In the forums at murmurs.com, they found the tracklisting for the best of at cd-wow.com. It will come in a single and a two disc version. Below is the tracklisting of the 2 discer:

# Begin The Begin
# Radio Free Europe
# Pretty Persuasion
# Talk About The Passion
# (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
# Sitting Still
# Gardening At Night
# 7 Chinese Bros.
# So Central Rain (I'm Sorry)
# Driver 8
# Can't Get There From Here
# Finest Worksong
# Feeling Gravity's Pull
# I Beleive
# Life And How To Live It
# Cuyahoga
# The One I Love
# Welcome To The Occupation
# Fall On Me
# Perfect Circle
# It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

Bonus Disc

* Pilgrimage (Mike's Pick)
* These Days (Bill's Pick)
* Gardening at Night (Slower Electric Demo) (Previously Unreleased)
* Radio Free Europe (Hib-tone Version)
* Sitting Still (Hib-tone Version)
* Life and How to Live It (Live) (Previously Unreleased)
* Ages of You (Live At The Paradise, Boston 7/13/83) (Previously Unreleased)
* We Walk (Live At The Paradise, Boston 7/13/83) (Previously Unreleased)
* 1,000,000 (Live At The Paradise, Boston 7/13/83) (Previously Unreleased)
* Finest Worksong (Other Mix)
* Hyena (Demo) (Previously Unreleased)
* Theme from Two Steps Onward (Previously Unreleased)
* Superman
* All the Right Friends (Previously Unreleased, Later Version Released On Official Soundtrack To Vanilla Sky)
* Mystery to Me (Demo)
* Just A Touch (Live In-studio Version) (Previously Unreleased)
* Bad Day (Session Outtake) (Previously Unreleased)
* King of Birds (Last Song Cut)
* Swan Swan H (Live Acoustic From Athens, GA-Inside Out)
* Disturbance At The Heron House (Peter's Pick)
* Time After Time (Ann Elise) (Michael's Pick)

Solid collection of songs and the bonus disc looks fantastic to me.

I'm getting this. Now only if they'd remaster everything before and including Green. The volume is just way too low for me (mainly Murmur and Reckoning though).

It's really almost unbelievable how good these songs are. I actually would prefer disc 1 or disc 2 to the actual greatest hits cd. And there are many, many more songs from the IRS period that aren't on this release and I can't wait to get them all remastered.

I would put REM's songs from this era up against any other band in my lifetime. I don't think anyone else comes close.

Disturbance At The Heron House is my favorite REM song and I'm bummed that I'll never get to see them do it live. I was hoping that they would release more than 1 concert from their last tour when they were taking fan requests and finally playing a lot of their old stuff again.

I would pay anything to see them do a concert with only the older songs. Everything before "Green."

Totally agree with you. I can't believe there's still people out there that discount this era and think middle period REM (Green to Monster) is their prime.

It's akin to believing the Stones hit their peak in the 80's.

This is the very best that I could do in picking my favorites BEFORE Green. I think of everyone of these as great songs and there are arguably several other songs from this era that are just as great. You might argue these albums were close to perfect. Who else in the last 25 years has done anything better? I can't think of anyone even close. And then you have all of their stuff from Green to the present. And I think their stuff all the way through Hi-Fi was pretty terrific, with Automatic For The People being my favorite album since they left IRS.

Pilgrimage
Catapult
Laughing
Moral Kiosk
Talk About The Passion
Perfect Circle
Sitting Still
7 Chinese Brothers
So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)
Pretty Persuasion
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville
Second Guessing
Time After Time (Ann-Elise)
Wolves, Lower
Gardening At Night
Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
Finest Worksong
Radio Free Europe
Disturbance At The Heron House
Exhuming McCarthy
It's the End Of The World...
The One I Love
Strange
Maps And Legends
Driver 8
Life And How To Live It
Can't Get There From Here
Begin The Begin
Superman
Fall On Me
These Days
Swan Swan H.

There are a lot of R.E.M. fans (like me) who got their first CD player around the time Monster came out. Monster was actually the first CD I ever bought (at 14). For that reason, the early Warner days were when I began listening to R.E.M. and I remember when I first listened to a tape (yes, a tape) of Green and thinking it was incredible. As I got older, I began listening to stuff from the IRS years. My first impression was still the early Warner stuff, so that's where my taste was formed. However, I haven't really gotten into any of their stuff since Up.

My MoFi version of Reckoning is not obsolete, yet...

