From SlicingUpEyeballs.com:



College-rock kingpins R.E.M. continue their reissue series this July with a 25th anniversary edition of Lifes Rich Pageant that will feature a newly remastered version of the 1986 album and a bonus CD that includes 19 unreleased demos — one of which is a song that’s never before been released.

The expanded reissue is due out July 12 as a 2 CD set on Capitol/I.R.S. and on 180-gram audiophile vinyl via Mobile Fidelity, the band announced today. Boasting new liner notes by music journalist and author Parke Puterbaugh, The CD package will be “presented in a lift-top box with a poster and four postcards.”

The bonus disc, dubbed The Athens Demos, features 19 tracks recorded in March 1986 at producer John Keane’s studio in Athens, Ga. Among the tracks are early recordings of all 12 Lifes Rich Pageant tracks, plus several songs later recorded for subsequent releases: “Bad Day,” “Rotary Ten,” “Two Steps Onward,” “Mystery To Me,” “All The Right Friends” and “March Song (King Of Birds),” an early instrumental of “King Of Birds” from Document.

The real treasure, for longtime fans, is the inclusion of the demo for “Wait,” a track never before officially released by R.E.M., although it’s been heavily bootlegged.

Tracklist: R.E.M., Lifes Rich Pageant (25th Anniversary Edition)

Disc 1: Original Album
1. “Begin The Begin”
2. “These Days”
3. “Fall on Me”
4. “Cuyahoga”
5. “Hyena”
6. “Underneath The Bunker”
7. “The Flowers of Guatemala”
8. “I Believe”
9. “What If We Give It Away?”
10. “Just a Touch”
11. “Swan Swan H”
12. “Superman”

Disc 2: The Athens Demos (All Previously Unreleased)
(Recorded March 1986 at John Keane’s Studio, Athens GA)

1. “Fall On Me”
2. “Hyena”
3. “March Song (King Of Birds)”
4. “These Days”
5. “Bad Day”
6. “Salsa (Underneath The Bunker)”
7. “Swan Swan H”
8. “Flowers Of Guatemala”
9. “Begin The Begin”
10. “Cuyahoga”
11. “I Believe”
12. “Out Of Tune”
13. “Rotary Ten”
14. “Two Steps Onward”
15. “Just A Touch”
16. “Mystery To Me”
17. “Wait”
18. “All The Right Friends”
19. “Get On Their Way (What If We Give It Away)”

So, I'll get a couple of the demos on itunes and save $20.00 +.

Art is either plagiarism or revolution.

Have the 1st 2 REM remasters sounded noticably better than the originals? It's nice having these packages, but fuck everything is being reissued. I' not buying everything in my collection all over again.

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"you might want to see a psychiatrist about your derealization problem"

-tim crimson, December 4, 2008

There have actually been 3 remasters so far and yes, I think the remastering is noticeable and an improvement over the original CD releases of Murmur, Reckoning and Fables.

Well crap Virgil - now you make me want to buy this. I've always really enjoyed LRP, even if it gets overlooked when people discuss their best albums. Baseball Project here June 1.

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"you might want to see a psychiatrist about your derealization problem"

-tim crimson, December 4, 2008

Is Begin The Begin the greatest REM song ever?

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And recorded in southern Indiana. Hoosiers! Hoosiers!

Besides the Talking Heads and Fleetwood Mac remasters, the REM's are the best I've ever heard. "Murmur" and "Fables" are simply stunning and do everything a remaster should. Enhance the sound while keeping true to the original feel.

>>>Is Begin The Begin the greatest REM song ever?

I've always been partial to Driver 8

Driver 8 is my wife's favorite too.

For me Begin the Begin is the clear greatest. The 2nd greatest is one of these:

Feeling Gravitys Pull
Maps and Legends
Life and How to Live It

Later period greats include:
Low
Texarkana
Half a World Away
Try Not To Breathe
Sweetness Follows
Find The River
Strange Currencies
e-Bow The letter
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God, I LOVE "Feeling Gravity's Pull". The guitar in that is so haunting.

