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

In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (Special Edition) | R.E.M. | A Great Buy for any Fan!

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In Time: The Best ...

	In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (Special Edition) R.E.M. Warner Bros / Wea, 2003 average customer review:based on 56 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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.

Recurring Favorites

There are endless ways to assemble an R.E.M. anthology, let alone one from any other group, but this selection is marvelous. It is not only put together for their best work; it is arranged like an album. Many fans have lamented the absence of some big songs, like "Shiny, Happy, People," but this collection works well together.

Few will doubt that their music is still progressive, shimmering, and hypnotic (living up to their name). Their big hits are innovative and surreal. "Man on the Moon," "Orange Crush," and "Daysleeper" are evocative and elicit almost a subconscious response. The selection also gives us a chance to experience their worthy albums firsthand. It hardly seems redundant when one can capture "The Great Beyond," "Animal," and "All the Right Friends," after losing a chance to get them firsthand on an R.E.M. album. They also draw much of their best music. Unsurprisingly, they pull four off of 'Automatic for the People,' yet we still can enjoy the fruits of that classic, including "Find the River" and the original "Drive" on the original CD. Furthermore, "Electrolite," "E-Bow, the Letter," and "Imitation of Life" provide solid material from albums that occasionally faltered in small pockets. From the mesmerizing mid-tempo songs to their expert fast-forward work, 'In Time' in one of the most thoughtful collections presented.

The second disc is hardly a memento. The moments are mixed, but very worthy, overall. Their rendition of "The One I Love" unplugged is a completely different song. It is beautiful with a more tender meaning. "Pop Song '89" nearly does the same, but is a fine, unplugged rendition all the same. Then, we have another chance to hear "Revolution" on an R.E.M. CD, instead of on the soundtrack. "Don't Talk to Me" is another beautifully done number. The other works are subjective. I vote in favor of the more spartan arrangement of "Beat a Drum," but their live version of "Drive" doesn't even elicit for me their worst moment at a concert. On the other hand, "Turn You Inside Out," and "Country Feedback" do make nice concert souvenirs for those of us lucky enough to see one of the best concert bands ever. Other novelties abound. William S. Burroughs doing his--almost literal--reading of "Star Me Kitten" provides some amusement, but doesn't wear well on repeated listenings. Their alternate versions of "The Lifting," "Leave" and "Fretless" are worthy, but not necessarily better than the originals.

R.E.M is a great band with the wise and persnickety judgment to give listeners a splendid cross-section of their work that is expertly arranged.

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A Great Buy for any Fan!

I'm not the biggest fan of R.E.M., however, upon adding this to my collection I was more than pleased with what the package contained. The included flip book is full of cool tidbits about how songs on the collection were written along with a lot of cool stories about the band in general. Plus it comes with a cool full size poster of the band. All in all, I am pleased with the immense amount of songs on the collection, the fact that the band picked the songs themselves, and the in-depth flip book that came with it. A definite buy for anyone who likes their music on any level!

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How they spent their $40 million after signing with Warner?

I was a fan of R.E.M. ever since I heard tracks from the just-released "Chronic Town," and my preferences are with the folkier/janglier I.R.S. rather than the stadium/studio WB years. Still, while waiting for the new IRS compilation, I figured I'd give this a spin. As somebody who already had all the studio cuts from the standard "In Time," the only reason I bought this was the added tracks and bonuses. At least the band's thoughtful enough, and also enough of savvy self-promoters, to give longtime fans bonus tracks and obscurities. As I told my son the other day, at least the band supports good causes with their millions that they continue to make and invest in responsible socially aware programs and artistic support; perhaps this is one reason the band did not call it quits as they once promised, either on the eve of the millennium or when one of the original members left?

