff, add two new tracks, re-release and re-repeat.

I know: There are two schools of thought here. One is that the early albums (Murmur, Reckoning) rocked hard and that everything after (with bumps at Out of Time and Automatic) has been kind of a gradual descent into experimental stuff that sounds intriguing once, but which would never, ever make it into one's CD wallet for a long roadtrip. The other is that the band has been getting better and better with every album. Sorry to be blunt, but those who adhere to this second point of view are members of a small and dedicated cult who are desperately trying to cling onto god-knows-what delusions they have about this band. I'd never let any of these people within a hundred yards of the CD player at a party.

If you're a member of the esoteric order of Stipe and enjoy tracks like Reveal's "All the Way to Reno," then this is the album for you. However, if you like the early REM and the REM of the radio, you'll probably be better off getting one of your REM cultist buddies to make you a mix tape. Not that I'm advocating piracy, but if this is the legal, band-selected "best of," that might be the only way to get a good REM sampler.

REM is one of the greatest bands ever, OK? I will never deny that. I have all of their albums and have seen them many times in concert. However, there are two kinds of REM fans. There are the ones that have been with them all along and still like listening to "Murmur" and "Lifes Rich Pagent." Then there are those fans that love "Out of Time" and "Automatic For the People." Now, i will give you that Austomatic was a great album, Out of Time was not. However, the differences between the two groups are demonstrated by a love of the early, non-commercial stuff and the mid '90s commercial stuff. The compilation is all about the mindless singles that gave REM mainstream success. Excluding "Electrolite," none of these songs really needed to be included for a "best of" album. It was an attempt by REM to pick up a paycheck because their most recent albums were not selling well. Sad but true.

I've been an off and on fan of R.E.M. for a very long time but was really interested in this CD after it came out and I have to say that it does not dissapoint and really compiles a lot of the best stuff of their's from 1988 through 2003 from their "Green" album to two subpar tracks that were solely for this CD. All of my favorite songs are from this time period with songs like "Everybody Hurts", "Orange Crush", "Losing My Religion" and even "What's the Frequency Kenneth". This CD would've been a little better if it included "It's The End of the World As We Know it And I Feel Fine" but that track came out in 1987 and thus isn't included on here. Oh Well. For what it is though "In Time" is a wonderful collection and is certainly a CD worth buying.

Here's a new and strange recipe for success. Release an unlistenable album every 18 months or so, but make sure that there's at least one song per disc that will make a bit of a splash on the radio. Watch fans buy the record--hoping for more of the great sound they heard on the air--then watch these disappointed fans flood used record stores across the country with a million billion copies of Monster and Reveal. After fifteen years of this, select out a few of the radio tracks and a few of the droning unlistenable stuff, add two new tracks, re-release and re-repeat.

I know: There are two schools of thought here. One is that the early albums (Murmur, Reckoning) rocked hard and that everything after (with bumps at Out of Time and Automatic) has been kind of a gradual descent into experimental stuff that sounds intriguing once, but which would never, ever make it into one's CD wallet for a long roadtrip. The other is that the band has been getting better and better with every album. Sorry to be blunt, but those who adhere to this second point of view are members of a small and dedicated cult who are desperately trying to cling onto god-knows-what delusions they have about this band. I'd never let any of these people within a hundred yards of the CD player at a party.

If you're a member of the esoteric order of Stipe and enjoy tracks like Reveal's "All the Way to Reno," then this is the album for you. However, if you like the early REM and the REM of the radio, you'll probably be better off getting one of your REM cultist buddies to make you a mix tape. Not that I'm advocating piracy, but if this is the legal, band-selected "best of," that might be the only way to get a good REM sampler.

In many ways the 1990's were not kind to R.E.M.. The band became fantastically popular during the early part of the decade-especially with OUT OF TIME-but the remaining years have seen the boys from Athens, Georgia sink almost to obscurity with increasing indifference greeting each new CD. It is tempting to date the start of this slide with the departure of drummer Bill Berry; but the slide began before his catatrophic health problems.

The truth is that most people tend to either love or dislike any particular R.E.M. song. (With a couple of exceptions, I defy anyone to tell me what Michael Stipe is talking about,) There is hardly any middle ground. Hence, it is easy for any listener to cherry pick his favorite songs from each album to come up with his own greatest hits CD. Approaching the R.E.M. songbook this way reminds us that even in the dark recent years R.E.M. has had some excellent songs. Unfortunately, the listener may also be caught by surprise at just how few songs from R.E.M. he actually likes-the standard length CD may in fact be too much time to fill.

This collection begins with three excellent songs. "Man On The Moon" is the tribute to Andy Kaufman that slips from its subject to the transcendent in the course of five minutes. "The Great Beyond" likewise takes Andy Kaufman is its subject yet I have always felt it was a fitting epitaph to the baby-boom generation. "Bad Day" is a good R.E.M. rant and new contribution for this CD.

