New R.E.M. DVD release coming 11/24/14

I WANT MY REMTV!
R.E.M. and MTV Combine to Release 6-Disc Retrospective Set REMTV on Rhino in November

From the beginning, R.E.M. and MTV have shared a rich history together. In July 1981, the band released its first single, "Radio Free Europe" while a few weeks later the new Music Television network launched and premiered its first music video. From that point forward, thirty years in total, MTV documented everything about R.E.M.: their music, their stories, and ultimately, their decision to disband in 2011.

Now, this entire story, from start to finish, is chronicled in a new six-DVD set, REMTV, that includes live performances, award show highlights, and television appearances, as well as a new documentary about the band and network's mutual history. REMTV will be available on November 24th.

"It occurred to us that there's all this footage of some of the band's absolute career highlights sitting in some MTV vaults in London and New York-- and thanks to a lot of effort and digging and arranging, this is our chance to share that music with various generations of R.E.M. fans in a pretty unique release," said longtime manager Bertis Downs. "And Alexander Young's documentary is a fine way to tell the story of R.E.M. through its various twists and turns, as captured in real time by MTV's cameras-- it has some great funny bits too!"

"This is the first DVD project to unite material from all across Viacom's networks," said Bill Flanagan, EVP of the Viacom Music Group. "Not only are we drawing from the vaults of MTV - domestic and international - but from VH1, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon. I don't think anyone realized just how much terrific R.E.M. footage we were sitting on. To gather the best of it in one collection is pretty overwhelming. R.E.M. started great, stayed great and ended great - here's the evidence."

Disc one combines R.E.M.'s first and second performances on MTV Unplugged along with the outtakes that debuted earlier this year on the audio release Unplugged: The Complete 1991 And 2001 Sessions . Disc two opens with the band's 1998 VH1 Storytellers performance including two songs--"New Test Leper" and "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville"--previously unaired. Performances from various MTV award shows through the years, as well as the band's 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame round out the second disc. Two vintage performances from 1983 and 1984 are not to be missed: the first one captures the band on Livewire performing "So. Central Rain" and "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)" from 1983, while the next clip showcases five songs from The Cutting Edge in 1984, including a rare cover of Brownsville Station's "Smokin' in the Boys Room."

The next three discs present a trove of rare live performances recorded between 1995 and 2008 in countries around the world. Of the 99 songs that are spread across these three discs, nearly half are unique song titles, offering a deep exploration of the band's live legacy. Especially noteworthy are two massive free concerts filmed for broadcast: Live In Cologne (5/12/01) and R.E.M. Live In Athens, Greece (10/5/08). More than a dozen songs from those shows did not air during the original broadcasts. Both concerts appear here in their entirety for the first time.

Undoubtedly, the heart of this superb collection is the new feature-length documentary, R.E.M. By MTV, included on the final disc. Drawing exclusively on archival events, the film traces R.E.M. and MTV in real time, which makes it feel as exciting and immediate as it did when it was happening. "All the energy and momentum of both the band and the network come roaring through," writes Anthony DeCurtis in the set's liner notes.

R.E.M. By MTV will also premiere simultaneously on VH1 Classic and Palladia later in November, marking its first television run in the United States. Additional information about air dates will be announced on REMHQ and R.E.M. social channels, so please stay tuned.

Special bonus: if you pre-order REMTV from the REMHQ.com store you will receive a code that enables you to download a mono version of the 2003 MTV Sonic Show in Milan, Italy - - not included in the REMTV package.



Check out this rockin' version of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" from R.E.M.'s 2001 Live Performance in Cologne, Germany... all this and a lot more on REMTV.

 

Very cool! Must have for me!

 

$100 on REM's site.

 

Just got the email. This will be cool!

 

Mono in 2003? Cool set though. I'm in.

 

"Disc two opens with the band's 1998 VH1 Storytellers performance including two songs--"New Test Leper" and "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville"--previously unaired."

