25th-anniversary edition of R.E.M.’s tenth studio album,
New Adventures in Hi-Fi. First released in 1996, the album was R.E.M.’s last studio recording with founding member Bill Berry who left amicably the following year. As the band’s fifth collaboration with long-time producer Scott Litt (Green, Out of Time, Automatic for the People and Monster), the album experiments with new sonic textures, filled with cinematic imagery, dissonant notes and haunting effects. The platinum-selling title includes the singles “Electrolite,” “E-Bow the Letter” (featuring Patti Smith) and “Bittersweet Me,” and represents R.E.M.’s longest studio release with a total run time of 65 minutes. New Adventures in Hi-Fi grew to cult status years after its release, with several press retrospectives—and band members themselves—ranking it among the top albums in R.E.M.’s recorded catalogue.
