The live version of "Drive" I think is one of the b-sides of the "Strange Currencies" single. It's a faster (punk) version, I like it a lot. I think they sang it the same way at the 93 VMA's.

I must confess that with the exception of "Strange Currencies" (I call it a poor man's "Everybody Hurts"), Monster is my favorite REM album. I love "Crush with Eyeliner" and "Circus Envy" the best. "Let me In" is good too....I have a live recording of that song from about 2 years ago, and they sped that up live, as well.

Sorry - I'm seeing REM in a few days, I'm on a high!

I'm more excited about the video collection than the cd release...I have most of those songs anyway.

Bad Day on Letterman was great. Saw them a few nights ago in Auburn Hills, MI and the show was fantastic. I was center stage about 15 rows back on the floor and couln't have asked for a better concert. Set list:

finest worksong
so fast so numb (one of my new favs)
driver 8
reno
animal
kenneth
shaking through
bad day
the one i love
fall on me
orange crush
so central rain
find the river
losing my religion
at my most beautiful
she just wants to be
walk unafraid
man on the moon

encore:
everybody hurts
nightswimming
imitation of life
radio free europe
end of the world

Such a great show. Highlights were so fast so numb, driver 8, bad day (great new song), fall on me, so central rain, find the river, nightswimming, imitation, end of the world.

Stipe is truly back in form. The band played a lot of requests from people who emailed them from their website. All in all, a fantastic experience.

More good news from REMHQ.com

R.E.M. RELEASES COMPANION DVDS TO IN TIME

You have heard the rumors, and yes, it is true! In conjunction with the record IN TIME: THE BEST OF R.E.M, 1988-2003, the band will release a compilation DVD containing all the videos from IN TIME. Entitled IN VIEW: THE BEST OF R.E.M, 1988-2003, the DVD will feature 16 videos, as well as 6 rare videos and live footage from the band’s performance at Trafalgar Square. The DVD will feature an option to watch short interview clips from documentaries spanning the IN TIME period. IN VIEW will also include a discography, weblink and the option of Stereo, Dolby Surround, DTS Surround audio mixes. This DVD will be released in both a jewelcase and a standard DVD case. The content of both packages is the exact same.

IN TIME: THE BEST OF R.E.M, 1988-2003 will also be available as a DVD Audio. The DVD Audio format will contain Stereo, Dolby Surround, DTS Surround audio mixes of all the songs, as well as a discography and weblink. As a bonus, the DVDA will also contain the video for Bad Day and a multi-angle video of the band rehearsing Bad Day in the Vancouver studio. The multi-angle format allows you to switch between 4 camera angles at the touch of a button. Please note that the DVD Audio format is not compatible with standard CD players.

Stay tuned for exact release date.

Below is the tracklisting for the IN VIEW DVD:
Music Videos:
Bad Day
All the Way to Reno
Imitation of Life
The Great Beyond
At My Most Beautiful
Daysleeper
Electrolite
E-bow the Letter
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
Nightswimming
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
Everybody Hurts
Man on the Moon
Losing My Religion
Stand
Orange Crush

Bonus Videos:
Tongue
How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us
New Test Leper
Bittersweet Me
Lotus
I’ll Take The Rain

Trafalgar Square performance footage:
Imitation of Life
Losing My Religion
Man on the Moon

Approximate Running Time: 96 minutes


What a great month October will be for REM fans.

Wait.

The DVD-A release doesn't get the bonus songs!?

Is there a new song on the radio? Something "Broadcast a joyful noise" ?

It still is missing alot of VIDEOS!. Will wait for the COMPLETE video collection.

unless their older record company releases them, don't count on it.

What is really a shame is that their are missing videos from the Warner Bros. years. For instance, why leave off Bang & Blame and Strange Currencies? I can see if they were only including videos for the songs on In Time but they have bonus videos like Tongue on there. All in all, Im still excited though. I dont think waiting for a complete collection is worth it when this dvd will probably only cost about $15.

Where was I when All The Way to Reno was a hit?

Where was I when At My Most Beautiful was a hit?

How about Crush With Eyeliner, their only video collaboration with the great Spike Jonze?

They at least got that one played on the radio.

I guess I can see them trying to bury some of the Monster songs because of all the bad reviews (although I'm disappointed), but to exclude the videos is a real shame.

