REMTV

Yesterday, R.E.M. announced a massive new release for November this year: a 6 DVD-collection, compiled from the MTV (once known as Music Television) archives. The format seems somewhat outdated, but we have to keep in mind that the footage included was filmed for television broadcast, probably not shot on film, so the majority might not be HD anyway. When no longer active bands pull stuff from their vaults like this, it’s usually seen as an easy way to cash in (I deliberately avoided the term “to make a few bucks”), but I don’t think that applies here – no casual fan will buy a 6 disc collection, it’s clearly for the hardcore fans, collectors and completists. I’ll share some of my thoughts about the content below.

Disc 1 – Unplugged 1991 & 2001

Other than expressing delight, not much to say here. I’m especially excited about the outtakes from 1991, and it’s nice to see that the only song from the 2001 session omitted from the audio release (other than re-takes of some songs), “The Great Beyond” is included.

Disc 2

VH1 Storytellers 1998

Lots of great stuff, a full band version of “I’m Not Over You” and a Mike Mills solo piano version of “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”, and obviously the stories are all worth waiting for.

The Cutting Edge 1984

5 out of the 6 songs from this acoustic session already appeared on the “When The Light Is Mine” collection (including the second take of Driver 8, which was a hidden extra), but the previously unseen track, a cover of “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” has never appeared on any official R.E.M. releases before. Another nice surprise.

Livewire 1983

The earliest footage of the whole collection, including a performance of “Carnival Of Sorts”, which is quite rare to come across on video.

MTV 10^th Anniversary Special

Unlike the previous track, Losing My Religion is already available from live performances almost too many to count, none of which feature members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This is about to change.

Video Music Awards 1993 & 1995, European Music Awards 1998 & 2001

These performances are quite well known for collectors, but of course it won’t hurt to have them here, probably in higher quality than what we already have. The funk version of “Drive” from the VMA 1993 is especially great.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 2007

If I’m not mistaken, only “Man On The Moon” is already out there as a full length video from this performance, great to have the other 2 songs as well.

The Colbert Report 2008

One of the band’s last live TV Show performances.

Disc 3

R.E.M. In Dallas 1995

The first 3 three songs from the show, all also available on “Road Movie” recorded during the same tour, so not the most exciting thing to have, but surely another upgrade from the version currently circulating among collectors.

R.E.M. Uplink At Bowery Ballroom 1998

Now that’s much more interesting! To my knowledge, the only filmed live performance of “E-Bow The Letter” featuring Patti Smith, the tracks performed from the “Up” album are all much more powerful than the studio versions, and I’m hoping for an uncensored version of Radio Free Europe (the original broadcast muted out the swearing during the song).

Live In Cologne 2001

OK, here I go… This is a brilliant show, presented in a somewhat frustrating way for the second time. The first time was the actual live broadcast in 2001 – I remember watching it on MTV Europe, the presenters appeared from time to time on a balcony overlooking the Dome Square where the gig took place, introducing interviews and other stuff, while you could hear the band already playing. They finally screamed “enjoy the show” during “Daysleeper”, which was the 7^th song in the set. Luckily, after that we could enjoy the rest of the performance uninterrupted, the version of “The Lifting” was especially outstanding, but band were clearly on a roll during the whole set, it’s an absolute must have for all R.E.M. fans.  Now, the show is cut into two parts (a “main” section, a later broadcast with a cherry-picked tracklist, and “outtakes” created from the rest), completely ruining the flow and omitting set opener “The Great Beyond” plus “Daysleeper”. I’m also aware of a full video of the show, which was probably an internet stream (judging from the format and quality), so I thought it should have been there somewhere in MTV’s archives.

Disc 4

R.E.M. at The Tabernacle, London 1999

Not the most unique selection of songs (yeah, you guessed: Losing My Religion, Man On The Moon, Kenneth, End Of The World…), especially considering the actual show included the rarely performed “How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us”, but a TV broadcast usually includes the hits, so no big surprise.

Rock Am Ring 2005

Another weird way of presenting an otherwise great show: 5 songs, then the rest of the show as “outtakes”. Imitation Of Life is included in both lists, probably only by mistake (we’ll see). I’ve known 2 versions of this show, a complete version in real video format (probably internet stream) and a TV broadcast omitting 2 songs (Wanderlust, and surprisingly, Losing My Religion), which might have been recorded from the German TV Channel WDR. Happy to see those two included here. The gig is especially memorable for the very heavy rain throughout, but the band really makes up for it.

Disc 5

Live At Rolling Stone, Milan 2008

Entering the Accelerate-era, we reach the point where the limitations of the DVD format mean that some collectors already have the footage in higher resolution than available here. This show was only a few days after the Austin City Limits performance released on DVD a few years ago, so the tracklist is quite similar, but it’s nice show to have, especially for the songs that didn’t stay in the set for too long (“Accelerate”, “Until The Day Is Done” and “Houston”).

Live At Oxegen Festival 2008

A 7-song excerpt from a festival show, mostly the usual hits and a couple of tracks from the Accelerate album. This has also appeared in some corners of the internet in higher resolution.

R.E.M. In Athens, Greece 2008

Complaining time again – this show was broadcasted live in full, and the 15-song selection presented here can be found in HD, if you know where to look for it. Still, worth having for the beautiful version of “Let Me In” alone, and the rest won’t disappoint either.

Disc 6 will contain documentary footage put together for this release, so I cannot comment on it yet, but really looking forward to watching it.

All in all, I’m thrilled that R.E.M. will make all these great recordings available for anyone who’s interested enough, and knowing they were incredible on stage (and knowing some of the footage), it’s definitely a treat for us, fans.