R.E.M

New Adventures In Hi-Fi

Overlooked Brilliance

Review Score:

(8/10)
The "Monster" tour of 1995 was an astounding success for R.E.M. After two excellent albums, "Out of Time" and "Automatic for the People," music fans worldwide celebrated the boys from Athens, GA in concert. While the tour bearing its name was a smashing success, unfortunately the "Monster" album was a mishmash of experiments and half-baked ideas gone wrong. Even more unfortunate, the multitudes purchased the album, expecting the high quality of the band's two previous offerings. When R.E.M. followed up "Monster" with a dense, complicated album two years later, a paltry few purchased it, for fear of reliving the "Monster" disappointment. That is a shame. "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" is the album "Monster" should have been: the next step in the "Out of Time"/"Automatic for the People" progression, combining simple acoustic numbers with aggressive rockers and haunting lullabies. Intricate instrumentation and vibrant songwriting make "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" the most underrated album of the mid-late 90s.

Some highlights from "New Adventures": With its driving Bill Berry intro, "So Fast, So Numb" may be the last REM rock song. Along with the rest of the album, this song is an overlooked gem. "E-Bow the Letter" is trippy, obscure, and would give Radiohead a run for their money. It probably shouldn't have been the first single since it gave people the impression the rest of the songs were like this, but it holds up after repeat listenings. "Leave" is not entirely successful with its repetitious synth percussion, yet may be the best song on the album. "Bittersweet Me" and "Be Mine" are affecting traditional REM songs. "New Adventures" is a great sendoff for departed drummer Berry and reminds us what the new albums without him are missing.

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