New Adventures in Hi-Fi [25th Anniversary Edition]

by R.E.M.

Overview

Recorded during and immediately following R.E.M.'s disaster-prone Monster tour, New Adventures in Hi-Fi feels like it was recorded on the road. Not only are all of Michael Stipe's lyrics on the album about moving or travel, the sound is ragged and varied, pieced together from tapes recorded at shows, soundtracks, and studios, giving it a loose, careening charm. New Adventures has the same spirit of much of R.E.M.'s IRS records, but don't take the title of New Adventures in Hi-Fi lightly -- R.E.M. tries different textures and new studio tricks. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" opens the album with a rolling, vaguely hip-hop drum beat and slowly adds on jazzily dissonant piano. "E-Bow the Letter" starts out as an updated version of "Country Feedback," then it turns in on itself with layers of moaning guitar effects and Patti Smith's haunting backing vocals. Clocking in at seven minutes, "Leave" is the longest track R.E.M. has yet recorded and it's one of their strangest and best -- an affecting minor-key dirge with a howling, siren-like feedback loop that runs throughout the entire song. Elsewhere, R.E.M. tread standard territory: "Electrolite" is a lovely piano-based ballad, "Departure" rocks like a Document outtake, the chiming opening riff of "Bittersweet Me" sounds like it was written in 1985, "New Test Leper" is gently winding folk-rock, and "The Wake-Up Bomb" and "Undertow" rock like the Monster outtakes they are. New Adventures in Hi-Fi may run a little too long -- it clocks in at 62 minutes, by far the longest album R.E.M. has ever released -- yet in its multifaceted sprawl, they wound up with one of their best records of the '90s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	10/29/2021
Label:	Concord / Umc
UPC:	0888072245457

Album Credits

Performance Credits

R.E.M.   Primary Artist
Scott McCaughey   Guest Artist,Harp,Organ,Piano,Autoharp,Arp Odyssey,Synthesizer,Farfisa Organ,ARP Synthesizer
Patti Smith   Guest Artist,Vocals
Mike Mills   Vocals,Fuzz Bass,Keyboards,Mellotron,Synthesizer,Farfisa Organ,Guitar (Bass),Moog Synthesizer,Bass,Organ,Piano,Guitar
Michael Stipe   Vocals,Synthesizer
Spike Jonze   Director
Bill Berry   Drums,Guitar,Vocals,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar (Bass),Bass,Drums,Vocals,Percussion,Synthesizer,Whistle (Human),Guitar (Acoustic)
Lance Bangs   Director
Dominic Dejoseph   Director
Jem Cohen   Director
John Keane   Guitar (Steel)
Sally Dworsky   Vocals
Peter Buck   Bass,Banjo,Guitar,Vocals,Bouzouki,Mandolin,Guitar (Bass),Sitar (Electric)
Andy Carlson   Violin
Nathan December   Guiro,Guitar,Tambourine,Slide Guitar,Guitar (Steel)

Technical Credits

Mike Mills   Composer
Michael Stipe   Composer,Packaging
Thurston Moore   Composer
Tony Banks   Composer
Daniel Ash   Composer
Patti Smith   Musician
Andy Carlson   Musician
Scott McCaughey   Musician
Adam Kaspar   Engineer,Mixing
Jo Ravitch   Engineer
Phil Jones   Engineer
Victor Janacua   Assistant Engineer
Joe Oherigy   Engineer
Jeff Wooding   Engineer
Mark Mytrowitz   Technical Assistance
Chris Bilheimer   Packaging
William Field   Assistant Engineer
Johnny Dollar   Producer,Recording Producer
Sylvia Massey   Mixing
Vic Chestnutt   Composer
David J   Composer
John Keane   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Assistant Engineer,Recording Producer
Scott Litt   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Recording Producer
Sam Hofstedt   Assistant Engineer
Peter Buck   Composer
Kevin Haskins   Composer
Ian McFarlane   Photo Printing
Peter Murphy   Composer
Nathan December   Musician
Bill Berry   Composer
Joe O'Herlihy   Engineer
Bill Thomason   Technician
Patrick McCarthy   Engineer
Stephen Stills   Composer
Simon Richmond   Producer
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Billy Field   Assistant Engineer
Jimmy Webb   Composer
Elliot Scheiner   Mixing
Pat McCarthy   Mixing
Eric Stoltz   Digital Editing
R.E.M.   Mixing,Producer,Recording Producer
Richard Thompson   Composer
Reg Presley   Composer