The influential alternative rock band R.E.M. will have three of their I.R.S. Records releases – Lifes Rich Pageant, Dead Letter Office and Eponymous – reissued this summer on vinyl.
The three standard weight LPs will be released July 29th via Capitol/UMe, all presented with their original sleeve art. Dead Letter Office and Eponymous have both been restored to wax with these new LP editions for the first time since their original release.
Released in 1986, Lifes Rich Pageant is R.E.M.’s fourth studio album and was recorded by original members vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry at John Mellencamp’s Belmont Mall Studios in Indiana. Pageant includes the singles “Fall On Me” and “Superman.” This album was R.E.M.’s first to achieve Gold certification status, and it reached #21 on the Album Sales chart, their highest ranking at that time.
Dead Letter Office was issued in 1987 and was R.E.M.’s first compilation, collecting B-sides and rarities. The album became a favorite of fans and includes the band’s covers of Aerosmith’s “Toys In The Attic,” the Velvet Underground’s “Pale Blue Eyes,” Pylon’s “Crazy,” and a no-holds-barred, rough take on Roger Miller’s “King Of The Road.”
1988’s greatest hits collection Eponymous features singles and alternate mixes of R.E.M’s first five albums, including the original Hib-Tone single of “Radio Free Europe,” “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” and alternate mixes of “Gardening At Night” and “Finest Worksong.” The album was originally released a month prior to the band’s debut at their new home, Warner Bros. Records.
Full track listings are below. Everybody, ready?
The other night I dreamt a nice continental drift divide
Mountains sit in a line, Leonard Bernstein
Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce, and Lester Bangs
Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom
You symbiotic, patriotic, slam but neck, right? Right
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R.E.M. was pivotal in the creation and development of the alternative rock genre. Formed famously in Athens, GA in 1980, the band paved the way for other alternative bands to breakthrough and hit the market. Well-known bands such as Coldplay, Radiohead and Pearl Jam have all spoken of the large influence R.E.M. has had on them. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana once said: “I don’t know how that band does what they do. God, they’re the greatest. They’ve dealt with their success like saints, and they keep delivering great music.”
Lifes Rich Pageant
Side 1
Begin The Begin
These Days
Fall On Me
Cuyahoga
Hyena
Underneath The Bunker
Side 2
The Flowers Of Guatemala
I Believe
What If We Give It Away?
Just A Touch
Swan Swan H
Superman
Dead Letter Office
Side 1
Crazy
There She Goes Again
Burning Down
Voice Of Harold
Burning Hell
White Tornado
Toys In The Attic
Side 2
Wind Out
Ages Of You
Pale Blue Eyes
Rotary Ten
Bandwagon
Femme Fatale
Walter’s Theme
King Of The Road
Eponymous
Side 1
Radio Free Europe [Original Hib-Tone Single]
Gardening At Night [Alternate Vocal Mix]
Talk About The Passion
So. Central Rain
(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville
Can’t Get There From Here [Album Version]
Side 2
Driver 8
Romance
Fall On Me
The One I Love
Finest Worksong [Mutual Drum Horn Mix]
It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
