"REM - In Time: The Best Of 1988-2003"

The first time I heard REM was back in 1991-92. "Losing My Religion" had just hit it big, and the video was in heavy rotation on MTV (this was back when MTV played music videos). My initial impression was that the song and the band were crap. What was with the dinky guitar-like thing the one guy was playing (mandolin)? The little bald guy singing had a voice that was worse that Dylan's, because while Dylan may have a nasal mumble, he didn't aim for those cracking high notes like this guy did.

Admittedly, those intial impressions were informed by a musical taste that assumed anything made after about 1983 was complete and total crap. I had no idea Sting had been in the Police, I'd never heard of Toad the Wet Sprocket, Radiohead wasn't turning pop music upside down, and I automatically lumped REM into that category of "stuff dad doesn't listen to, so it must be crap."

Twelve or thirteen years down the line, my tastes have evolved somewhat. I now recognize "Losing my Religion" and REM as the important musical contributions they are. And REM's best of collection from their tenure at Warner Brothers makes a pretty convincing argument for REM being the alternative rock band of the past twenty years.

Some of the reviews I read for this collection were rather annoyed with the song selection, saying it relied too heavily on latter-day stuff and missed key tracks that were more "hits" than some of the songs included in the set. Since I'm relatively unfamiliar with their work (I own only this collection and New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and I've heard Automatic For the People and probably most of Out of Time), I can't really address that complaint (though personally I'd have left off "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" in favor of the album version of "Drive"). However, to my thus untrained ears, the songs collected on In Time strike me as a wonderful sampler of what REM has had to offer over the past fifteen or so years.

In Time uses a non-chronological sequencing, which actually works well for the album as a whole. There are distinct differences between their stuff from circa 1988 and their stuff from Reveal (the last album covered by the compilation), but the textured, jangly pop-rock vibe remains consistant throughout the CD. It seems to hit all the highlights--"Man on the Moon" and "The Great Beyond," their two songs about Andy Kaufman; "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" from their straight-rock album Monster, "Losing my Religion" from Out of Time, and "Everybody Hurts," one of the most achingly and nakedly emotional songs recorded in the past twenty years, from Automatic for the People. The majority of the songs are slow or mid-tempo, though the band occasionally cranks up the amps (such as on the aforementioned "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" or "Orange Crush," which sounds like a U2 song from around 1983).

The real joy for this collection, though, comes in the bonus disc of rarities and b-sides that came in the deluxe package. Most of the tracks here are demos and live cuts, though it does include the fabulous alternate version of "Leave" originally recorded for the movie A Life Less Ordinary (that song was the whole reason I sprung for the more expensive deluxe edition). The tune is more subdued and dirge-like than the original New Adventures in Hi-Fi version, but no less effective for that. That song alone would have been enough for me to enjoy the second disc, but it's also chock-full of other fun stuff--an acoustic version of "Pop Song '89" (which I swear is using a chord progression straight out of Dylan circa Another Side of Bob Dylan), a rocking electric live version of "Drive," and the beautiful piano ballad "Fretless." It also has some weird quirks--there's the simply bizzare "Chance (Dub)," and the even stranger "Star Me Kitten" (featuring William S. Boroughs on "vocals"...or random mutterings, whatever you want to call it).

All in all, In Time is an excellent introduction to REM for the curious. It points to where the band's been and where it's going, and the future looks good.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: REM, "Leave (Alternate Version)"