From Billboard.com
R.E.M. Eyes 'Perfect' DVD, New Album
R.E.M.'s July 19, 2003, concert at Bowling Green in Weisbaden, Germany, is captured in its entirety on the DVD "Perfect Square," due March 16 from Warner Bros. The 23-song set sports such performance rarities as "Maps and Legends" from the 1985 album "Fables of the Reconstruction" and the ancient non-album track "Permanent Vacation." Prior to the 2003 tour, the former had not been played live since 1989, while the latter hadn't been unearthed since 1984.

Also featured are "Bad Day" and "Animal," the two new songs included on the recent best-of "In Time," plus such R.E.M. favorites as "The One I Love," "Orange Crush," "Country Feedback" and the show-closing "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).""Perfect Square" is bolstered by the documentary "A Stirling Performance," which chronicles the set-up for R.E.M.'s summer 1999 three-night stand in the small Scottish town of Stirling. The film features performance footage, behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with the band.

Meanwhile, work continues in earnest on R.E.M.'s next studio album, extensive sessions for which have already taken place in Vancouver. According to a post on the band's official Web site, group members are in Athens, Ga., writing songs and revisiting some of the previously recorded material. Working titles include "Around the Sun," "Wanderlust," "Magnetic North" and "I Wanted To Be Wrong."

"The band will be heading into the studio in the next few weeks," the post continues. "We're hoping for a fall record and hopefully will be touring some of the places we didn't on the '03 tour (and some of the ones we did)."

Here is the track list for "Perfect Square":

"Begin the Begin"
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
"Maps and Legends"
"Drive"
"Animal"
"Daysleeper"
"The Great Beyond"
"Bad Day"
"The One I Love"
"All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)"
"Orange Crush"
"Losing My Religion"
"At My Most Beautiful"
"Electrolite"
"She Just Wants To Be"
"Walk Unafraid"
"Man on the Moon"
"Everybody Hurts"
"So Fast, So Numb"
"Country Feedback"
"Permanent Vacation"
"Imitation of Life"
"It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

Hopefully as an easter egg they will add the performance of "Permanent Vacation" with Bill Berry from the Raleigh, NC show as it was great to see him behind the drum kit again.

This dvd looks great. Nice to see some oldies on there.

And back-to-back 'So Fast, So Numb'/'Country Feedback' is the shit.

It's pretty much impossible for REM to do a concert dvd release that is nearly satisfying. They just have WAY too many great songs, most of the olders ones especially. I can think of at least 25 that I'm disappointed not to see on the dvd.

But, I'll take what I can get, the other concert dvd I have from them is awful.

Just 25...? I can think of many more than that

I'd be ecstatic to get a live show from the Murmur days!

You're right, the number is way low. I was trying not to act too unhappy.

The songs from way back that they chose are not at all the ones I was hoping for, but, again, it's gotta to be better than Road Movie.

But no Crush with Eyeliner, no the Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, No Near Wild Heaven, Nightswimming, Me in Honey, Belong, Driver 8, Catapult, Pilgrimage, Disturbance at the Heron House, Carnival of Sorts, Superman...well, I won't list all 25.

REM would be one of the few, if not the only, bands that could have filmed many of the different sets they did to offer variety and I think they all would have sold well. Like Pearl Jam did with bootlegs, maybe not that many.

Cause, I didn't get to see REM for the first time until 1996 and they were still in that phase where they didn't want to do much old stuff at all. So I've never seen the old stuff live and I'd pay dearly to get the chance.

I'm just happy to be getting a decent dvd release from my favorite band