New Adventures in Hi-Fi

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New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Warner Bros.
Producer
R.E.M. chronology
Parallel
(1995) 		New Adventures in Hi-Fi
(1996) 		Road Movie
(1996)
Singles from New Adventures in Hi-Fi
  1. "E-Bow the Letter"
    Released: August 19, 1996[1]
  2. "Bittersweet Me"
    Released: October 21, 1996[2]
  3. "Electrolite"
    Released: December 2, 1996[3]
  4. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"
    Released: 1997
Special Edition
Special edition of the album—a cardboard slipcase covers a 64-page hardback book

New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the tenth studio album by the

Warner Bros. Records, released on September 9, 1996, in Europe and Australia, and the following day in the United States. New Adventures in Hi-Fi was the band's final album recorded with founding drummer Bill Berry (who left the band amicably the following year), original manager Jefferson Holt, and long-time producer Scott Litt. The members of R.E.M. consider the recorded album representative of the band at their peak,[4] and fans generally regard it as the band's last great record before a perceived artistic decline during the late 1990s and early 2000s.[5] It has sold around seven million units, growing in cult status years after its release, with several retrospectives ranking it among the top of the band's recorded catalogue.[6]

Composition and recording

The album was recorded during and after the tour in support of Monster in 1995. The material on the album mixed the acoustic, country rock feel of much of Out of Time and Automatic for the People with the rock sound of Monster and Lifes Rich Pageant.[7] The band has cited Neil Young's 1973 album Time Fades Away as a source of inspiration.[8] The album has been labeled as "folk rock-jangle" by critic Robert Christgau.[9]

In an interview with Mojo, bassist Mike Mills said:

We got into the studio feeling very happy and relieved that everyone was okay, especially [drummer] Bill. It brought us all much closer and made us realize how important we are to each other. Once we'd been through a crisis like that [Berry's collapse from a brain aneurysm on tour], making a record was a piece of cake. We discussed making an album of on-the-road stuff a year and a half before we went on the Monster tour. We wanted to get some of the looseness and spontaneity of a soundcheck, live show or dressing room. We used all the good songs. 'Revolution' – a song we did live – didn't make it onto this record, just like it didn't make it onto Monster [the song instead appeared on 1997's Batman & Robin soundtrack]... It usually takes a good few years for me to decide where an album stands in the pantheon of recorded work we've done. This one may be third behind Murmur and Automatic for the People.[5]

A view of the Pyramind Arena on the river
Memphis, Tennessee's Pyramid Arena was one of several locations used to record New Adventures in Hi-Fi
A photograph of Patti Smith looking to the side of the camera while performing onstage
Patti Smith—an influence on Peter Buck and Michael Stipe—added vocals to lead single "E-Bow the Letter"
Scott McCaughey holding a guitar and smiling onstage
New Adventures in Hi-Fi represented the beginning of R.E.M.'s long-time association with Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist Scott McCaughey (pictured here in 2011)

The band noted that they borrowed the recording process for the album from

eight-track recorders to capture their live performances, and used the recordings as the base elements for the album. As such, the band's touring musicians Nathan December and Scott McCaughey are featured throughout, with Andy Carlson contributing violin to "Electrolite
".

After the tour was over, the band went into

mastering by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine
.

In part due to the nature of the recording process, several of the songs are about travel and motion—including "Departure", "Leave" and "Low Desert". The album's liner notes contain pictures from the road and the deluxe edition of the album is a hardcover book in a slipcase featuring more photographs of R.E.M.'s tour.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA−[9]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
Entertainment WeeklyA[12]
The Guardian[13]
Los Angeles Times[14]
NME8/10[15]
Pitchfork9.5/10[16]
Q[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
Spin6/10[19]

Critical reaction to the album was mostly extremely positive. Several publications lauded the album for its rich diversity, including

Consequence of Sound ranked it third out of R.E.M.'s 15 full-length studio albums.[6]

New Adventures in Hi-Fi is frontman Michael Stipe's favorite R.E.M. album, and he considers it the band at their peak.[4] Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who has cited R.E.M. as a major influence, called it his favorite R.E.M. album and "Electrolite" the band's greatest song.[21] Jeremy Bifras of BrooklynVegan called the album "an experimental masterpiece."[22]

Awards

New Adventures in Hi-Fi has since appeared on several lists compiling the best albums of the 1990s or all time: Magnet listed the album at #20 on its list of the "Top 60 Albums 1993–2003",[23] and Mojo also listed the album at #20 on a list of "The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993–2006".

