New Adventures In Hi-Fi

25th-anniversary edition of R.E.M.’s tenth studio album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi. First released in 1996, the album was R.E.M.’s last studio recording with founding member Bill Berry who left amicably the following year. As the band’s fifth collaboration with long-time producer Scott Litt (Green, Out of Time, Automatic for the People and Monster), the album experiments with new sonic textures, filled with cinematic imagery, dissonant notes and haunting effects. The platinum-selling title includes the singles “Electrolite,” “E-Bow the Letter” (featuring Patti Smith) and “Bittersweet Me,” and represents R.E.M.’s longest studio release with a total run time of 65 minutes. New Adventures in Hi-Fi grew to cult status years after its release, with several press retrospectives—and band members themselves—ranking it among the top albums in R.E.M.’s recorded catalogue.

“The sequence of songs and the range of emotions on New Adventures convey a narrative that has all the dynamics and contradictions of life itself.”

• Rolling Stone

“…in its multifaceted sprawl, they wound up with one of their best records of the ’90s.”

• AllMusic

“…a document of a band at one peak of their powers, summarizing many of the things they did well while also gesturing at previously unexplored places… It’s an album about movement in ways physical and abstract, spiritual and chronological. Those are the albums you take with you, the ones that will continue to reveal something new for years to come.”

• Stereogum

“NAIHF is like leaving a Polaroid in an abandoned darkroom – slowly it reveals its secrets and imagery, but never at once, and never completely… NAIHF demonstrates the high watermark of both the band’s songwriting skills and their restless creative spirits.”

• Louder Than War

Tracklist

2LP

Side A

1. How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us
2. The Wake-Up Bomb
3. New Test Leper

Side B

1. Undertow
2. E-Bow the Letter
3. Leave

Side C

1. Departure
2. Bittersweet Me
3. Be Mine
4. Binky the Doormat

Side D

1. Zither
2. So Fast, So Numb
3. Low Desert
4. Electrolite

2CD+Blu-Ray

CD1 - New Adventures in Hi-Fi (remastered audio)

1. How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us
2. The Wake-Up Bomb
3. New Test Leper
4. Undertow
5. E-Bow the Letter
6. Leave
7. Departure
8. Bittersweet Me
9. Be Mine
10. Binky the Doormat
11. Zither
12. So Fast, So Numb
13. Low Desert
14. Electrolite

CD2 - B-Sides and Rarities

1. Tricycle (Instrumental)
2. Departure (Live Rome Soundcheck / Rome, Italy / 2/22/1995)
3. Wall of Death
4. Undertow (Live / Atlanta, GA / 11/18/1995)
5. Wichita Lineman (Live / Houston, TX / 9/15/1995)
6. New Test Leper (Live Acoustic / Seattle, WA / 4/19/1996)
7. The Wake-Up Bomb (Live / Atlanta, GA / 10/4/1995)
8. Binky the Doormat (Live / Atlanta, GA / 11/18/1995)
9. King of Comedy (808 State Remix)
10. Be Mine (Mike on Bus version)
11. Love Is All Around
12. Sponge
13. Leave (Alternate Version)

Blu-Ray

1. R.E.M. Outdoor Projections – Saturday Sept 7, 1996 – 5 cities (64:56)
2. New Adventures in Hi-Fi EPK – previously unreleased 30 min version (29:13)
3. New Adventures in Hi-Fi 5.1 Audio
4. New Adventures in Hi-Fi – Hi-Resolution Audio
5. E-Bow the Letter (Music Video)
6. Bittersweet Me (Music Video)
7. Electrolite (Music Video)
8. How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us (Music Video)
9. New Test Leper (Music Video)

2CD

CD1 - New Adventures in Hi-Fi (remastered audio)

1. How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us
2. The Wake-Up Bomb
3. New Test Leper
4. Undertow
5. E-Bow the Letter
6. Leave
7. Departure
8. Bittersweet Me
9. Be Mine
10. Binky the Doormat
11. Zither
12. So Fast, So Numb
13. Low Desert
14. Electrolite

CD2 - B-Sides and Rarities

1. Tricycle (Instrumental)
2. Departure (Live Rome Soundcheck / Rome, Italy / 2/22/1995)
3. Wall of Death
4. Undertow (Live / Atlanta, GA / 11/18/1995)
5. Wichita Lineman (Live / Houston, TX / 9/15/1995)
6. New Test Leper (Live Acoustic / Seattle, WA / 4/19/1996)
7. The Wake-Up Bomb (Live / Atlanta, GA / 10/4/1995)
8. Binky the Doormat (Live / Atlanta, GA / 11/18/1995)
9. King of Comedy (808 State Remix)
10. Be Mine (Mike on Bus Version)
11. Love Is All Around
12. Sponge
13. Leave (Alternate Version)

Soundwave

https://youtu.be/omMxZBGblho