Tag: R.E.M.

R.E.M. – Automatic For The People (1992/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Published December 12, 2021

There’s a ‘before and after’ Out Of Time in the life of R.E.M. This ‘before’ for Michael Stipe’s band is mainly found on university campuses where the group gained a cult following in the ‘80s… How then did R.E.M. manage to sell 12 million copies of Out Of Time to the world? The answer is that this record was both sublime and austere. An uncompromising album, like the chamber rock such as Nirvana and the Pixies that you’d blast out without caring about pissing off the neighbours in that year of 1992… Always virtuosic, Peter Buck goes from the mandolin to the acoustic guitar with great ease, John Paul Johns from Led Zeppelin sublimely arranges refined chords and Michael Stipe shines with his melancholic and tortured prose with the candor of a man with self-assured belief. Cinemascope ballads prevail, peaking with Everybody Hurts. It must be said, Automatic For The People is not the most easy-flowing album by R.E.M. but it is one of the most beautiful.

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R.E.M. – Accelerate (2008/2014/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Published December 3, 2021

For years, R.E.M. promised that their next album would be a rocker, an oath to fans that perhaps made sense during the early ’90s, when they were exploring the pastoral fields of Out of Time and the gloomy folk of Automatic for the People, but in the years after Bill Berry’s 1997 departure, the desire of longtime fans for the group to rock again was merely a code word for the wish that R.E.M. would sound like a band again. Apart from a few fleeting moments – “The Great Beyond,” their “Man in the Moon” re-write for the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic, Man in the Moon; “Bad Day,” a mid-’80s outtake revived for a greatest-hits album – R.E.M. not only didn’t sound like a band, but they seemed at odds with themselves and their very strengths, culminating in the amorphous, mummified Around the Sun, a record so polished and overworked it didn’t sound a bit like R.E.M., not even like the art-pop outfit the band turned into after Berry’s retirement. It was a situation so dire that the band recognized the need for corrective steering, so they stripped themselves down to bare-bones for 2008’s Accelerate.

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R.E.M. – Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Published December 3, 2021

R.E.M. delivered two knockout performances on MTV’s Grammy and Emmy award-winning “Unplugged” series, the first in 1991 and the other in 2001, giving them the unique distinction of being the only band to headline the series twice. Surprisingly, audio from both shows has never been available, making these some of the most demanded music in the R.E.M. vaults. The collection includes every performance from the original broadcasts, as well as 11 songs that never aired, from the storied collection of the band’s MTV appearances.

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R.E.M. – Up (1998/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Published December 3, 2021

R.E.M. returned with Up in 1998, the much anticipated first recording by the band’s new three-man lineup. Musically ambitious, melodically rich and filled with provocative new textures and sounds, Up marked the beginning of a bold new creative era for one of the world’s finest bands. It was certified gold by the RIAA in 1999.

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R.E.M. – Fables Of The Reconstruction (1985/2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Published December 3, 2021

Fables of the Reconstruction is R.E.M.’s third studio album and was released on June 10, 1985. It was recorded in February – March 1985 at Livingston Studios in London, UK and was produced by Joe Boyd. The album marked a distinct stylistic departure from the band’s previous two records, with producer Joe Boyd being best known for his work with modern English folk musicians such as Fairport Convention and Nick Drake. Fables of the Reconstruction explores the mythology and landscape of the American South, and the album can be considered a concept record by R.E.M. standards.

Fables of the Reconstruction peaked at #28 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and #35 on the UK Albums Chart in 1985, and the album was certified Gold by the RIAA on June 24, 1991.

