Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M. explained

Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M.
Type:	compilation
Artist:	various artists
Cover:	Surprise Your Pig.jpg
Alt:	A photo of a woman with on a farm, shielding the sun from her eyes, surrounded by a thick border
Genre:	Alternative rock punk rock
Language:	English
Label:	Staplegun

Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M. is a tribute album of the songs of R.E.M. released in 1992. The release has received positive reviews from critics.

Reception

Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, with critic Bradley Torreano writing that "his would serve well as an introduction to R.E.M. for those who may be too cynical to listen to it on their own, but fans of the band may feel disappointed by how far these covers stray from the originals". This compilation was shortlist in Spins "Stolar Tracks" feature, where the covers were called "twisted, sped up, slowed down, and reshaped" to the point where "stalwarts might only recognize a few key words". In Gimme Indie Rock, Andrew Earles recommended this among a handful of compilation albums.

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe

1. "Radio Free Europe" by Just Say No – 3:10
2. "1,000,000" by Band of Susans – 4:25
3. "Stumble" by Gumball – 6:19
4. "We Walk" by Steel Pole Bath Tub – 3:40
5. "Talk About the Passion" by Samson & The Philistines – 4:07
6. "Pretty Persuasion" by Jawbreaker – 5:35
7. "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" by J Church – 3:40
8. "Feeling Gravitys Pull" by Phleg Camp – 3:03
9. "Cant Get There from Here" by The Mr. T Experience – 2:50
10. "Good Advices" by Flor de Mal – 3:06
11. "Bandwagon" by The Punch Line – 2:19
12. "I Believe" by When People Were Shorter and Lived Near the Water – 2:39
13. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by Vic Chesnutt – 4:04
14. "Get Up" by King Missile – 2:31
15. "Losing My Religion" by Tesco Vee's Hate Police – 3:05
16. "Low" by Jawbox – 4:08
17. "Shiny Happy People" by Mitch Easter – 3:28

Personnel

• Valerie Haller of Hippie House – design
• Macioce – cover photography
• Kim McLauchlan – liner notes
• David B. Morgan – engineering
• Kim Rancourt of Hippie House – design
• Darren Ressler – photography
• Jim Saah – photography

Release history

Region!scope="col"

Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	1992-06-22	Staplegun	Cassette tape	SG-001-CA
			Compact disc	SG-001-CD
			7" LP record	SG-001-LP

See also