New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
New Adventures, despite its studiocentric title, is a snapshots-from-the-road record in the tradition of Neil Young's Time Fades Away and Jackson Browne's Running on Empty. Like them, it captures a where-am-I-and-why ambience, even with its concert and sound-check material reworked in post-tour sessions. This is very much a transitional album, its feel somewhere between the chamber-folk sweep of Out of Time and Automatic for the People and the distortion-pedal party that raged on Monster. It's the work of a band pretty near its peak consolidating familiar sounds and styles while tinkering with the edges. --Rickey Wright --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Average customer rating:

Diverting effort from R.E.M., nothing more

Aluminum Tastes Like Fear!!

Not to be a jerk....

Worth Your Time

All-time great album

New Adventures in Hi-Fi
R.E.M.
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Jangle Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Up

Reveal

Monster

Green

Out of Time

ASIN: B000002N9S
Release Date: 1996-09-10

Tracks:

How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us
The Wake-Up Bomb
New Test Leper
Undertow
E-Bow The Letter
Leave
Departure
Bittersweet Me
Be Mine
Binky The Doormat
Zither
So Fast, So Numb
Low Desert
Electrolite

Amazon.com

New Adventures, despite its studiocentric title, is a snapshots-from-the-road record in the tradition of Neil Young's Time Fades Away and Jackson Browne's Running on Empty. Like them, it captures a where-am-I-and-why ambience, even with its concert and sound-check material reworked in post-tour sessions. This is very much a transitional album, its feel somewhere between the chamber-folk sweep of Out of Time and Automatic for the People and the distortion-pedal party that raged on Monster. It's the work of a band pretty near its peak consolidating familiar sounds and styles while tinkering with the edges. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

Diverting effort from R.E.M., nothing more.......2007-07-05

At just over an hour, New Adventures in Hi-Fi is easily the longest R.E.M. album to date, and expectedly, one of the most bloated. The album sort of swings between the folksy pop of Automatic and the distorted glam of Monster. The middle road is the safe choice, the comfortable choice...but is it the right choice? Some of them sound like (and are) leftovers from the Monster sessions...even though most are better than almost anything that made the cut on Monster!

Problems arise on the likes of "Undertow" with Stipe going far too close to Ed Kowalczyk territory for comfort; "E-Bow Letter" sounds too much like the far superior "Country Feedback"; and there's late album filler like "Low Desert" and "So Fast So Numb." It is one of their most consistent albums since signing to a major label, but the consistency is "good enough" and almost never stellar. The highlights include the long, odd, and effectively looping "Leave," the straightforward rocker, "Departure," and the gentle distortion of the lovely "Be Mine." Those are well worth hearing, and the album gets a recommendation for fans, but don't expect to spin it as much as their best stuff from the 80s or Automatic.

Best cuts: "Leave," "Be Mine," "The Wake-Up Bomb," "Departure," "Electrolite," "How the West Was Won and Where," "Bittersweet Me," "Zither"

Aluminum Tastes Like Fear!!.......2007-03-20

...Probably one of the most evocative lines ever written in a pop song.

Many of the tracks for this REM record were recorded at sound checks during the Monster Tour. As a result, the guitars are loud, and the band shows a tough grittiness that comes from having been on the road for so many months. The melodic arrangements and jangly guitars of previous works are largely absent. The vocal harmonies of Stipe and Mills on prior works are also rare on this record. Stipe talks and raps like a Beatnik poet, and sings in a low tone similar to the Chronictown-Murmur-Reckoning days, but without the shyness or romantic lilt. His lyrics are ironic, dark, cutting, funny and, quite frankly, the best he has ever written. The mood is serious and reflective of a man who has worn blue jeans, eaten bad food, has been singing for 2 hours a night every night for the prior several months, and along the way has made observations about where the world is going.

The first 5 songs of this 14 song set are outstanding. After that, the CD is uneven and probably could have been cut back by 3 or 4 tracks to make a more consistent record, such as their prior release, Monster.

Part of the reason for this inconsistency is the fact that 5 songs were recorded in the studio and the remaining 7 tracks are more or less live takes. Some songs, like E-Bow The Letter, sound significantly louder and cleaner than others. (BTW: 3 of the first 5 tracks were recorded in studio). Sometimes the live format works (e.g., Electrolyte; Low Desert), but other songs (e.g., Leave; Departure) could've really benefited from some modern production techniques to create space, clarity and allow for some thoughtful overdubs of guitar hooks, or vocal harmonies. Some of the tracks sound like attempts to rewrite some of the songs on Monster.

Nonetheless, if you pare this CD down to say 10 or 11 songs, you have a collection that is as good and memorable as any of the great REM records. Now for the songs that make my list:

How The West Was Won; The Wake Up Bomb; New Test Leper; E-Bow The Letter; Bittersweet Me; Be Mine; Low Desert; Electrolite; Binky the Doormat; Zither.

Not to be a jerk...........2007-01-08

....but basically, if you do not realize that this is REM's finest record then you need to go back to music listening school. OK - I guess that does sound like a jerky thing to say - I suppose Reckoning is a reasonable alternative for REM's finest. Still, REM brings it all together on this album unlike any other. It rocks, its brutally honest, you can play some serious air guitar to it, you could wish that you had the talent to come up with chord changes and pop hooks that even come close to it. Just brilliant.

