New Adventures in Hi-Fi: Difference between revisions

New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the tenth full-length studio album by the American band R.E.M. It was their fifth major label release for Warner Bros. Records, released 1996-09-09. New Adventures in Hi-Fi was the last album recorded with founding member, drummer Bill Berry - who left the band amicably the following year - original manager Jefferson Holt and long-time producer Scott Litt.

The album was recorded during and after the tour in support of Monster in 1995. The material on the album mixed the acoustic, country rock, feel of much of Out of Time and Automatic for the People with the rock sound of Monster and Lifes Rich Pageant. Guitarist Peter Buck said that the band tried so hard to be a rock band again with Monster, but it just didn't quite work out.^{[citation needed]} They stopped trying, and they ended up putting together their most rock and roll record to date. They have cited Neil Young's 1973 album Time Fades Away as a source of inspiration.^{[citation needed]}

The band noted that they borrowed the recording process for the album from Radiohead, who recorded some of the basic tracks for The Bends while on tour and who were supporting the band in 1994 and 1995. R.E.M. brought along eight-track recorders to capture their live performances, and used the recordings as the base elements for the album. As such, the band's touring musicians Nathan December and Scott McCaughey ended up appearing on throughout the album with Andy Carlson contributing violin to "Electrolite." After the tour was over, the band went into the Bad Animals Studio and recorded four additional tracks, "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us," "E-Bow the Letter," "Be Mine," and "New Test Leper." Patti Smith came to the sessions and contributed vocals on "E-Bow the Letter."

Although it reached #2 in the U.S.^[1], spending 22 weeks on the charts, and topped the UK Album Charts ^[2] (20 weeks on chart) as well as #1 on the Australian Charts, New Adventures in Hi-Fi began the band's sales decline in the United States. The first single "E-Bow the Letter" was cited as an unusual choice for radio.^{[citation needed]} It subsequently received only modest radio airplay in the U.S. and peaked at #49 on the U.S. charts.^[3] In the UK, however, the single became the band's biggest hit at that point, reaching #4.^[2] As of March 2007, New Adventures in Hi-Fi has sold 994,000 units in the U.S.^[4]

In 2005, Warner Brothers Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of New Adventures in Hi-Fi which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes.

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.^[5]

1. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" – 4:31 Seattle Studio
2. "The Wake-Up Bomb" – 5:08 Charleston
3. "New Test Leper" – 5:26 Seattle Studio
4. "Undertow" – 5:09 Boston
5. "E-Bow the Letter" – 5:23 Seattle Studio
6. "Leave" – 7:18 Atlanta Soundcheck
7. "Departure" – 3:28 Detroit
8. "Bittersweet Me" – 4:06 Memphis Soundcheck
9. "Be Mine" – 5:32 Seattle Studio
10. "Binky the Doormat" – 5:01 Phoenix
11. "Zither" – 2:33 Dressing Room Philadelphia
12. "So Fast, So Numb" – 4:12 Orlando Soundcheck
13. "Low Desert" – 3:30 Atlanta Soundcheck
14. "Electrolite" – 4:05 Phoenix Soundcheck

Like most R.E.M. albums, the vinyl release has custom side names. Side one (tracks 1-6) is called the "Hi side" and side two (tracks 7-14) the "Fi side."

• Bill Berry – drums and percussion, backing vocals on 10, acoustic guitar on 6, bass on 11, synthesizer on 6, "ennio whistle"^[6] on 1
• Peter Buck – acoustic guitar and electric guitar, bass on 1 & 9, banjo on 14, electric sitar on 5, mandolin on 1, bouzouki on 1
• Mike Mills – bass, backing vocals on 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10 & 12, guitar on 9, fuzz bass on 7 & 10, piano on 1 & 14, organ on 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 12 & 13, Mellotron on 5 & 8, Farfisa organ on 7, keyboards on 6, 9 & 10, synthesizer on 1, Moog synthesizer on 5
• Michael Stipe – vocals, synthesizer on 1