It was voted #186 in

Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd Edition, 2000).[24]
It was also featured on several year-end best-of lists for 1996:

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

The Hi Side

  1. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" – 4:31
  2. "The Wake-Up Bomb" – 5:08
  3. "New Test Leper" – 5:26
  4. "Undertow" – 5:09
  5. "E-Bow the Letter" – 5:23
  6. "Leave" – 7:18

The Fi Side

  2. "Departure" – 3:28
  3. "Bittersweet Me" – 4:06
  4. "Be Mine" – 5:32
  5. "Binky the Doormat" – 5:01
  6. "Zither" – 2:33
  7. "So Fast, So Numb" – 4:12
  8. "Low Desert" – 3:30
  9. "Electrolite" – 4:05

Unlike most R.E.M. albums, this vinyl release did not have custom side names and was instead released as a double album. Record one has tracks 1–6 (three songs per side) and record two has tracks 7–14 (four songs per side). The tape release maintained the custom side names: the first side was called the "Hi-side" and the second side was called the "Fi-side."

Singles and B-sides

New Adventures in Hi-Fi consisted of material written during some of the same sessions as Monster and its following promotional tour; consequently, there were few outtakes or left-over tracks for inclusion as B-sides. The first three tracks were international singles, with "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" being released only in Germany and Japan.

"E-Bow the Letter"

"Bittersweet Me"

"Electrolite"

  • "The Wake-Up Bomb" (Live) – recorded at the Omni Theater, Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 1995. Taken from Road Movie.
  • "Binky the Doormat" (Live) – recorded at the Omni Theater, Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 1995. Taken from Road Movie.
  • "King of Comedy" (808 State remix)

"How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"

"Revolution" was also released from these sessions, initially on the Batman & Robin soundtrack and later on disc two of In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003.

Other singles

"New Test Leper" and "The Wake-Up Bomb" were released as promotional singles for the album; the former had a music video directed by Lance Bangs and Dominic DeJoseph. All five videos from the album were later collected on In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003.

The R.E.M. fan club, which issued a special single every year at Christmas time, featured two singles recorded during these sessions: 1996's "Only in America" (originally by

Jay & The Americans)/"I Will Survive" (a Gloria Gaynor cover) and 1997's R.E.M. original "Live for Today" was backed with Pearl Jam
's "Happy When I'm Crying".

Personnel

"How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"

Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington

"The Wake-Up Bomb"

Recorded live at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 16, 1995
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion
  • Peter Buck – guitar
  • Nathan December – guitar
  • Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals, organ
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

"New Test Leper"

Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion
  • Peter Buck – guitar
  • Mike Mills – bass guitar, organ
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

"Undertow"

Recorded live at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 3, 1995
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion
  • Peter Buck – guitar
  • Nathan December – guitar
  • Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

"E-Bow the Letter"

Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington

"Leave"

Recorded at a soundcheck at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 19, or 21, 1995
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, synthesizer
  • Peter Buck – guitar, E-bow
  • Nathan December – guitar
  • Scott McCaughey – ARP Odyssey
  • Mike Mills – bass guitar, keyboards
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

"Departure"

Recorded live at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on June 6 or 7, 1995
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion
  • Peter Buck – guitar
  • Nathan December – guitar
  • Mike Mills – fuzz bass, backing vocals, Farfisa organ
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

"Bittersweet Me"

