 "Volume 1?" | 2009-11-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A27UWBI2R985CM |
| In light of the dismal sales of R.E.M.'s recent albums, Warner Bros. may be trying to milk as much as they can out of their $80m deal with the band, thus issuing this 'greatest hits' package that feels more like Vol. 1 of a series. So many hits are missing that it fairly screams out for a Vol. 2 counterpart, and while the more rare tracks are welcome for hardcore fans, casual listeners would rather have the radio hits they know. Alas, they may have to download those other hits, as this 'Best of' lacks many (Bang & Blame, Drive, Shiny Happy People, to name just a few). Attribute it to corporate greed, perhaps, but this "Best of" could have been a much stronger compilation. |
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 "Buen CD" | 2009-07-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2JCJF58MTUQGP |
| Para los fanaticos de REM como yo este cd es excelente,contiene casi todos sus mejores temas y el audio es muy bueno asi como el precio para este material. |
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| "REM" | 2009-05-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A35Y6B4IWSYBI0 |
| Great band and great CD. i am a big fan of REM and this cd is great. |
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| "INDIE HITS THE BIG TIME ! (R.E.M. delivers great alternative-rock even after they become rich and famous)" | 2009-04-19 |
| - Reviewed By howlinblindmojo |
R.E.M.'s In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (2003) features music from the band's experimental/political years with Warner Brothers after signing a multi-million dollar contract with the record label. These are probably the most recognizable R.E.M. songs to casual fans of the band, and this collection could easily satisfy those who only want a single R.E.M. disc in their CD library.
It's somewhat surprising that Shiny Happy People didn't make it onto the album, but the song selection on this set is still pretty much on the mark. Their masterpiece, Automatic for the People, was tapped for four songs to be included here, and that's certainly no surprise. I also like the two new songs, Bad Day and Animal, both of which have the classic R.E.M. sound.
In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 is a thoughtfully put-together package, but the songs aren't in chronological order. The great sound and liner notes make up for that, though; the notes include some cool fuzzy photographs and band co-founder Peter Buck's comments on each song. Here's part of what he had to say about Losing My Religon:
"The music was written in five minutes; the first time the band played it, it fell into place perfectly. Michael had lyrics within the hour, and while playing the song for the third or fourth time, I found myself incredibly moved to hear the vocals in conjunction with the music. To me, Losing My Religon feels like some kind of archetype that was floating around in space that we managed to lasso. If only all songwriting was this easy."
Of course, Losing My Religon isn't the only great song here. Man On The Moon, The Great Beyond, What's The Frequency Kenneth, E-Bow The Letter, Orange Crush, Stand, Everybody Hurts, At My Most Beautiful, Nightswimming and several others are also featured. The One I Love, Radio Free Europe and It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) aren't included here because they are from R.E.M.'s years with I.R.S. Records and aren't within this collection's time period.
In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 is a worthy compilation from a great American alternative-rock band that warrants a place in any music fan's collection. Definitely recommended.
The photograph reflects
Every streetlight a reminder
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
...deserves a quiet night
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| "The best album you should never buy." | 2008-12-11 |
| - Reviewed By the_wickerman |
You might be a bit confused by the above title. Well, let me explain. If this were a studio album of all new songs, it would be hands-down one of the best albums ever made. I'd be telling you to run out in a frantic state and knock over old ladies to get it. However, this is a greatest hits album, and although I generally despise greatest hits albums as the shameless cash cows they are, I really can't deny what a perfect collection of songs this is. It's a fantastic overview of the band's career from the 1988 album "Green" to 2001's "Reveal", over 70 minutes of melodic rock that's good enough to eat (that is, if music were edible, and I sometimes wish it were).
Anyway, despite the fact that this is a great buy, I personally recommend just getting every album that this compilation covers, especially "Green", "Out of Time", and "Automatic for the People", which are all amazing. All of them are worth buying though, even though the rest aren't quite as perfect as those. Sure, it costs more money, and in these tumultuous economic times this album might seem like the better way to go, but trust me you'll get lots more great music if you splurge.
Then again, this album does include two new songs, "Animal" and "Bad Day", the latter of which is a pretty strong argument for buying this album. "Animal" is ok, good but not great, but "Bad Day" in my opinion is right up there with their best.
Still, I maintain that you'd be better off just buying all the albums, but hey, that's one guy's opinion. Then you could just make this album yourself with a CD burner, and then pick up "Bad Day" somewhere online (but legally, of course; piracy is the devil, as you know...). Either way, no amount of wanting to hate this album was able to prevail over the great music it contains, so take that for whatever it's worth. |
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| "Love it! Especially "Everybody Hurts Sometimes"!" | 2008-09-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1SI53J4TS1TSF |
| My husband has learned Everybody Hurts on the piano and will be singing it to me soon, Love the song and artist REM! |
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