sextonseven said:

Interesting. I'm a big fan yet I had to actually look that one up http://www.youtube.com/wa...bGSDkvh8B0

sextonseven said:

It's one of the few REM songs I actively dislike

Cinnie said:

The band hates that song, so they like to pretend it doesn't exist. (Personally, I have no problem with the song.) Besides, most people who buy that album probably already own Out of Time, so the only track from it they included was the really essential one, "Losing My Religion." Still, I have to say that "Bang and Blame" and "Drive" are probably more sorely missed on that compilation.

If you're intent on sticking with hits collections, you'd be hard pressed to top the combination of And I Feel Fine (which is an outstanding overview of the I.R.S. years) and In Time (which does a fairly good job with the WB era).

Some of my picks for underrated singles: "Fall on Me," "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight," "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)," "Imitation of Life"

FWIW, In Time may not include all of the hits, but it's a really good listen as an album. The sequencing is pretty good.
[Edited 9/14/07 20:31pm]

I wouldn't know if the some of the album versions for their hits were different from the single versions. I am considering getting their separate albums.... have any of these compilations improved on the sound quality (remastering, etc?)

AlexdeParis, does In Time have remixes or edits to make it flow so nicely?

AlexdeParis said:

Keep in mind: I am looking for ALL OF THE "OVERRATED" SINGLES

MendesCity said:

I love that the B-52's chick is all up in that one though!

I mean... that sounds like something they would have said around 1994 when everyone was sounding darker and acted anti-pop - but it's a great tune, man. Like literally.. a lot of melodic hooks!

In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988-2003 is the second official compilation album released by R.E.M. Issued in 2003, it includes tracks from their Warner Bros. Records era, from 1988's Green to 2001's Reveal, as well as two new recordings and two songs from movie soundtracks. "Bad Day" was started in 1986, when Bill Berry was still in the band, and was finally finished for this compilation. "Animal" was a recent song written for their upcoming studio album. Similarly, "All the Right Friends", originally written in the early 1980s, had been re-recorded by the band for use in Cameron Crowe's 2001 film Vanilla Sky. Finally, "The Great Beyond" was initially issued in 1999 as part of Miloš Forman's film on Andy Kaufman, Man on the Moon. It ended up becoming the band's biggest UK hit, with a #3 peak, in early 2000. This, the third inclusion of the song on an official release, is the only unedited version. On the Man on the Moon soundtrack, there is some dialogue from the movie at the end of the track; meanwhile, the single version is a radio edit, with the bridge omitted.

In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988–2003 was also issued in a limited two-disc edition that included a "Rarities and B-Sides" disc from the same era. The single-disc edition of the album reached #1 in the UK, while going gold in the U.S. and peaking at #8. The limited-edition two-disc release managed to reach #16 in the U.S. and #37 in the UK.

A notable omission from the album is the song "Shiny Happy People" which was deliberately left out by the band despite it being one of their biggest hits.[1]
A companion DVD, entitled In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, was released at the same time.

In 2005, Warner Bros. Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of the compilation which included a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. The "Rarities and B-Sides" bonus disc from the limited edition is not included in this package. The CD (as with all in this series) was not remastered.


"Man on the Moon" (from Automatic for the People, 1992) – 5:14
"The Great Beyond" (Buck, Mills, Stipe) (from the Man on the Moon soundtrack, 1999) – 5:05
"Bad Day" – 4:06
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" (from Monster, 1994) – 4:00
"All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" (Buck, Mills, Stipe) (from Reveal, 2001) – 4:44
"Losing My Religion" (from Out of Time, 1991) – 4:28
"E-Bow the Letter" (from New Adventures in Hi-Fi, 1996) – 5:24
"Orange Crush" (from Green, 1988) – 3:51
"Imitation of Life" (Buck, Mills, Stipe) (from Reveal, 2001) – 3:57
"Daysleeper" (Buck, Mills, Stipe) (from Up, 1998) – 3:40
"Animal" (Buck, Mills, Stipe) – 4:01
"The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" (from Automatic for the People, 1992) – 4:07
"Stand" (from Green, 1988) – 3:11
"Electrolite" (from New Adventures in Hi-Fi, 1996) – 4:06
"All the Right Friends" (from the Vanilla Sky soundtrack, 2001) – 2:46
"Everybody Hurts" (from Automatic for the People, 1992) – 5:18
"At My Most Beautiful" (Buck, Mills, Stipe) (from Up, 1998) – 3:34
"Nightswimming" (from Automatic for the People, 1992) – 4:18

