Craft Recordings is continuing its ongoing R.E.M. reissue series with a 25th anniversary edition of the Georgia band’s tenth studio album New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Deluxe Edition present the newly remastered original album, a disc of B-sides and rarities, and a Blu-ray with numerous features including a 64-minute outdoor projection film (originally shown on buildings across five cities in 1996 to promote the album release), a 30-minute EPK (Electronic Press Kit), five HD-restored music videos, and the album in both high-resolution stereo and 5.1 surround sound. It’s all housed in a 52-page hardcover book with liner notes by Mark Blackwell, archival photos, and reminiscences from all four band members plus Patti Smith, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, and producer Scott Litt.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi was R.E.M.’s fifth album for the Warner Bros. label and the final album with both Scott Litt and drummer/founding member Bill Berry. Its inspirations were diverse – from Neil Young (with his blend of acoustic country-rock with harder sounds) to Radiohead (who toured with R.E.M. and from whom they borrowed the process of recording tracks during soundcheck, on the tour bus, and backstage to then utilize on the studio album). Patti Smith added vocals to “E-Bow the Letter,” a No. 2 Alternative Rock hit that also reached No. 4 on the U.K. Singles Chart. “Bittersweet Me” did almost as well, making No. 6 Alternative Rock and No. 19 across the pond. Both of those singles cracked the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 49 and No. 46, respectively; “Electrolite” squeaked in at No. 96 with a U.K. placement of No. 29.
The album, released in September 1996, fared even better than its singles. While it stalled just shy of the top spot in the U.S. at No. 2, it topped the charts internationally in over a dozen countries including in the U.K., Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland. R.E.M.’s longest studio album, it has since been certified double platinum in the United States and Gold and Platinum throughout the world.
Those looking for fewer Adventures than on the 2CD/1BD set will find a 2CD or digital collection without the Blu-ray content. The 2CD iteration boasts an exclusive 24″ x 24″ poster and four postcards as well as a slimmed-down booklet. The remastered album only will be available as a 2-LP set pressed on 180-gram vinyl with lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio. A limited-edition pressing on clear and black marbled vinyl was briefly available at R.E.M.’s official store (limited to 1,000 units worldwide); it appears to have sold out within moments yesterday.
In the press release, Peter Buck looks back on New Adventures: “Most records, you go in the studio and you just do ’em. And years later all you really remember is vaguely where you stayed, and the songs and the recording process. But this one I remember every bit of it. It was an experience. It was f**king tough, but we made a record. And it was as challenging as anything I’ve ever done.”
Disc 1: Original album (released as Warner Bros. 46320, 1996)
How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us
The Wake-Up Bomb
New Test Leper
Undertow
E-Bow the Letter
Leave
Departure
Bittersweet Me
Be Mine
Binky the Doormat
Zither
So Fast, So Numb
Low Desert
Electrolite
Disc 2: B-Sides
Tricycle
Departure
Wall of Death
Undertow (Live)
Wichita Lineman
New Test Leper (Live Acoustic)
The Wake-Up Bomb (Live)
Binky the Doormat (Live)
King of Comedy (808 State Remix)
Be Mine (Mike on Bus Version)
Love is All Around
Sponge
Leave (Alternate)
Disc 2, Tracks 1-3 from “E-Bow the Letter” CD single – Warner Bros. 9 43763-2, 1996
Track 1 recorded live in soundcheck at the Riverport Amphitheater, St. Louis, MO – 9/22/1995
Track 2 recorded live in soundcheck at the PalaEur, Rome, Italy – 2/22/1995
Track 3 also available on Beat the Retreat: Songs by Richard Thompson – Capitol CDP 07777 95929 2 0, 1994Disc 2, Tracks 4-6 from “Bittersweet Me” CD single – Warner Bros. 9 43790-2, 1996
Track 4 recorded live at The Omni, Atlanta, GA – 11/18/1995
Track 5 recorded live at The Woodlands, TX – 9/15/1995
Track 6 recorded live at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, WA – 4/19/1996Disc 2, Tracks 7-9 from “Electrolite” CD single – Warner Bros. 9 43810-2, 1997
Tracks 7-8 recorded live at The Omni, Atlanta, GA – 11/18/1995
Disc 2, Tracks 10-12 from “How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us” European CD single – Warner Bros. 9362-43851-2, 1997
Track 11 also available on I Shot Andy Warhol: Music from and Inspired by the Original Motion Picture – TAG Recordings/Atlantic 92690-2, 1996
Track 12 also available on Sweet Relief II: The Gravity of the Situation (The Songs of Vic Chesnutt) – Columbia CK 67573, 1996Disc 2, Track 13 from A Life Less Ordinary (Original Soundtrack) – Inner-State Recordings/London 314 540 809-2, 1997