I often wondered, as I heard their last three albums (I count "Around the Sun" although "In Time" predates it; the newest songs on the compilation fit in to the "Reveal" / "Around" sound neatly, why the band did not fold up their tent after Bill Berry left. The five or six years that this compilation documents since his departure have led the trio into more arcane directions, most of them muted and rather downbeat. When he was with the band, the previous nine or so years led the four of them into arena rock, massive hits, worldwide acclaim, and more exposure after Warner Bros signed them for $40 million, a record at least back then.

So, how does the band's evolution sound on this gathering of their best-known (not always their best quality) latter-day songs? They show off the band's increasing eclecticism, married to a "pop song" sensibility, that speaks well for their intelligence and creativity. However, "Sidewinder" gets cutesy, and I miss the dignity of another song from "Automatic," "Find the River," which fits beautifully with "Nightswimming" more than the novelty-tune weightlessness of "Sidewinder." Peter Buck's pithy liner notes note that the song was added to lighten the funereal tone of that album, and while perhaps a sensible choice, it does not endure as one of their dozen or so standout tracks from the 90s. I give this as one example of the type of decisions the band made, I suppose, in putting this together: while you may not agree with their choices, they show care was made.

Another choice, to only give one cut from "Out of Time," may seem surprising but I do not think that album's more popular tunes have worn all that well fifteen years later, and at least they left off "Shiny Happy People." Less guitar, more keys, less riffs, more depth: these qualities permeate many of the songs. They at their best do burrow deeper, and are less immediately catchy, but they do show a band refusing to recycle their sound, and for that I give them credit if not always mindless applause.

Each CD has hidden treasures, of course, and I do think that more of them and less of the already recognizable "favorites" played often to death on radio could have made this a stronger collection, which could have been 3 discs if such lesser-played tracks had been included. The CDs are well sequenced, and the bonus disc, while not timeless, does offer one song I liked better than practically all of "Monster," at least when that record appeared! "Revolution" from a dismal Batman movie's soundtrack, Buck tells us, was from the "Monster" sessions and sounds it, but maybe it was left off since it was almost too punky? It bops about as if pogoing, and reminds me of tapes from the band in the days they played frats, 1981-2. much more than almost any other song they have recorded. The lovely stripped-down demo of "Make You Smile" makes the band's increasingly obsessive studio-meets-the-spirit-of-Brian Wilson tastes more palatable taken in such a delicate dose.

The notes are welcome, the songs do remind you of what a top-notch band can be without selling out, and the lyrics do show that empathy, curiosity, and wit do survive even at the global hitmaker status, for very few bands at least, but I am happy that R.E.M. has survived in such style. While I may not be enamored with all of their work from this later stage, they do emerge, from the evidence on these two discs, with their ethics intact and their enthusiasm, if perhaps of late more subdued, still evident. I do not know if a third compilation of post-2003 will appear, but this and the I.R.S. complement the band's two phases, the light and dark side of the moon that glares from the cover(s).

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Well Done.

For old-school rock fans, this CD is great. REM's best songs including "Man on the Moon" and "Imitation of Life" plus many many many many many more are on it. Just a great CD.
Why didn't Creed get this good of a greatest hits? WHY?!?!?!

R.E.M.: The Ballads

This collection should be called "R.E.M.: The Ballads 1988-2003." Almost all of the selections are slow songs, and even though the songs themselves are mostly great (except for some mediocre recent material like "The Great Beyond" and "All the Way to Reno"), the band comes off as wimpy balladeers when they were much, much more than that. Where's "Bittersweet Me"? Where's "Lotus"? If not for the inclusion of "Orange Crush" and "Bad Day," you might think that R.E.M. just completely forgot how to rock out after they signed to Warners. Combined with the awkward track sequencing, it makes for a frustrating listen.

The bonus disc includes some cool stuff, but probably not a lot that a dedicated fan hasn't heard before.

All in all, these songs work much better in the context of R.E.M.'s full-length albums than on this one-dimensional assemblage. Representing all sides of R.E.M.'s music would have resulted in a stronger, more listenable compilation.

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