| New Adventures in Hi-Fi | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | R.E.M. |
| Cover: | R.E.M. - New Adventures in Hi-Fi.jpg |
| Alt: | A black and white photograph of a hot desert. |
| Caption: | Cover to the standard edition of the album. |
| Recorded: | 1995–1996 |
| Studio: |
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| Genre: | |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Parallel |
| Prev Year: | 1995 |
| Next Title: | Road Movie |
| Next Year: | 1996 |
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 band's final album recorded with founding drummer Bill Berry (who left the band amicably the following year), original manager Jefferson Holt, and long-time producer Scott Litt. The members of R.E.M. consider the recorded album representative of the band at their peak,[1] and fans generally regard it as the band's last great record before a perceived artistic decline during the late 1990s and early 2000s.[2] It has sold around seven million units, growing in cult status years after its release, with several retrospectives ranking it among the top of the band's recorded catalogue.[3]
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.[4] The band has cited Neil Young's 1973 album Time Fades Away as a source of inspiration.[5] The album has been labeled as "folk rock-jangle" by critic Robert Christgau.
In an interview with Mojo, bassist Mike Mills said:
The band noted that they borrowed the recording process for the album from Radiohead, who had 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 Seattle's 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 reaction to the album was mostly extremely positive. Several publications lauded the album for its rich diversity, including Rolling Stone, which said "The sequence of songs and the range of emotions on New Adventures convey a narrative that has all the dynamics and contradictions of life itself." Q and Mojo also gave positive reviews. At the same time, however, Melody Maker criticized the album's empty and flat sound caused by recording in arenas and soundchecks.[6]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said, "New Adventures in Hi-Fi feels like it was recorded on the road. Not only are all of Michael Stipe's lyrics on the album about moving or travel, the sound is ragged and varied, pieced together from tapes recorded at shows, soundtracks, and studios, giving it a loose, careening charm." and concluded "In its multifaceted sprawl, [R.E.M.] wound up with one of their best records of the '90s." In a 2017 retrospective on the band, Consequence of Sound ranked it third out of R.E.M.'s 15 full-length studio albums.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi is frontman Michael Stipe's favorite R.E.M. album, and he considers it the band at their peak.[1] Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who has cited R.E.M. as a major influence, called it his favorite R.E.M. album and "Electrolite" the band's greatest song.[7] Jeremy Bifras of BrooklynVegan called the album "an experimental masterpiece."[8]
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",[9] 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 (3rd Edition, 2000).[10] 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
The Fi Side
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 (three songs per side) and record two has tracks 7–14 (four songs per side). The tape release maintained the custom side names: the first side was called the "Hi-side" and the second side was called the "Fi-side."
"How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"
Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington
"The Wake-Up Bomb"
Recorded live at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 16, 1995
"New Test Leper"
Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington
"Undertow"
Recorded live at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 3, 1995
"E-Bow the Letter"
Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington
"Leave"
Recorded at a soundcheck at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 19, or 21, 1995
"Departure"
Recorded live at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on June 6 or 7, 1995
"Bittersweet Me"
Recorded at a soundcheck at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 7, 1995
"Be Mine"
Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington
"Binky the Doormat"
Recorded live at the Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 4, 1995
"Zither"
Recorded in the dressing room of The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 12, 13, or 14, 1995
"So Fast, So Numb"
Recorded at a soundcheck at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, on November 15, 1995
"Electrolite"
Recorded at a soundcheck at the Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 4, 1995
Technical personnel
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 five consecutive weeks.[11] 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.[12] [13] [14] The first single, "E-Bow the Letter", received only modest radio airplay in the U.S. and peaked at #49 on its charts.[15] In the UK, however, the single became the band's biggest hit at that point, reaching #4.
| Canadian Albums (The Record)[16] | 1 |
|---|---|
| Danish Albums (IFPI/Nielsen Music Control)[17] | 1 |
| European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)[18] | 1 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[19] | 7 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[20] | 1 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[21] | 26 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) | 2 |
| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[22] | 5 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] | 58 | |
|---|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[24] | 16 | |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] | 78 | |
| European Albums (European Top 100 Albums) | 19 | |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] | 34 | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] | 25 | |
| Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)[28] | 37 | |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] | 50 | |
| UK Albums (OCC)[30] | 34 | |
| US Billboard 200[31] | 96 |
Like all R.E.M. albums since 1988's Green, New Adventures in Hi-Fi was released in a limited-edition packaging. This one contained 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 (in 5.1-channel surround sound, high resolution, AC3, Dolby Stereo, and DTS 5.1) 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.
As with the prior albums, a 25th-anniversary edition was announced in August 2021 for an October release date. The edition includes a remastered album, B-sides from the album and a Blu-ray with previously unreleased promotional materials.[32] Due to issues related to the 2021 global supply chain crisis, all CD variations of the remastered reissue were delayed to mid-November 2021.[33]
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | Warner Bros. | Compact disc, cassette tape, double LP | 46320 | |
| United States | Warner Bros. | Compact disc, cassette, 2LP | 46320 | |
| United States | Warner Bros. | Limited-edition compact disc | 46321 | |
| Worldwide | Warner Bros. | Compact disc and DVD-Audio | 73950 | |
| Worldwide | Craft Recordings | 2LP | CR00438 | |
| 2CD | CR00440 | |||
| 2CD/1 Blu-ray/book | CR00439 |