Actually, Spike Jonze also co-directed their video for Electrolite but Crush is clearly the better video. It's a shame that it will not appear on the REM collection or on the upcoming Work of Spike Jonze dvd.

This just in, the DVD-A has been pushed back to November 11th.

This, the Flaming Lips DVD-A, and Neil Young's new DVD-As are never coming out at this rate of a new postponement each week.

Am I the only one who remembers Monster getting mostly positive reviews when it was initially released? By no means was it getting the kind of reviews that Automatic For The People received, but by and large it was getting positive notices. Now it seems as though it is regarded as one of their worst albums. I have always enjoyed it and would be grateful if they could ever again make a cd as good as that or New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

If they don't play Disturbance at the Heron House even once on this tour, I think my head will explode.

"The monkeys and the monkeys."

You're right, Monster never was considered a critical failure, commerical ,yes, since it was supposed to be a reflection of the past success that was 'Automatic...' I think it was also the first in their "80 million" contract with WB (I quoted that because the true amount for that contract has been questioned off and on for years). Now, subsequent albums, notably 'New Adventures..' was an enigma to reviewers and fans and scoffed at by the buying public. It has come under scrunity over the last few years and is seen as a very good, if not excellent album. The success of 'Automatic' has made it difficult for any proper, critical evaluation of their work I think---we all wanted mega-success and by falsely preparing ourselves we were all let down...

Now, on the other hand, 'UP' and 'Reveal', I no longer own...I just could not for the life of me get into either of those---years after like 'New Adventures'---find anything that struck me in the ears and heart. Yes, there are good songs, but nothing seemed cohesive like the last three. And of course these albums have been released in the Backstreet/Brintey/avril abyss that is minus musical and artistic ambition and integrity. Though people complain about the seriousness and even pretentiousness of 90's music, at least it strove for something other than material goals---all of which are good and comes with the territory when one's work is appreciated by a mass audience (which goes for any art form.)

Actually, it received a lot of awful reviews and it made many "worst" of the decade lists and things like that. I thought the album did well commercially. It wasn't a huge success, but Kenneth was a big hit, Bang and Blame was pretty big (I remember MTV playing it ALL the time), Star 69 made a little noise as did Strange Currencies and Crush With Eyeliner (my favorite song from Monster).

I think that if most any band had 5 songs as good as those ones are on one album, they'd be pretty lucky. Let me In was good too. I just don't get why so many people thought it was awful. Compared to Automatic and Hi-Fi, it was not the same kind of really high quality music and lyrics, but it was still good and Hi-Fi was even a bigger commercial flop. Which is too bad because that's an album that everyone should have in their collection.

Actually I beg to differ on the review aspect, here is a quick list of of reviews from Half.com from rs, q, spin, magazine who back in the day I think we at the time trusted fairly, but who have de-evolved over the years.

http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/reviews...d=2&sort=47705

I'm not sure what that proves. There are thousands of reviews of an album and a lot of revisionist reviewing. Once it started getting panned by some people, for unknown reasons, a lot of publications that gave it good reviews changed their tune.

The point is that there is a reason the band distances itself pretty much from the entire album. And it's not because all of the songs were as awfully grating as Shiny Happy People.

But all this proves is that REM didn't really do a very good job with their selections for the "hits" album. And even worse on the videos, because they shouldn't have left anything off of that.

I do like the new song, though.

Out of Time
Automatic for the People
Monster

... were all[at least] certified 4X PLATINUM. They are considered their BIG THREE, so "Monster" was not a FAILURE.

and

"HI-FI" was their FIRST album under the "80 Million" deal, not "Monster".

They played this in Raleigh on the next to the last show of the tour. Bill Berry came out and sang backup on Rockville and played drums on Radio Free Europe.

Did anyone go to the Atlanta show last night? The setlist looked pretty amazing. They played a ten song encore and the setlist was full of old songs. I wish I would've gone.

I think this would be the one song I would like to see live more than any other song by anyone. Of course, I have reconciled the fact that I never will.

I wonder if they've been taping these performances for a concert DVD. Something like Touring Band would really cool, but with all the content of the Melissa Etheridge DVD.

Stipe was really prickly about complaints he got about not doing the old songs and now he says he wants to give the fans what they want. It probably has nothing to do with selling the Greatest Hits CD, that is missing several of their greatest hits.

