''The Best of R.E.M.'' is a greatest hits album by

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

released in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, 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 I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave ...

, 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 the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, complete with liner notes from ''Remarks: The Story of R.E.M.'' by

Tony Fletcher Tony Fletcher (born 27 April 1964) is a British music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M., and also as a show director for the Rock Academy in Woodstock. ''Jamming!'' Born in Yorkshire, England, ...

(a domestic

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

greatest hits album had been released prior with a very similar track list titled '' Eponymous''). It has no alternate mixes (unlike ''Eponymous''); all the songs are the album versions. Three songs were taken from each of the first five studio albums and one song was taken from ''

Chronic Town ''Chronic Town'' is the debut Extended play, EP by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on August 24, 1982, on I.R.S. Records. Containing five tracks, the EP was recorded at the Drive-in Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in Octob ...

'', the band's first EP, making a total of sixteen songs on the album.

Critical reception

"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."'' Select'', issue 17, November 1991

Track listing

All tracks written by

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar ...

, Peter Buck,

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

, Michael Stipe. # "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)" (from ''

'') – 3:51 # " Radio Free Europe" (from '' Murmur'') – 4:03 # " Perfect Circle" (from ''Murmur'') – 3:23 # "

Talk About the Passion "Talk About the Passion" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single released from its debut album ''Murmur (album), Murmur'' in 1983. It was released in Europe only, on 12" vinyl. This song failed to fol ...

" (from ''Murmur'') – 3:22 # "

So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry) "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released in May 1984 as the first single from the group's second studio album, '' Reckoning''. R.E.M. performed a rough version of the song on the NBC ...

" (from '' Reckoning'') – 3:11 # "

(Don't Go Back To) Rockville "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" is the second and final single released by American rock band R.E.M. from their second studio album, '' Reckoning''. The song failed to chart on either the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 or the UK Singles Charts. Backgroun ...

" (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 "Cant Get There from Here", or "Can't Get There from Here", is the first single released by R.E.M. from its third studio album ''Fables of the Reconstruction'' in 1985. The song peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 S ...

" (from ''Fables of the Reconstruction'') – 4:10 # "

Driver 8 "Driver 8" is the second single from American musical group R.E.M.'s third album, ''Fables of the Reconstruction''. Released in September 1985, the song peaked at number 22 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was not relea ...

" (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 A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" or ...

'') – 3:17 # "

Finest Worksong "Finest Worksong" is the third and final single released from R.E.M.'s fifth studio album ''Document''. It peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1988, at the time the group's highest-charting single in the UK. The single version o ...

" (from ''Document'') – 3:48 # " It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" (from ''Document'') – 4:07

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Of R.E.M., The Albums produced by Mitch Easter Albums produced by Don Dixon (musician) Albums produced by Joe Boyd Albums produced by Scott Litt Albums produced by Don Gehman R.E.M. compilation albums 1991 greatest hits albums I.R.S. Records compilation albums