Worth Your Time.......2006-11-02

Not really an album. but more a bunch of sound checks and out takes. Nevertheless, there are great songs present that would easily make the cut on any R.E.M. album. My personal favorites are "Leper," "Electrolite" and "Bittersweet Me." There are other great ones too. Not bad for a "throw away" album.

All-time great album.......2006-10-18

With his 12-second yowl at the end of "The Wake-Up Bomb", Mr. Stipe brings the Athens guys to legendary status with NAIHF. As a fan I started with Chronic Town and ended with this album since, as many others here have already written, the band has not been the same since Bill Berry left. His work on tracks like "Leave" and "So Fast, So Numb", along with Peter Buck's aggressive guitar work throughout (and Mike Mills harmonies, for that matter) have been sorely missed in the three albums since.

10 years after its release, you might not care what my own favorite tracks on this record are (they seem to change with each listen). After listening to it again on my iPod I could no longer delay writing a review here, but if you have any interest in R.E.M. as a newbie, start here. Preferably with a pair of really good headphones. Preferably turned up to 11.

New Adventures in Hi Fi (CD + DVD+A) (Dig)

Average customer rating:

Their greatest album and the last with Bill Berry and Scott Litt as producer
I'm happy I bought this but..............
Much Better Sound/Mix
New Re-Release Package
Highly Overlooked

New Adventures in Hi Fi (CD + DVD+A) (Dig)
R.E.M.
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Jangle Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rhino Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Monster (CD + DVD+ A) (Dig)
Green (CD + DVD-A) (Dig)
Up (CD + DVD+A) (Dig)
Out of Time (CD + DVD-A) (Dig)
Reveal (CD & DVD Audio)

ASIN: B0006ICF90
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Tracks:

How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us
Wake-Up Bomb
New Test Leper
Undertow
E-Bow the Letter
Leave
Departure
Bittersweet Me
Be Mine
Binky the Doormat
Zither
So Fast, So Numb
Low Desert
Electrolite

Amazon.com

This expanded edition offers a digitally remastered version of the original album as well as a newly produced bonus DVD. There you'll find a 5.1 surround mix that recreates the performances' live ambience with stunning clarity, as well as a previously unreleased, 1996 documentary featuring song clips and insightful interviews with the band members and an album of still photographs.

Album Description

After putting Athens, GA, on the musical map in the early '80s, R.E.M. went on to become one of the world's biggest bands. Fusing folk, garage rock, pop sensibilities, and insightful lyrics delivered with Michael Stipe's inimitable lead vocals, these alt-rock forefathers built a massive indie following, and in 1988 unleashed their major-label debut, Warner Bros.' Green. This roots rock tour de force was followed in '91 by the Grammy-winning #1 blockbuster Out of Time, which led to an ongoing stream of masterpieces. These two classics, along with five more albums from R.E.M.'s extraordinary catalog-plus their retrospective Best Of-now each feature a Bonus DVD with Surround Sound audio and video extras.

Customer Reviews:

Their greatest album and the last with Bill Berry and Scott Litt as producer.......2007-05-04

I listen to this album and it paints so much emotion for me. Michael Stipe's voice is so naked and the lyrics dive into the bloodstream where they live and reign. Buck and Mills sound more organic on this record. The guitar Peter BUck is at full force on Wake up Bomb and paints a beautiful moment with Be Mine, in which STipe proclaims I'd like to wash you with my hair. Mike Mills is the piano man on this album and his bass strides along for the ride, Undertow and E-bow the letter, also having Patti Smith sing on the album adds for some ghostly pressence. I still listen to this album constantly, it never gets old to me, each time it adds new emotion to a moment I was feeling and one of those 14 songs just grabs my attention, pure brillance.

The new edition is pretty good, I love the design of the booklet and info on the making of the album. The bonus dvd is very good, would've liked some of the music videos and a longer interview with the band.

All in all, I'm glad i bought it. Now I have two versions, this one and the cd. I purchased the cd in 2001 and this one 6 years later. Gotta love R.E.M.

I'm happy I bought this but.....................2007-04-06

I'm happy I bought this but, I didn't own it before. If you do own the original don't buy it again unless you have a dvd audio player. The cd part is not remastered. I don't know why they didn't just do it. But its a nice package and the dvd audio sounds great in my dvd player. I like the documentary also. Like I said I never owned this album before so it was worth it. Be careful if you own the original album.

Much Better Sound/Mix.......2007-03-23

If you do not know this CD, then do not spend the extra money on the DVD. Stick with the cheaper version.

However, if you are familiar with this album and like it, then this is worth the money.

Particularly, the mix in the DVD is MUCH better. The original suffered from the drums being buried (no bad pun intended here), and the bass being muddy, while the guitar was annoyingly forward in the mix. Peter Buck is a great guitarist, but the mix was so forward to be annoying and give me a headache, especially in the distorted moments (i.e.., "Bittersweet Me").

With the DVD, even with simple headphones, you get a cleaner, balanced mix - similar to their old IRS albums. M. Stipe's vocals are clearly discernable. The bass lines are crisp and easy to follow. The drums are finally present and appropriately forward in the mix. The guitar is subdued (but far from being buried in the mix), and more effective and musical because of it.

The extras are cool - the documentary is interesting, but you can tell they all look kind of tired. Lyrics are included. It would have been nice to have some of the videos for the songs, but it doesn't matter.

Final note - the DVD does contain 6 GB of data - my computer really struggled to bring it up, but did eventually (on Windows Media Player 11). I had no trouble in my home DVD player.

I will definitely check out "Up" and "Out of Time".

New Re-Release Package.......2005-11-06