• Patti Smith – vocals on 5
• Scott McCaughey – autoharp on 11, piano on 8, 12, 13, Farfisa on 10, ARP Odyssey on 6
• Nathan December – guitar on 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, slide guitar on 13, tambourine on 11, guiro on 14
• Andy Carlson – violin on 14

• Adam Kasper – recording engineer, Seattle
• Sam Hofstedt – assistant engineer, Seattle
• John Keane – recording and mixing engineer
• William Field – assistant engineer, Athens
• Pat McCarthy – recording engineer, Los Angeles
• Victor Janacua – assistant engineer, Los Angeles
• Scott Litt – mixing engineer
• Joe O'Herlihy – tour recording engineer
• Jo Ravitch – tour recording engineer
• Jeff Wooding – tour recording engineer
• Mark "Microwave" Mytrowitz – technical assistance
• Eric Stolz – digital editing
• Bob Ludwig/Gateway Mastering – mastering

New Adventures consisted of material written during the same sessions and tour as Monster; consequently, there were few outtakes or left-over tracks for inclusion as b-sides.

• "Tricycle" – 1:59 Recorded during soundcheck at the Riverport Amphitheater, St. Louis, Missouri on September 22, 1995.
• "Departure" (Rome soundcheck version) – 3:35 Recorded during soundcheck at the Paleur, Rome, Italy on February 22, 1995.
• "Wall of Death" (Richard Thompson) – 3:07 Taken from the Richard Thompson tribute album, Beat the Retreat.

• "Undertow" (Live) – 5:05 Recorded at the Omni Theater, Atlanta, Georgia on November 18, 1995. Taken from the live performance video, Road Movie.
• "Wichita Lineman" (Jimmy Webb) – 3:18 Recorded at The Woodlands, Houston, Texas on September 15, 1995.
• "New Test Leper" (Live acoustic) – 5:29 Recorded at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington; April 19, 1996.

• "The Wake-Up Bomb" (Live) – 5:07 Recorded at the Omni Theater, Atlanta, Georgia on November 18, 1995. Taken from the live performance video, Road Movie.
• "Binky the Doormat" (Live) – 5:01 Recorded at the Omni Theater, Atlanta, Georgia on November 18, 1995. Taken from the live performance video, Road Movie.
• "King of Comedy" (808 State remix) – 5:36

• "Love Is All Around" (Reg Presley) – 3:04 Previously released on the 1996 soundtrack for I Shot Andy Warhol.
• "Sponge" (Vic Chesnutt) – 4:08 Previously released on the Chesnutt benefit album Sweet Relief II in 1996.
• "Be Mine" (Mike on the Bus Version) - 4:54

"Revolution" was also released from these sessions - initially on the Batman & Robin and later on disc two of In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003.

"New Test Leper" and "The Wake-Up Bomb" were released as promotional singles for the album; the former had a music video directed by Lance Bangs and Dominic DeJoseph. All five videos from the album would later be collected on In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003.

The R.E.M. fan club releases a single every Christmastime, with two singles recorded during these sessions: 1996's "Only in America" (originally by Jay & The Americans)/"I Will Survive" (a Gloria Gaynor cover) and 1997's R.E.M. original "Live for Today" was backed with Pearl Jam's "Happy When I'm Crying".

Among fans of the band the record is considered among their best and is highlight of middle R.E.M. career. ^[7] Michael Stipe says that New Adventures in Hi-Fi is his favorite of their albums.^{[citation needed]} According to Peter Buck, when Warner Bros. heard the album that was to take them to the top - Out Of Time - they were dumbfounded: "You think the one with the lead mandolin should be the first single?!" On hearing New Adventures…, he says, the same people proclaimed, "Hey, there's three Top 10 records on here!"^[8]

Critical reaction to the album was mostly positive. Several publications lauded the album for its rich diversity, including Rolling Stone, Q, and Mojo and Stephen Thomas Erlewine from All Music says "in its multifaceted sprawl, they wound up with one of their best records of the '90s." At the same time, however some publications including Melody Maker, criticized the album's empty and flat sound caused by recording in arenas and soundchecks.

• New Adventures in Hi-Fi press release