So they did get "Rockville" from this TV performance.
I was at this taping, and it was a pretty somber affair.
But as they were checking rushes of the ending performance, Man on the Moon, (which they ended up coming back and doing a 2nd, more "energetic" take), Mike Mills came out and did an
extraordinary (as I remember it) solo piano version of "Rockville".
Best thing I heard that whole day, and now it finally sees the light of day.

 

Wow, so with Mills singing as well?

 

VERY cool they included the 1983 appearance on Nickelodeon's "Livewire". I still have that on a vhs tape somewhere......I wonder if they will include the kids interviewing the band - it was very funny!

 

Oh yeah.
Mills came out by himself, sat at the piano.
Went into how they were taking a break in the back to look at some of the footage shot.
He goes into the familiar story about a girl, and not wanting her to leave, all very low key, and then just eased into
this version of "Rockville" with just piano and vocal. It seemed to be pretty off the cuff from what had previously occurred during the taping.
I was very disappointed when initially watching this Storytellers that this didn't make the cut for broadcast, because it obviously made an impression on me.

 

Kind of tempting, but this is the sort of thing I'll watch maybe twice a decade at most. I'd love to borrow someone else's copy though, eventually, for a couple weeks. Looks like a really neat set!

 

Here's another $100 out of my wallet

 

Awesome! Can't wait to get this. WOW!! 6 discs is pretty...ambitious!?! Don't care. TAKE MY MONEY REM..TAKE IT ALL!!

My only complaint: Would rather have bluray and not have to deal with 6 discs, but it's not like this footage will be anything but standard def so...

Oh, and...

I'd prefer they get on the stick and release the remaining official videos!! Pretty sure we've not had any since In View meaning we still need a comp of Around the Sun, Accelerate, and Collapse Into Now footage. REMHQ ARE YOU LISTENING?

 

Holy. Crap.

 

The third disc contains the Uplink show from the Bowery Ballroom that was broadcast on MTV one night in 1998. As I remember it, that was a magical performance; I've been hoping it would be released somewhere. It's a wonderful glimpse at how intimate the band's relationship with their fans was back in the '90s. And Patti Smith sings on "E-Bow."

 

I remember that! And they did a KILLER version of Radio Free Europe if I remember correctly! That was a great show.

 

It was magical. I was there! I won tickets on WNEW. I recited the lyrics to It's The End of the World over the air and Opie and Anthony hooked me Up with a pair of tickets. Best show I ever saw by anyone. A wonderfully intimate show. I was about 6 rows back, center stage. The sound was nice and moderate, no post-show ear ringing.

 

A must.

 

The Livewire performance is on YouTube, amazing footage of them looking impossibly young:



I couldn't be more thrilled about this release, I hope there's a lot of Monster tour footage.

 

This is the kind of thing I'll watch twice a week for the next decade.

 

I know I'm alone but I feel they did their best work during the WB ears so those discs will be on constant rotation!

 

I have always loved that Livewire footage.

Given how uncomfortable the band seemed with MTV early in their careers, I find no small amount of irony in this release being so MTV-themed. I wonder if we'll get any of the early Stipe interviews where he mumbles his way through?

 

Full tracklisting: http://www.remhq.com/news_story.php?id=2086

My only nitpick is that the 2008 Athens, Greece show is pretty meh (I wish they had included the 1984 Passaic, NJ show filmed for MTV's Rock Influences), but, overall, this is an embarrassment of riches. The 1991 MTV 10th anniversary performance of "Losing My Religion" is great, and there's also an elusive live performance of "I'll Take the Rain" on this set.

 

In the early days, Peter did most of the talking. Whatever their reservations about MTV, they made videos from "Wolves, Lower," onwards, as seen on the previous When The Light Is Mine DVD, even if some of them, such as "Fall On Me," were anti-videos.

 

That Passaic show from 1984 is really great.

 

Yes. They kind of bamboozled us at the time into thinking they were anti-MTV because they didn't lip-synch and had unusual videos, but they really were embracing it.