New Adventures in Hi-Fi


New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was their fifth major label release for Warner Bros. Records, released on September 9, 1996, in Europe and Australia and the following day in the United States. New Adventures in Hi-Fi was the last album recorded with founding member Bill Berry, original manager Jefferson Holt, and long-time producer Scott Litt. It is also their longest studio album, with a total track time of 65 minutes. Alongside Automatic for the People, Murmur, Green and Out of Time, it is regarded as one of the band's best albums by fans and critics. The members of R.E.M. consider the recorded album representative of the band at their peak, and fans generally regard it as the band's last great record before a perceived artistic decline during the late 1990's and early 2000's. It has sold around seven million units, growing in cult status years after its release, with several retrospectives ranking among the top of the band's recorded catalogue.

Composition and recording

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. The band has cited Neil Young's 1973 album Time Fades Away as a source of inspiration.
In an interview with Mojo, Mike Mills said:

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 supported the band in 1994 and 1995. R.E.M. took 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 are featured throughout, 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". Audio mixing was finished at John Keane Studio in Athens and Louie's Clubhouse in Los Angeles with mastering by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine.
In part due to the nature of the recording process, several of the songs are about travel and motion—including "Departure", "Leave", and "Low Desert". The album's liner notes contain pictures from the road and the deluxe edition of the album is a hardcover book in a slipcase featuring more photographs of R.E.M.'s tour.

Critical reception

Critical reaction to the album was mostly favorable. Several publications lauded the album for its rich diversity, including Rolling Stone, Q, and Mojo. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said, "In its multifaceted sprawl, wound up with one of their best records of the '90s." At the same time, however, Melody Maker criticized the album's empty and flat sound caused by recording in arenas and soundchecks. In a 2017 retrospective on the band, Consequence of Sound ranked it third out of R.E.M.'s 15 full-length studio albums.
The album is Stipe's favorite from R.E.M. and he considers it the band at their peak. Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who cited R.E.M. as a major influence, said it was his favorite R.E.M. album and "Electrolite" was the greatest song of their career.

Awards

New Adventures in Hi-Fi has since appeared on several lists compiling the best albums of the 1990s or all time: Magnet listed the album at #20 on its list of the "Top 60 Albums 1993–2003", and Mojo also listed the album at #20 on a list of "The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993–2006".
It was voted #186 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. It was also featured on several year-end best-of lists for 1996:
All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe.
The Hi Side
  1. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" – 4:31
  2. "The Wake-Up Bomb" – 5:08
  3. "New Test Leper" – 5:26
  4. "Undertow" – 5:09
  5. "E-Bow the Letter" – 5:23
  6. "Leave" – 7:18
The Fi Side
  2. "Departure" – 3:28
  3. "Bittersweet Me" – 4:06
  4. "Be Mine" – 5:32
  5. "Binky the Doormat" – 5:01
  6. "Zither" – 2:33
  7. "So Fast, So Numb" – 4:12
  8. "Low Desert" – 3:30
  9. "Electrolite" – 4:05
Unlike most R.E.M. albums, this vinyl release did not have custom side names and was instead released as a double album. Record one has tracks 1–6 and record two has tracks 7–14. However, the tape release had custom side names. The first side was called the "Hi-side" and the second side was called the "Fi-side."

Singles and B-sides

New Adventures in Hi-Fi consisted of material written during some of the same sessions as Monster and its following promotional tour; consequently, there were few outtakes or left-over tracks for inclusion as B-sides. The first three tracks were international singles, with "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" being released only in Germany.
"E-Bow the Letter"
"Bittersweet Me"
"Electrolite"
"How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"
"Revolution" was also released from these sessions—initially on the Batman & Robin soundtrack and later on disc two of '.
Other singles
"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 '.
The R.E.M. fan club, which issued a special single every year at Christmas time, featured two singles recorded during these sessions: 1996's "Only in America" /"I Will Survive" and 1997's R.E.M. original "Live for Today" was backed with Pearl Jam's "Happy When I'm Crying".

Personnel

"How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"
"The Wake-Up Bomb"
"New Test Leper"
"Undertow"
"E-Bow the Letter"
"Leave"
"Departure"
"Bittersweet Me"
"Be Mine"
"Binky the Doormat"
"Zither"
"So Fast, So Numb"
;"Low Desert"
"Electrolite"
Technical crew
While New Adventures in Hi-Fi began the band's sales decline in the United States, it topped the charts in over a dozen countries and reached #1 on the Top European Albums for 5 consecutive weeks. The album peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and spent 22 weeks on chart. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it has sold 994,000 units in the U.S. as of March 2007. The first single "E-Bow the Letter" received only modest radio airplay in the U.S. and peaked at #49 on the U.S. charts. In the UK, however, the single became the band's biggest hit at that point, reaching #4.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Like all R.E.M. albums since 1988's Green, New Adventures in Hi-Fi was released in a limited edition packaging containing a 64-page hardcover book designed by Chris Bilheimer and featuring photos from the Monster tour. In 2005, Warner Brothers Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of the album which included a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a new audio mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. In addition, the DVD includes a video documentary, lyrics, and a photo gallery.
RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
WorldwideWarner Bros.Compact disc, cassette tape, double LP46320
United StatesWarner Bros.Compact disc, cassette, LP46320
United StatesWarner Bros.Limited edition compact disc46321
WorldwideWarner Bros.Compact Disc and DVD-Audio73950