Underrated Classic: R.E.M.'s New Adventures in Hi-Fi

well yes for IRS years, I also don't know but I think the forum have more info, but for WARNER years the only info that I found is about the problem with AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE (it seems that some or all US pressings have a big problem http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/r-e-m-automatic-for-the-people-bad-pressing.121641/ )

always I try to buy sealed records and are not cheap so, buy wisely! is my thing: knowing which pressings sounds better.

 

Agreed. After the two great openers the first half is weak, and "E-Bow" and "Leave" just don[t work for me. The second half is great all the way through.

 

I've been listening to a few mid-90's albums on cassette in the car lately, including this one. It matches up nicely with Pearl Jam's No Code (which I've also been revisiting) as a brave anti-populist, art-not-hits noble experiment in going deep.

Both New Adventures and No Code have at least an EP's worth of absolutely great songs each, a darker tone, and a scattering of very good stuff with a few filler and fizzlers mixed in. I can't listen straight through the whole album with unalloyed pleasure in either case.

On the genius side,"How the West Was Won," "New Test Leper," "Departure," and especially the brilliant "Electrolite" are as good as anything the band ever did, IMO. And the album deserves huge sentimental bonus points as Bill Berry's swan song and a farewell to the original fab four lineup.

BTW, boy do I had the word "underrated" as a way to kickoff talking about an oldie but goodie album. I've never had the impression that New Adventures is a flawless, front-to-back masterpiece that somehow got a reputational raw deal. It's a very, very good album but on some of the weaker tracks on this, their 10th studio album, you can start to hear the attenuation of a band running out of energy and ideas and conviction. If they had called it quits at this point the band's stature might be higher today, although I think R.E.M. is starting to earn back some of the mojo that the final run of albums sort of squandered (at least with me).

 

Interesting. I got both albums the same day in 1996. While I generally prefer R.E.M., I consider their album a snooze-fest, while Pear Jam's effort is my very favorite by them and I've got all the studio albums.

 

Love this album. Now that it's 20 years old, a vinyl reissue would be timely.

 

Bought the LP the day it came out, I think I got my first serious Moving Coil cartridge
around the same time, I always associate that LP with my system then, LP12/Ittok/Troika/Quad 22/Quad IIs/Quad 57s
you couldn't find a smoother sound, possibly too smooth thanks to the 22 pre amp, though it seemed to suit this LP
so well. Whilst my system may have "improved" a bit over the years I still yearn for that sound I had in 96 listening to this LP
I still have the LP, been played an awful lot over the years, the CD lacks something.

 

This!

The CD revisited just played a big part in a long September road trip to Seattle and back — and I’m now at home yearning for this album on vinyl.

Cheapest price for an original LP on Discogs right now: $111.

 

Definitely agree that this is one of their overlooked great ones. I'd put in it in my top five R.E.M. albums (And as a huge R.E.M. fan, narrowing it down to five is tough for me!)

 

I love REM, but didn't care for this album at all. The only song I thought was great was "Electrolyte".

 

Yes. The really good work stopped with Green and NAIHF was the last grasp for the original quintet. Quite frankly they should have stopped here. The last album is also really underrated imo.

 

Absolutely love this album. I was a fan when they first came out. Then really fell out after Document. I'm a huge Patti Smith devotee and her vocal turn here got me initially re-interested. And once I heard the whole thing I was just blown away and got way back into the band. Though I don't think there's a bad song on the album, I love the way it starts. The opening sequence thru "E-Bow" is just killer. Fables is probably my favorite REM album, but there's been moments or listens when I think Hi Fi is one of my favorite albums of all-time. Also: perhaps given how and where this album was recorded these songs always sound so great live.

 

Favourite album by them.

Followed by Lifes Rich Pageant & Automatic For The People...

Just a superb record to travel/drive whilst listening to.

Encapsulates the madness of the Monster tour well.

Their most diverse collection.

 

I have self arguments all the time whether or not the best album ever made is New Adventures or Quadrophenia.
While Monster is my favorite record, New Adventures is their best IMO but I could make the case for most of their work anyway.
To me NAIHF is the band’s White Album, their spirit spilling out everything that they felt at the time after the sudden mega success, the world tours and the health scares...all into a somehow definitive statement of sorts.

 

I'm a huge fan of New Adventures. Sometimes I think it's their best record. I always think it's their best album after the great IRS years.

 

In my top-3 R.E.M. albums with Murmur and Automatic. It has that weary feel of an album recorded on the road. Low Desert is my sleeper favorite on the album.

 

I have always liked NAIHF but I really think it kinda got lost in the shuffle in 96. Too many new styles of music were coming out. Lots of people who bought Monstet were disappointed that they didn't get AFTP part 2, so that didn't help sales either. But I really think what killed the album the most was releasing "E Bow The Letter" as the debut single. Great album track but definitely not for the masses. It sits at #5 or 6 of my favorite REM albums. I really like it but hardly ever play it. And as far as the siren goes on "Leave" I think that makes the song.

 

my sentiments exactly ... I really like the original IRS releases from the '80's but New Adventures is otherwise my go to REM album

 

"How The West Was Won..." is one of their best.

 

In case this wasn't posted yet:

 

I'm a bit surprised I haven't commented in this thread before. R.E.M. is my favorite band of all time. I probably can't put New Adventures in my top 5 R.E.M. albums but I do love it. It's the last great R.E.M. album and I think a very underrated one. I'd rank it as my 2nd favorite Warner Brothers album behind only Automatic for the People. Somewhere between 5-7 overall.

 

My favourite R.E.M. Album. Especially the 5.1 DVD Audio

 

My 2nd favorite album of theirs. If I had to pick an objective BEST REM record, though, I’d probably go with this one. “Be Mine” was my wedding song.

 

One of the only REM albums I can still listen to front to back. Arguably their best, and one of the best of the '90s. Very understated and dense.

 

Def one of my favorites, it's unique and underrated. I still love the '80's R.E.M. jangle rock sound, but this one is just as good in different ways

 

24 years ago today, New Adventures Of Hi-Fi was released.