A concert DVD chock full of lots of the old songs performed live that I never got to see would be a lot better than some videos and a cd that's nowhere near as good as my own REM mixes.

I went the REM show in Atlanta Saturday night. It was okay. They played something from every album, but Monster. I never realized how strongly I preferred their IRS material over the 90's stuff. If the show had ended with no encore I would have been disappointed. But the encore was pretty sweet... a couple of tunes from Chronic Town and Murmur... and as the review from the Atlanta paper said... "Imitation of Life" the best song they've done over the past 7 years (I'm still confused about how the Reveal album was so spotty).

I've seen REM 4 times now and I can't say I was blown away at any of their shows. They were probably one of the biggest influences in my life of learning to love alt-rock in the mid-80's so I do dig 'em. But a few songs last night were yawners. I really dislike that Ebow the Letter song. Pete Yorn came out and sang with Stipe...zzzzzz.

Overall, the show was enjoyable for what it was.

Actually he sang one backup chorus on Radio Free Europe and then played drums on Permanent Vacation. The crowd was going absolutely crazy when he got behind the drum kit. Here is a review from the local newspaper which pretty much sums up how I felt about the show...

Monday, October 13, 2003 12:00AM EDT

CONCERT REVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A perfect, upbeat ending
Drummer Bill Berry returns for a show to remember

RALEIGH--A rustle went through the crowd Friday night during Pete Yorn's set. The person least expected to show up for an R.E.M. concert -- or someone who looked just like him -- had been spotted walking down the aisle.
Hey, wasn't that Bill Berry?

Berry, R.E.M.'s original drummer, hadn't played or recorded with the group for six years. "Him playing in public with us -- that's not gonna happen again," guitarist Peter Buck told The News & Observer in a recent interview.

Nevertheless, Berry was in Raleigh, and R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe dedicated two songs to "Mr. William T. Berry, our No. 1 fan." And during the encore, Berry climbed behind the drums and bashed out "Permanent Vacation," an outtake from R.E.M.'s 1983 "Murmur" album. The result was utter pandemonium -- onstage and in the audience.

The reunion capped what had already been a fabulous show, a stop on a greatest-hits tour to generate interest in the Oct. 28 release of "In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003" (Warner Bros. Records). In recent years, R.E.M. has often looked less like a band than a collection of individuals with minimal camaraderie, but with the new drummer, Ministry alumnus Bill Rieflin, ably holding down the beat, the Raleigh audience saw a cohesive group.

The Triangle has always been R.E.M.'s home away from home, and the concert had the relaxed, informal feel of a band playing for friends. Stipe referred to the Alltel Pavilion audience as a "hometown crowd" and got into a discussion with someone in the audience about the relative merits of different grocery store chains. Everyone onstage laughed off a false start on "The One I Love."

R.E.M. has been taking set list suggestions from fans on its Web site, and some of the show's best moments were obscure oldies -- "Disturbance at the Heron House," "Driver 8" and a torchy rendition of "Nightswimming" with bassist Mike Mills on piano. Of 1984's "So. Central Rain," Stipe said, "This is a beautiful song we first debuted on 'The David Letterman Show' about 430 years ago."

The handful of new songs held up, too, especially "Bad Day." A churning overdrive rocker, "Bad Day" is a collection of sound bites in tune with the current sociopolitical climate. Stipe introduced the song by pretending to place a call to the White House, asking for Dick Cheney or Karl Rove.

But it was Berry's cameo that had everybody talking afterward -- and it seemed to make the years fall off everyone. Berry sheepishly climbed onstage during band introductions, and Mills coaxed him to a microphone to sing backup on "Radio Free Europe." And with everyone in the venue urging him on, Berry took off his jacket and played "Permanent Vacation." It was ragged, sure, but also an indescribably wonderful moment.

All the hugging on stage appeared to be completely genuine and unscripted. Stipe, Buck and Mills seemed giddy, and as surprised as anyone in the crowd to have the prodigal drummer, R.E.M.'s missing heartbeat, unexpectedly back in the fold.

After "Permanent Vacation," Rieflin resumed playing drums for the customary show-ending romp, "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)."

"See you later, alligator!" Stipe hollered, and Buck picked Stipe up, slung him over his hip and carried him offstage as the singer waved to the crowd -- just as Johnny Cash's rendition of "We'll Meet Again" began playing over the public address system.

It was a perfect end to a perfect night.