The Best of R.E.M.
The Best of R.E.M. | ||||
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Greatest hits album by R.E.M. | ||||
Released | September 30, 1991 (1991-09-30) | |||
Recorded | 1982–1987 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 59:17 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | I.R.S. | |||
Producer | Mitch Easter, Don Dixon, Joe Boyd, Don Gehman, Scott Litt, R.E.M. | |||
R.E.M. chronology | ||||
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R.E.M. compilations chronology | ||||
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The Best of R.E.M. is a greatest hits album by R.E.M. released in 1991, shortly after the success of the band's seventh studio album, Out of Time, released by Warner Bros. The Best of R.E.M., however, was released by the band's previous record label, I.R.S. Records, and only includes tracks from their first five albums while the group was with that label. As such, it covers their output from 1982 to 1987.
The Best of R.E.M. was only issued in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil and Chile, complete with liner notes from Remarks: The Story of R.E.M. by Tony Fletcher (a greatest hits album with alternate mixes had been released prior with a very similar track list titled Eponymous).
Three songs were taken from each of the first five studio albums and one song was taken from Chronic Town, the band's first EP, making a total of sixteen songs on the album.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [1] |
"A considerable improvement on the useful but haphazard Eponymous collection," wrote Dan Maier in a 5/5 review for Select. "It'll be a few years before Warners release their own 'Best Of'. In the meantime, this'll do very nicely indeed."[2]
Track listing
All tracks written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe.
- "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)" (from Chronic Town) – 3:51
- "Radio Free Europe" (from Murmur) – 4:03
- "Perfect Circle" (from Murmur) – 3:23
- "Talk About the Passion" (from Murmur) – 3:22
- "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" (from Reckoning) – 3:11
- "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" (from Reckoning) – 4:34
- "Pretty Persuasion" (from Reckoning) – 3:53
- "Green Grow the Rushes" (from Fables of the Reconstruction) – 3:42
- "Cant Get There from Here" (from Fables of the Reconstruction) – 4:10
- "Driver 8" (from Fables of the Reconstruction) – 3:18
- "Fall On Me" (from Lifes Rich Pageant) – 2:49
- "I Believe" (from Lifes Rich Pageant) – 3:32
- "Cuyahoga" (from Lifes Rich Pageant) – 4:17
- "The One I Love" (from Document) – 3:17
- "Finest Worksong" (from Document) – 3:48
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" (from Document) – 4:07
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Germany (BVMI)[3] | Gold | 250,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[4] | Gold | 100,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ Select, issue 17, November 1991
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (R.E.M.; 'The Best of')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
- ^ "British album certifications – R.E.M. – The Best of". British Phonographic Industry.
- v
- t
- e
- Murmur
- Reckoning
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- Lifes Rich Pageant
- Document
- Green
- Out of Time
- Automatic for the People
- Monster
- New Adventures in Hi-Fi
- Up
- Reveal
- Around the Sun
- Accelerate
- Collapse into Now
- R.E.M. Live
- Live at The Olympia
- Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions
- R.E.M. at the BBC
- Live at the Borderline 1991
- Dead Letter Office
- Eponymous
- The Best of R.E.M.
- The Automatic Box
- Singles Collected
- In the Attic
- In Time
- iTunes Originals
- And I Feel Fine
- Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011
- Complete Rarities (I.R.S. · WB)
- 7IN—83–88
- Man on the Moon
- r.e.m.IX
- "Radio Free Europe"
- "Talk About the Passion"
- "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)"
- "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"
- "Cant Get There from Here"
- "Driver 8"
- "Wendell Gee"
- "Fall on Me"
- "Superman"
- "The One I Love"
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
- "Finest Worksong"
- "Orange Crush"
- "Stand"
- "Pop Song 89"
- "Get Up"
- "Losing My Religion"
- "Shiny Happy People"
- "Near Wild Heaven"
- "Radio Song"
- "Drive"
- "Man on the Moon"
- "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite"
- "Everybody Hurts"
- "Nightswimming"
- "Find the River"
- "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
- "Bang and Blame"
- "Crush with Eyeliner"
- "Strange Currencies"
- "Tongue"
- "E-Bow the Letter"
- "Bittersweet Me"
- "Electrolite"
- "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"
- "Daysleeper"
- "Lotus"
- "At My Most Beautiful"
- "Suspicion"
- "The Great Beyond"
- "Imitation of Life"
- "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)"
- "I'll Take the Rain"
- "Bad Day"
- "Animal"
- "Leaving New York"
- "Aftermath"
- "Electron Blue"
- "Wanderlust"
- "#9 Dream"
- "Supernatural Superserious"
- "Hollow Man"
- "Man-Sized Wreath"
- "Until the Day Is Done"
- "Mine Smell Like Honey"
- "Überlin"
- "Oh My Heart"
- "We All Go Back to Where We Belong"
- "Sitting Still"
- "Gardening at Night"
- "Perfect Circle"
- "Pretty Persuasion"
- "7 Chinese Bros."
- "Begin the Begin"
- "Cuyahoga"
- "Ages of You"
- "Turn You Inside-Out"
- "Texarkana"
- "Country Feedback"
- "First We Take Manhattan"
- "Ignoreland"
- "Dark Globe"
- "Star 69"
- "New Test Leper"
- "All the Right Friends"
- "Out in the Country"
- Succumbs
- Tourfilm
- Pop Screen
- This Film Is On
- Parallel
- Road Movie
- In View
- Perfect Square
- When the Light Is Mine
- R.E.M. Live
- Live from Austin, TX
- REMTV
side projects
- Discography
- List of songs
- Awards
- Tours
- 170 College Avenue
- Peter Buck
- Athens Andover
- "I Belong to You"
- Hib-Tone
- Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M.
- Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People