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R.E.M. – Monster (Anniversary Edition) (1994/2019) Blu-ray 1080i AVC DTS-HD MA 5.1 + BDRip 1080p

Published December 3, 2021

Title: R.E.M. – Monster (Anniversary Edition)
Released: 1994/2019
Genre: Alternative Rock

Released: Craft Recordings
Duration: 00:48:59 + 01:55:55
Quality: Blu-ray
Container: BDMV
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Audio Codec: DTS-HD, PCM

Road Movie (Concert Film)
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 19948 kbps / 1080i / 29.970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio #1: English / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio #2: English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4890 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

Music Videos
Video : MPEG-4 AVC Video / 19996 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio #1:English / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio #2: English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4886 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Size: 32.38 GB

R.E.M.’s ninth album, Monster, was released at a time when the band were coming off the peak of their mainstream success, following Out of Time (1991) and Automatic For The People (1992). Coming from a long break in touring (the band famously didn’t tour with the two previous records), Monster represented an intentional shift in R.E.M.’s sound, a “return to rock” with guitar laden, simple arrangements. It was released to strong reviews and significant global success – reaching #1 on Billboard, and least 7 other countries. In 1995 the band promoted that album with their first concert tour since 1989 (although several band members suffered health problems). The album includes the singles; “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?,” “Crush with Eyeliner,” “Bang and Blame,” and “Strange Currencies.”

The 25th anniversary edition features the remastered original mix on CD 1, followed by a disc of 15 previously unreleased demos, with names like ‘Rocker With Vocal’ or ‘Mike’s Gtr’. The third CD is Scott Litt’s new 2019 stereo remix and this is followed by two further CDs that offer an unreleased live set from the 1995 Monster Tour. In terms of the new stereo mix, the idea was to pull the guitars back and push the vocals forward to create a more open sound and showcase the lyrics. You can get a taster by listening to ‘What’s The Frequency Kenneth?’, below.

The blu-ray is the sixth and final disc and it includes hi-res stereo (presumably the remastered original mix) and a 5.1 surround mix of Monster. No Dolby Atmos this time around, then. This disc also features the blu-ray debut of the 1996 Road Movie concert film as well as six music videos.

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R.E.M. – Monster (Remastered Remix) (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Published December 3, 2021

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R.E.M. – Monster (Remastered) (1994/2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Published December 3, 2021

A brilliant distillation of ’90s alt-rock. A crass and noisy attempt to cash in on grunge. A band in need of rock tunes for an upcoming tour after six years off the road. The fact that R.E.M.’s ninth album Monster can after still inspire such polarities is proof enough that it’s worth a fresh listen. New mixes by Scott Litt, a trove of demos and a 1995 live show from Chicago featuring mostly a post-I.R.S. years setlist fills out the portrait of the 25th Anniversary reissue of one of R.E.M.’s most contentious albums.

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R.E.M. – Automatic For The People {25th Anniversary Edition} (1992/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Published December 3, 2021

R.E.M. – Automatic For The People {25th Anniversary Edition} (1992/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:47:01 minutes | 2,34 GB | Genre: Rock, Alternative
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Booklet, Front Cover | © Universal Music

There’s a ‘before and after’ Out Of Time in the life of R.E.M. This ‘before’ for Michael Stipe’s band is mainly found on university campuses where the group gained a cult following in the ‘80s… How then did R.E.M. manage to sell 12 million copies ofOut Of Time to the world? The answer is that this record was both sublime and austere. An uncompromising album, like the chamber rock such as Nirvana and the Pixies that you’d blast out without caring about pissing off the neighbours in that year of 1992… Always virtuosic, Peter Buck goes from the mandolin to the acoustic guitar with great ease, John Paul Johns from Led Zeppelin sublimely arranges refined chords and Michael Stipe shines with his melancholic and tortured prose with the candor of a man with self-assured belief. Cinemascope ballads prevail, peaking with Everybody Hurts. It must be said, Automatic For The People is not the most easy-flowing album by R.E.M. but it is one of the most beautiful. Released in 2017, this 25th anniversary edition also offers, alongside the remastered album, a live recording from the 40 Watt Club in Athens on the 19th November 1992 with some cover versions like Funtime by Iggy Pop andLove Is All Around by The Troggs.

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R.E.M. – Out of Time (2005/2012) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Published December 3, 2021

*Features the hits “Losing My Religion” and “Shiny Happy People.”

R.E.M.’s 4X platinum, 3X Grammy®-winning album Out of Time transformed the band from underground cult heroes to full-fledged rock stars. Blending elements of folk, rock, and classical music, the album reached #1 in both the US and UK and became one of the definitive albums of the 1990s.