Friday, October 15, 2004
October 3: REM - In Time: The Best Of, 1988-2003
After the commercial disappointments of UP and Reveal in the U.S., Warner Bros., (who had, after all, signed REM to the largest record contract of any rock band in history back in '96, $80 MILLION) pushed for a greatest hits. And the band obliged, combining it with a huge world tour in '03. I got the deluxe two-disc edition, with awkward packaging.
How does it stack up as a greatest hits? There's way too much stuff off Automatic for the People, only one track each from Out of Time and Monster (c'mon, "Shiny Happy People" was a worldwide Top 10 hit. It's not on here?!?), and a few too many tracks from the last two albums. Nobody really thinks "All the Way to Reno" is one of REM's greatest hits, do they? Also, "All the Right Friends," which was an old early-'80s tune recorded for the Vanilla Sky soundtrack, is on here, inexplicably. The two new songs, "Bad Day," and "Animal," are good, and hint at a more rock direction for the new album. That's what I'm hoping for, anyway.
How does it stack up as a greatest hits? There's way too much stuff off Automatic for the People, only one track each from Out of Time and Monster (c'mon, "Shiny Happy People" was a worldwide Top 10 hit. It's not on here?!?), and a few too many tracks from the last two albums. Nobody really thinks "All the Way to Reno" is one of REM's greatest hits, do they? Also, "All the Right Friends," which was an old early-'80s tune recorded for the Vanilla Sky soundtrack, is on here, inexplicably. The two new songs, "Bad Day," and "Animal," are good, and hint at a more rock direction for the new album. That's what I'm hoping for, anyway.
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