Recorded at a soundcheck at the
Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee
, on November 7, 1995
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion
  • Peter Buck – guitar
  • Scott McCaughey – piano
  • Mike Mills – bass guitar, organ, Mellotron
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

"Be Mine"

Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion
  • Peter Buck – bass guitar, guitar, E-bow
  • Mike Mills – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

"Binky the Doormat"

Recorded live at the
Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix, Arizona
, on November 4, 1995
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • Peter Buck – guitar
  • Nathan December – guitar
  • Scott McCaughey – Farfisa organ
  • Mike Mills – fuzz bass, backing vocals, keyboards
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

"Zither"

Recorded in the
dressing room of The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, on October 12, 13, or 14, 1995

"So Fast, So Numb"

Recorded at a soundcheck at the
Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida
, on November 15, 1995
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion
  • Peter Buck – guitar
  • Scott McCaughey – piano
  • Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals, organ
  • Michael Stipe – vocals
"Low Desert"
Recorded at a soundcheck at the Omni Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 19, or 21, 1995

"Electrolite"

Recorded at a soundcheck at the Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 4, 1995
  • Bill Berry – drums, percussion
  • Peter Buck – bass guitar, banjo
  • Andy Carlson – violin
  • Nathan December –
    guiro
  • Mike Mills – piano
  • Michael Stipe – vocals

Technical personnel

  • William Field –
    assistant engineering
    , Athens
  • Sam Hofstedt – assistant engineering, Seattle
  • Victor Janacua – assistant engineering, Los Angeles
  • Adam Kasper – recording engineering, Seattle
  • John Keane – recording and mixing
  • Scott Litt – co-producing and mixing engineering
  • mastering
  • Pat McCarthy
     – recording engineering, Los Angeles
  • Mark "Microwave" Mytrowitz – technical assistance
  • Joe O'Herlihy – tour recording engineering
  • Jo Ravitch – tour recording engineering
  • Eric Stolz – digital editing
  • Jeff Wooding – tour recording engineering

Chart performance

While New Adventures in Hi-Fi began the band's sales decline in the United States, it topped the charts in over a dozen countries and reached #1 on the Top European Albums for five consecutive weeks.

Nielsen SoundScan, it has sold 994,000 units in the U.S. as of March 2007.[27][28][29] The first single, "E-Bow the Letter", received only modest radio airplay in the U.S. and peaked at #49 on its charts.[30]
In the UK, however, the single became the band's biggest hit at that point, reaching #4.

Certifications

Sales and certifications for New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[64] Gold 25,000*
Belgium (BEA)[65] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[66] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Germany (BVMI)[67] Gold 250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[68] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[69] Gold 25,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[70] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[71] Gold 40,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[72] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[74] Platinum 350,000[73]
United States (RIAA)[75] Platinum 994,000[29]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[76] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Like all R.E.M. albums since 1988's

5.1-channel surround sound, high resolution, AC3, Dolby Stereo, and DTS 5.1) done by Elliot Scheiner
and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. In addition, the DVD includes a video documentary, lyrics, and a photo gallery.

As with the prior albums, a 25th-anniversary edition was announced in August 2021 for an October release date. The edition includes a remastered album, B-sides from the album and a

2021 global supply chain crisis, all CD variations of the remastered reissue were delayed to mid-November 2021.[78]

Region Date Label Format Catalog
Worldwide September 9, 1996 (1996-09-09)
Warner Bros.
double LP
 46320
United States September 10, 1996 (1996-09-10) Warner Bros. Compact disc, cassette, 2LP 46320
United States September 10, 1996 (1996-09-10) Warner Bros. Limited-edition compact disc 46321
Worldwide March 1, 2005 (2005-03-01) Warner Bros. Compact disc and DVD-Audio 73950
Worldwide October 29, 2021 (2021-10-29) Craft Recordings 2LP CR00438
November 5, 2021 (2021-11-05) 2CD CR00440
November 12, 2021 (2021-11-12) 2CD/1 Blu-ray/book CR00439

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External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Adventures_in_Hi-Fi&oldid=1211983801"