In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988-2003 contains all the obvious favorites from that period, sequenced for feel instead of chronology, so that some of the less omnipresent hits get as much attention. To underscore this, “Shiny Happy People” is not included, to nobody’s chagrin. “The Great Beyond”, the single from their soundtrack to the Andy Kaufman biopic, appears as the second track, right after “Man In The Moon”, which gave that film its title. “Bad Day” (the original blueprint for “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It”) is revived and refined, given a new level of meaning in the wake of the War on Terror. “All The Right Friends” was another decades-old song, newly recorded for a questionable Tom Cruise movie. “Animal” is completely new, sounding like a distillation of the Monster album through the synth effects of Up and Reveal. The closing grouping of “Everybody Hurts”, “At My Most Beautiful” and “Nightswimming” presents the band at their most gentle.
Of course, any self-respecting R.E.M. fans would only justify picking up this hits collection if they went for the limited-edition double disc, which added an hour’s worth of B-sides and rarities. Some of these are welcome, like the acoustic take of “Pop Song 89”, a live electric “Drive” and the haunting “Fretless”, an Out Of Time outtake featuring Kate Pierson on harmonies. Of the latter (and the less exciting “It’s A Free World, Baby”, which is half a good song), Peter Buck says in the liner notes that he can’t imagine how it was left aside. “Revolution” got a lot of stage time when they wrote it, but was ultimately excluded from New Adventures In Hi-Fi, while a strikingly different arrangement of “Leave” is miles away from the noisy one on that album. A lengthy live take of “Country Feedback” will please fans of the song as much as it will irritate detractors.
As odds ‘n sods collections go, it’s no Dead Letter Office, which is understandable considering the period whence these castoffs emerged. As for the hits portion of In Time, it’s a decent overview, but unfortunately underscores the band’s increasing lack of importance, paradoxically enough.
R.E.M. In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (2003)—3½
After all these years, it's surprising that someone hasn't given "Shiny Happy People" a complete redo a-la "All Along the Watchtower" or "Hurt." Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse should have considered it for his duets album. I'm pretty sure worse songs have been written. Perhaps it was the video -- these were never REM's strong point. Maybe if the clip had been a bit less, ahem, gay (in the old-fashioned sense)?
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