It likely never will be, since remastering these days means "compress it all to hell in order to make it loud", which makes it awful to listen to (not that anybody used to listening to music on iPods, MP3s, and radio could tell). MoFi did it right.

From remhq.com

Found a few more details on the extras for the DVD at Yahoo :

Early Rarities, Live Clips Highlight R.E.M. CD/DVD

R.E.M.'s pre-major label stint on I.R.S. Records will be anthologized on two CDs and a DVD due Sept. 12 via EMI Catalog Music Marketing. "And I Feel Fine" will be available as both a single-disc CD package and a double-disc set with a host of rarities, live cuts and previously unreleased selections. The DVD, "When the Light Is Mine," features a mix of music videos and live TV performances.

As expected, the single-disc version of "And I Feel Fine" includes the finest tracks from R.E.M.'s first five years, from "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" and "Radio Free Europe" to "Driver 8," "Sitting Still" and "Begin the Begin." The set appropriately closes with "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," from 1987's "Document," the band's final I.R.S. album before inking with Warner Bros.

But it's the two-disc edition of the collection that will prove a bounty for R.E.M. collectors, as it includes the first authorized release of the studio outtakes "Theme From Two Steps Onward" and "Bad Day." The former has circulated on bootlegs for years, while the latter was originally recorded during the sessions for 1986's "Life's Rich Pageant." It was revived and re-recorded for inclusion on R.E.M.'s 2003 retrospective "In Time -- The Best of R.E.M."

Other nuggets include an early 1980s version of "All the Right Friends" (which was re-recorded for the 2001 soundtrack to "Vanilla Sky), demos of "Hyena" and the early live favorite "Mystery to Me," a "live in the studio" version of "Just a Touch" and live takes of "Ages of You," "We Walk" and "1,000,000" taped July 13, 1983 at Boston's Paradise.

"When the Light Is Mine" is highlighted by performances from the U.K. TV show "The Tube" of "Talk About the Passion," "Radio Free Europe" and "Can't Get There From Here" (featuring a blonde Michael Stipe), a 20-minute film titled "Left of Reckoning" and a 1984 performance of "Pretty Persuasion" from "The Old Grey Whistle Test." The label promises "rare interview footage and acoustic performances" but details of these features have yet to be announced.

According to R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs, original R.E.M. members Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry were heavily involved in crafting the upcoming releases, including selecting their favorite studio tracks for the two-disc edition of "And I Feel Fine."

"This is a good history lesson on the days of yore when the band first started out and were writing sometimes 2-3 songs a day, many of which became classics, and some of which were lost in the mists of tape and time and vault," he says.

To coincide with the releases, R.E.M. will be induced into Georgia Music Hall of Fame on Sept. 16 in Atlanta.

Here is the track list for "And I Feel Fine":
"Begin the Begin"
"Radio Free Europe"
"Pretty Persuasion"
"Talk About the Passion"
"(Don't Go Back to) Rockville"
"Sitting Still"
"Gardening at Night"
"7 Chinese Bros."
"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)"
"Driver 8"
"Can't Get There From Here"
"Finest Worksong"
"Feeling Gravity's Pull"
"I Believe"
"Life and How To Live It"
"Cuyahoga"
"The One I Love"
"Welcome to the Occupation"
"Fall on Me"
"Perfect Circle"
"It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

Bonus disc:
"Pilgrimage" (Mike's pick)
"These Days" (Bill's pick)
"Gardening at Night" (slower electric demo; previously unreleased)
"Radio Free Europe" (Hib-tone version)
"Sitting Still" (Hib-tone version)
"Life and How to Live It" (Live at the Muziekcentrum, Utrecht, Holland 9/14/87; previously unreleased)
"Ages of You" (Live at the Paradise, Boston 7/13/83; previously unreleased)
"We Walk" (Live at the Paradise, Boston 7/13/83; previously unreleased)
"1,000,000" (Live at the Paradise, Boston 7/13/83; previously unreleased)
"Finest Worksong" (other mix)
"Hyena" (demo; previously unreleased)
"Theme From Two Steps Onward" (previously unreleased)
"Superman"
"All the Right Friends" (previously unreleased)
"Mystery to Me" (demo; previously unreleased)
"Just A Touch" (live in-studio version; previously unreleased)
"Bad Day" (previously unreleased)
"King of Birds"
"Swan Swan H" (live acoustic version)
"Disturbance at the Heron House" (Peter's pick)
"Time After Time" (Annelise)" (Michael's pick)