We then hit the buzsaw of "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" and "All The Way To Reno"-two rather frantic songs the Michael Stipe apparently likes but always struck me as rather tedious.

Things pick up with "Losing My Religion"-a dramatic sounding song that many take literally about losing one's faith (its actually a Southern expression meaning losing one's temper). "E-Bow The Letter" fills some space.

"Orange Crush", "Imitation of Life" and "Daysleeper" again forms a trio of excellent songs to hang your hat on. Of these, "Imitation of Life" is the most deserving of a fresh exposure as this is a song that really soars above most R.E.M. material but was unjustly ignored with the rest of the UP CD.

The rest of this collection inspires the attention to drift. "Stand" and "Everybody Hurts" have long been popular favorites; but I don't think they survive the test of time. "At My Most Beautiful" is supposed to be a tribute to the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson but it ends up like many such tributes by winding up being a pale imitation of the real thing.

Many fans will look at the playlist and ask "how come there's nothing from MURMUR or LIFES RICH PAGEANT?" A careful look at the title will reveal that this collection begins with 1988-the year R.E.M. made a label change. For a sampling of the early years, pick up a copy of EPONYMOUS. The more adventurous may find they'll like the early R.E.M. a little better.

First things first, this is in no way a "best of REM". No 2 fans could come on a consensus of the best songs off of arguably REM's most prolific recordings period 1988-2003. Personally I wanted to see more off of Out of Time and Monster. However a true compilation would be a 2-3 disc series and at that point you might as well buy the complete albums.

As a standalone record it holds up. Notably, the songs not on their studio albums. The Great Beyond is one of their finest songs at the turn of the century, Bad Day could have easily been a hit on Document or Green, and All The Right Friends is a taste of the early days. I procrastinated buying this album because I owned all the REM albums and didn't see the value of buying a "best of". However, this is not a "best of REM", but a great collection of REM songs that play well together. Look to pop this in for a long road trip.

But they do have "Stand"!!! Wow, great stuff! "Everybody Hurts" after listening to this. I know some of you are miffed about the track selection, but it is very difficult to pick their best. It's like picking the corn and peanuts out of a steaming loaf.

One of the major achievemnts of this band turns around the sense of musicality and expressiveness that lies in their themes. In this sense, this group follows the opened road of a key trio in the eighties as Police was and even Journey band.
Imagination and good taste were two fundamentals aspects to mention about this ensemble.The lyrics has its own weight; and yet several pieces are clearly influenced by sixties and seventies bands; as Byrds, Credence , Wisbone Ash , Doors , Beatles , for instance the band knew mix commercial themes filled with harmonies beyond the standards in that age. Think in songs as Everybody hurts and my favorite theme Imitation of the life, based in that Douglas Sirk old cult movie , from 1959 .
This album is an excelent account of one decade and a half of this band.
Buy this one, because the time has come for REM to set up for the deserved space in the throne of the great bands of the eighties and nineties.

The Best Of R.E.M... I cannot imagine how hard it would be to pick a handful out of a whole range of fantastic songs this band has produced, but this collection is very promising. If you've heard one or two of their songs on the radio, and liked what you heard, this collection will certainly appeal to you.

It has the songs "everybody has heard a thousand times before", such as Man On The Moon, Losing My Religion, Everybody Hurts, Imitation Of Life and Whats The Frequency, Kenneth?, just to name a few. All fantastic songs and are some of the best of the album they were taken from.

The cd ranges from mellow and sweet (Reno, At My Most Beautiful), to the fun and wacky (Stand, Sidewinder), and there is such a diversity here that can appeal to everyone. There's even two new songs, Animal and Bad Day, which are both good and may be a taste as to where R.E.M. are leading now.

The second cd, however, is one I can only really recommend to fans, but seeing it's only a few bucks more, it's probably best to pay full price and get them both.

The second cd has fantastic versions of some of my favourite songs (Pop Song '89, The Lifting, Star Me Kitten, Leave), live versions of the popular Country Feedback, Drive, and The One I Love, and even some rare outtakes and B-Sides that may grasp the interest of those who have all their albums anyway. The live version of Turn You Inside-Out was, in my opinion, especially good.

The only real complaints with the cd are more personal than anything else... I still think Lotus, I'll Take The Rain and Strange Currencies should have been in somewhere... but whatever.

In summation, this is a fantastic collection that I thoroughly recommend. It's a great way to get into one of the biggest bands of all time.

An awesome collection of the best R.E.M. songs from 88-03. I haven't removed CD this from my car since I bought it several months ago. A must for all R.E.M. fans' collections.