Bonus disc

"Pop Song 89" (Acoustic) (b-side) – 2:57
"Turn You Inside-Out" (Live) – 4:17
"Fretless" (from the Until the End of the World soundtrack, 1991) – 4:50
"Chance (dub)" (b-side) – 2:34
"It's a Free World Baby" (from the Coneheads soundtrack, 1993) – 5:12
"Drive" (Live, November 19, 1992) – 4:00
"Star Me Kitten" (featuring William S. Burroughs) – 3:31
"Revolution" (from the Batman & Robin soundtrack, 1997) – 3:05
"Leave" (Alternate version from the A Life Less Ordinary soundtrack, 1997) – 4:42
"Why Not Smile" (Oxford American version) (Buck, Mills, Stipe) – 3:01
"The Lifting" (Demo) (Buck, Mills, Stipe) – 5:20
"Beat a Drum" (Demo) (Buck, Mills, Stipe) – 4:27
"2JN" (b-side) Buck, Mills, Stipe) – 3:26
"The One I Love" (Live, June 8, 2001) (Buck, Mills, Stipe) – 3:24
"Country Feedback" (Live) – 6:16



Q Well, there's some obvious hits from this period, like Radio Song and Shiny Happy People, that aren't on "In Time..." and some lesser-known songs that are. How did you decide upon the song selection?


MM: Well, we all made a list and compared them and they were remarkably similar. We all tend to have basically similar feelings about our repertoire, I think. It is a best of. It's not a greatest hits. And, you know, things that might have been bigger hits than others, we didn't feel the need to include them.



MS: I might have been exaggerating, but in every single press -- all the press that I've done, I've said that every one of these songs was a Top 40 hit single somewhere in the world, expecting that nobody's really going to do their research and find out that Nightswimming might not have been the biggest hit single in Bombay. But each one of them are songs that we released as a single. Took the time and the effort to make a video for and put out as such. And every one of the songs was somewhere on some chart somewhere in the world (laughs).



MM: At one point.



MS: That, I can say.






PB Most bands who put together a best of they have two songs and they put on some other stuff. We left off hit singles. That's great. There will probably be a day when there's some kind of box set that's really comprehensive and covers all the years, but this seemed to make sense. And if Nightswimming wasn't our biggest hit single, it's still one of my favorite songs. And to a certain degree, you know, you're showing people, hey, this is what we're about. And Nightswimming, to me, fit better than say, Shiny Happy People.



MS: Well, we have all these songs that were big hit singles that were basically our bubblegum echelon, is what I've referred to it as. Each of us taking those very kind of, very Monkees, Banana Splits, Josey and the Pussycats moments that we had growing up as kids. Me, without an older brother or sister to turn me on to the Who or the Kinks or the Rolling Stones or the Beatles. That was my reference point. And so, with a handful of songs, we kind of -- we moved into our bubblegum echelon. And in those are The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, which did make the best of. Under pressure we capitulated to the international company, because they really wanted it on there. Shiny Happy People didn't, because it just kind of doesn't fit. Stand did, because it kind of does.

Cinnie said:

can't you just go to itunes and buy the songs you like? just create your own greatest hits, ya know.

Cinnie said:

That's not a bad idea at all.


I know there aren't any remixes, but I don't know offhand if there are any single edits. I just think the non-chronological sequencing is pretty good.

When I got into REM, I found that the used record stores were my best friends. I think I got Monster for $1.99, Out of Time for $3.99 and Automatic For the People for $4.99. Their catalog is always floating around at severely reduced prices.

I know you're looking for the hits, and especially the big hits, but Automatic for the People is a must own. It's not my favorite REM anymore (New Adventures gets that distinction now), but I'd say that Automatic is their best album. But truly, you can't go wrong with an REM album from 1983 to 1996. I don't like Up, I think Reveal only had a few good songs on it, and the less said about Around the Sun the better.

