Review: R.E.M., New Adventures in Hi-Fi

New Adventures in Hi-Fi, their last album with drummer Bill Berry, might have been R.E.M.’s last great album period.

R.E.M., New Adventures in Hi-FiSelling only a quarter as much as its three predecessors, R.E.M.’s under-appreciated New Adventures in Hi-Fi was, at the time, considered a commercial disappointment. The unlikely first single, “E-Bow the Letter,” featuring the vintage sounds of mellotrons, moogs, and singer Patti Smith, touched on drugs, fame, and fear with an elegant introspection. The delicate “Be Mine,” a straight-up love song, finds Michael Stipe pining sweetly and profoundly: “I’ll eat the lotus and peyote…I want the finger with the ring.” While it sometimes hinted at the quiet lethargy that would later plague Up and Reveal, New Adventures in Hi-Fi certainly reprised much of the crunchy electric brilliance of 1994’s Monster. The near-epic “Leave” produces an electrical storm of percussive creaks and crashes unlike anything the band has created since. New Adventures in Hi-Fi, their last album with drummer Bill Berry, might have been their last great album period.

Score: 
 Label: Warner Bros.  Release Date: January 1, 1996  Buy: Amazon

Sal Cinquemani

Sal Cinquemani is the co-founder and co-editor of Slant Magazine. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Village Voice, and others. He is also an award-winning screenwriter/director and festival programmer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.