Here is the track list for "When the Light Is Mine":
"Wolves, Lower"
"Radio Free Europe"
"Talk About the Passion"
"Radio Free Europe" (Live, "The Tube," 11/18/83)
"Talk About the Passion" (Live, "The Tube," 11/18/83)
"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)"
James Herbert's "Left of Reckoning"
"Pretty Persuasion" (Live, "The Old Grey Whistle Test," 11/20/84)
"Can't Get There From Here"
"Driver 8"
"Life and How To Live It"
"Feeling Gravity's Pull"
"Can't Get There From Here" (Live, "The Tube," 10/25/85)
"Fall On Me"
"Swan Swan H" ("Inside/Out")
"The One I Love"
"It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
"Finest Worksong"

BILLBOARD.com

here you go [reubs82]

Another batch that we've been talking about for a long, long time are the imminent reissues of Document (a 2CD Deluxe Edition); Life's Rich Pageant (2CD Deluxe Edition); Fables of the Reconstruction (Deluxe Edition); and Film Stock - The Complete DVD, all of which street in January.

MUSICTAP.net

What about Murmur, Dead Letter Office, and Reckoning?

Life's Rich Pageant and Document will be MINE. MUAHAHA!

I'm in for all these reissues.....damn, this money is just flyin' out of my wallet.

even though i have most (if not all) of the tracks from the second disc of "and i feel fine" scattered across more boots than i care to count, i will be picking this one up. for the info.

You can get both the 2-cd set and the DVD for $14.99 on Amazon right now. Just pull either of the 2 items up and click on the "Buy both and save" button that is on the page. It says it will be $29.98 but when you get to the final page in the cart right before you confirm the order, it takes $16.99 off the price. See mine below. I also added in a $12.97 cd for free shipping.

Item(s) Subtotal: $44.95
Shipping & Handling: $4.96
Best Value Savings: $-16.99
Best Value Savings: $0.00
Super Saver Discount: $-4.96
-----
Total Before Tax: $27.96
Estimated Tax: $0.00
-----
Grand Total: $27.96

Not a bad deal. I got the DVD, Deluxe cd set, and the new BNL for

Wow! Thanks for the tip. I got the 2 CD set + the DVD for $18.96, shipped. What a deal!

Wonder if the DVD has 5.1 remixes like the Warner best of set does?

Just hopped on this too after seeing it posted on the Murmurs.com forum. Mine says it's not expected to ship until Sept 25th, though. Hopefully it will be shipped much, much sooner. Execellent deal though, regardless.

thanks cdollaz....good tip!!

BTW, they allowed me to choose free shipping. Total cost $14.99

I love the 2 disc cd, but I just don't get why bands think we'd rather have several versions of 1 song (regular, outtake, demo, hib-tone, live) and leave off songs like Catapult, Carnival of Sorts (box cars), Wolvers, Lower, etc...

If you want to release live versions and demos, then put out a 3rd disc.

They HAD BETTER re-lease everything, not just a few of their IRS albums.

I had to buy this at BB for the 2 extra songs and 1 video. But the 2 songs were already on the CD, these were just different versions of those songs.

The best news was the one of them is my favorite REM song, Disturbance At The Heron House.

Same here...I ordered them both and got the 9/25 ship date for the DVD. But, after initially deducting the $16.99, it looks like it's now indicating that I will be charged that price. The two-CD has shipped already (I have Amazon Prime); the DVD is "shipping soon" but not expected until 9/25.

Personally, I don't care if they bill me for the DVD, but I do expect that they will at least deduct the $2.00 off I was supposed to get for buying the two together. The math on my order is confusing right now, so I will have to wait until the DVD ships to see if this gets straightened out.

Fianally, if you look up the DVD on their site, the listing now indicates "not currently available" (i.e., you can't order it at all). Wonder what that means.

Woot! Picked up both the 2xCD set and DVD, and I don't really like music DVDs but hey it's R.E.M. so I just gotta!

-Gunshy

This set makes me think one thing: What a brilliant, creative, mysterious and exciting band these guys were in their prime.

The fan site murmurs.com has a video posted of a live performance of "Begin the Begin" with Bill Berry recently at the 40 Watt Club. They're rehearsing together to prepare for the GA Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Saturday.

http://www.murmurs.com/

There's also a recent interview with Michael Stipe regarding the I.R.S. Collection release:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2...10687,,00.html