The bad thing about Greatest Hits packages is that you miss out on songs like:
Me In Honey
Country Feedback
Turn You Inside Out
Sweetness Follows
She Just Wants To Be
Leaving New York .



That being said, In Time does have some of their best work compiled, and it's the only place you can get "Animal" and "Bad Day". Plus it has non album stuff like "The Great Beyond" and "All The Right Friends". It's not where I started, but I'd say it's a pretty good way to become a big fan.

Cinnie said:

Defining their greatest hits is difficult because they aren't exactly a chart band. Case in point: "Everybody Hurts" peaked at only #29 on the Hot 100 and #21 on the Mainstream Rock charts. (It did peak at #7 in the UK.)

In fact, R.E.M. only has 4 top-10 hits ("The One I Love," "Stand," "Losing My Religion," and "Shiny Happy People") and only 5 more in the top 40 ("Drive," "Man on the Moon," "Everybody Hurts," "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?," and "Bang and Blame").

That being said, I'll try to compile a single-disc hits compilation for their entire career.

1. Radio Free Europe
2. Fall on Me
3. The One I Love
4. It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
5. Stand
6. Orange Crush
7. Losing My Religion
8. Shiny Happy People
9. Drive
10. Man on the Moon
11. Everybody Hurts
12. What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
13. Bang and Blame

That's probably what you're looking for, right, Cee?

Axchi696 said:

I've always wondered about that. Used record stores are simply glutted with excess REM discs at rock bottom prices.

sextonseven said:

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. REM lost me soon after signing to WB. I kinda liked Green, and Automatic for the People is great. But nothing compares to those early years.

AlexdeParis said:

Precisely!!

Although I think I may compile it after considering the "used" option:

Axchi696 said:

sassybritches said:

I first needed a list like AlexdeParis, but since their CDs aren't hard to find, I will probably go round 'em up.

Cinnie said:

I still think you should buy In Time as well. "The Great Beyond" and "Bad Day" (despite being a clone of "It's the End of the World...") are essential.

AlexdeParis said:

I don't even know those! Did those tracks come out the same time as In Time as "the new songs tacked on to a spotty hits compilation"?

Cinnie said:

"Bad Day" was a new track, but "The Great Beyond" is from the soundtrack of Man in the Moon. Also on that album are All the Right Friends (from the soundtrack of Vanilla Sky) and another new track, "Animal." They're pretty good (the former more than the latter), but I wouldn't call them quite essential.

AlexdeParis said:

oh yeaaaaah I remember they had that song "Great Beyond" for the movie.

I just found out I have acquired a $47 credit through a points system at one of my favorite outlets but they didn't have much for REM.

"In Time", indeed, I will have these.

I must say again that your list was on point.

AlexdeParis said:

heartbeatocean said:

I went around to a few different used CD stores and flea markets and did not find them for that cheap. But I think I know why R.E.M. would be found everywhere: it appears as though every consumer making a "sound choice" (*snort* ) bought R.E.M. albums as a member of Columbia House CD Club. You can tell because it says on the traycard who distributed them.

So, here's a bit of an update, I just bought these 3 cds:

what album is the single "Orange Crush" on?

heybaby said:

never mind.

oh and for the IRS years I picked up the UK version of The Best Of REM:



Already I noticed that the version of "Radio Free Europe" I am most familiar with is not the version from Murmur (1983) but their 1981 Hib-Tone recording, which I have on this:



I still think the UK compilation is better than Eponymous:

Cinnie said:

I noticed this compilation has the Hib-Tone version of "Radio Free Europe" on it though.

I'm kinda interested in their 1982 Chronic Town EP based on hearing "Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)" on The Best Of R.E.M..

Chronic Town

1 1,000,000
2 Stumble
3 Wolves, Lower
4 Gardening at Night
5 Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)

Allmusic says "the CD version of Dead Letter Office contains the group's debut EP, Chronic Town."

Cinnie said:

nutty! kewl you got some CDs - I like Green

Cinnie said:

I think Chronic Town was my first introduction to them.

gardening at night...

heartbeatocean said:

this one too!

heartbeatocean said:

I read that Eponymous compiles a 'different vocal mix' for Gardening At Night "where you can actually hear the vocals" I haven't checked out the differences yet