The quality run from Chronic Town to Green is possibly unmatched in the history of rock.

And don't say 'what about the Beatles' because they are awful.
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stupidest thing ever said on .org: "I did live in California. So-Cal. The better of the two Cals. "

I ain't got nothing but love for you now.

whoah guys, the most recent murmur remaster is a bit compressed and shitty. please, please go and find a decent download of the MFSL version. it blew my mind.

Anything (aside from the original vinyl itself) has to be an improvement over the first pressing of Murmur, at least the one I have on CD.

Didn't Stipe sing with a mouth full of marbles on those first couple anyway?

Actually the first couple were my favorite.

The only thing I have by them is the best of the IRS years compilation and I like it quite a bit.
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Doug's Discs

It's an interesting one the original murmurs. This is a snapshot history stolen from a message board:

1. REM record Murmur.
2. IRS release Murmur on LP, but roll off the bass for LP mastering.
3. IRS release Murmur on cd, using the lp copy tapes, hence the relatively similar bass response on disc.
4. MFSL release Murmur on cd and go back to the original masters . The bass is more prevalent on these, as recorded, and they make the decision to master it that way.
5. Murmur is remastered for a Deluxe Edition, from the master tapes, as was the MFSL version, yet the person doing the mastering re-eq'd and maximized the mix which changed the bottom end due to the futzing with the mix.

Or something. Go and check the MFSL. It's amazing.

Holy crap when did I get old...I can't believe its been 25 years.


"It bought me a pool full of dreams and a bed made of unicorn bones!" -ra

Now, I have to upload "Murmur" - "Monster" on my iTunes. Thanks a lot, you guys.

life and how to live it and country feedback might be my two favorites.

if you're keeping track.

can't. wait. for. this.

thanks for posting!

"highlife 5/4/11 4:39:15 PM
The quality run from Chronic Town to Green is possibly unmatched in the history of rock"

I really love those, too. So so so much.

R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant – review
Whether or not their later stuff really is that bad,
R.E.M. were once unbeatable, says Alexis Petridis


On the cusp of mainstream fame … vintage R.E.M.

By Alexis Petridis

A month or so ago, the comedian Stewart Lee gave a fascinating interview to the online magazine the Quietus about his favourite albums, during which talk turned to R.E.M. "I don't think there's anyone whose career trajectory has been so disappointing," he opined, "starting so brilliantly and ending up so dreadful. They're just awful."

On the one hand, you look at the rest of the interview – there's much talk of the wonders of European free improv, "jazz without the tunes" and various other things that suggest he's probably not that big on solemnly waving his lighter to Everybody Hurts – and think: well, he would say that, wouldn't he? On the other, there's the sense that Lee's is far from a lone voice when it comes to R.E.M. For years, the overwhelming emotion provoked by their ongoing career seems to have been disappointment. R.E.M. buffs can argue the night away about when the decline began, but even the most devoted start to look a bit stoical when 2004's Around the Sun gets mentioned. In some cases, the sheer strength of feeling – which has led more than one reviewer to bluntly suggest they split up – can be a bit hard to fathom: it's not like their latterday albums are genuinely bad records. In fact, as the latest deluxe reissue of their 80s oeuvre proves, the problem lies not with what R.E.M. are doing now, but what they were doing then.

To read the rest of the review click here.

llr has amazing taste in REM

Begin the Begin and These Days is the best one-two punch on a rock album.

Spin is streaming the entire reissue (including the bonus disc of demo tracks) here.

Great list from llr

I would agree with all and add the obvious choices: Driver 8, Perfect Circle and Country Feedback


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comma police
I've given all I can
It's not enough
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Very much enjoyed this earlier

www.exystence.net

More newly unearthed footage (at least as far as I know). This comes from their show at the Ryman on the Pageantry tour in 1986. None of the song clips are complete but at least it provides a glimpse into how much ass R.E.M. were kickin' as a live band back during their prime.