Quite a number of interesting selections on this BEST OF (read: NOT Greatest Hits) album. As the band has said, these songs represent their favorites since the release of their previous best of cd, Eponymous. Although I do suspect that their label had something to do with adding 2 previously unreleased tracks. I was most surprised at the addition of Nightswimming, just because it happens to be my favorite REM tune. All the Way to Reno, Sidewinder and Electrolite are also surprises. I like the fact that these are the songs that the composers enjoy. Any fan of this band will be sure to enjoy this album. There's not a bad song in the bunch.

Whenever any band (especially a band with the breadth of music and talent that REM possess) releases a "Best Of", it is bound to disappoint fans and casual listeners alike. Generally speaking, it is more likely to disappoint fans when their favourite non-single tracks are passed up for the more mediocre but commercially successful singles. And casual listeners tend to bemoan the inclusion of songs that they have never even heard of.

Moreover, this collection faces the added handicap of not covering some of REM's best work, pre-1988 (that having already been covered by their 1988 Best Of, "eponymous"). So you won't find "End Of The World", "The One I Love", "Driver 8", "Superman" (which didn't make "eponymous" either) or "Radio Free Europe", etc. on this album. (Which is ashame given that people have the option of making their own Best Of albums via downloading).

But even considering these handicaps, this CD still fails in its mission of covering REM's Best of 1988-2003. Why?

1. The missing:
"Bang and Blame", "Shiny Happy People", "Crush with Eyeliner", "Drive", "Bittersweet Me" and anything from their MTV Unplugged (the acoustic "One I Love" is certainly worth a download).

2. The shouldn't be there:
a) New songs ("Animal" and "Bad Day") are simply not REM's best. Unless the only qualification for that honour is being released on a CD called "the Best of REM".
b) The soundtrack songs (especially "All The Right Friends" but also "The Great Beyond") are not up to par with the rest of the CD.

3. Overall:
The album should have focused a bit more on "Out Of Time", "Automatic" and "Monster" and less on the more obscure "Reveal" and "Up". Especially if it was also going to gamble on new songs and soundtrack recordings at the expense of classics.

In the end, I love REM and this is a reasonable attempt at their "Best Of". However, they turned a compilation that could have been on par with U2's "Best of the 80s" into a compilation on par with U2's "Best of the 90s".

With the remarkable IRS compilation just released, the question has to be presented...could this cd have been as good as that one is?
I am not going to compare this cd to that one, as the IRS cd is heads above this one, but is that because the music of that era simply is better or because the songs on this cd don't cover the period as expertly as the more recent best of does?
And I Feel fine covers a six year period...this one adds a decade to that figure. And yes, REM, but out albums more frequently for IRS than the band did in its current run at Warner Brothers.
But you have five albums plus for the IRS best of, Warners has 7 cds worth of material, which is one of the main problems, the music of R.E.M. changed a great deal throughout that period that the critics who maintain that the music does not all play cohesively together are correct. A much better compliation would be IN TIME the best of R.E.M. 1988-1996, or all the R.E.M. albums that feature the original line up. Seperating the non Berry songs into a future possible best of part III disc would have created more of a central focus on the band in their most univerally popular era of music and a much stronger album overall

The album presented here should have looked something like this:
1. "Man on the Moon" I have no problem with this song being the first on the cd as it is a prime of example of Stipes writing and the bands playing at this time, plus it is from AFTP which is the central album that middle era REM put out.
2. "Great Beyond" released out of the era presented, the song does feature R.E.M. at the top of the later stage game. This song does work well following the prequel song before it and is one of the few times that eras mix well. If I had to break the rules, I would leave this song in. But I also think that it would work well on a "third" best of cd, one where R.E.M is taking a look back at their catalog. In era where they are having movies inspired by songs that they have made. Taking this song out I would replace it with "Country Feedback" a song which does flow nicely following "Man On the Moon" and like "Radio Free Europe" is a signature song after the opening mood setting track.
3. Bad Day, this is a little bit of cheating on their part. It is clearly from the IRS years, which is perhaps why I like it so much. It deserves to be on some kind of best of. Or, they could have saved it and put it on as the opening track of Around the Sun, perhaps setting a better tone for the entire album.
And I Feel fine doesn't need to have any new material on its best of portion and it benifits greatly from it. Take Bad Day out, base an album around it and it wouldn't feel out of place. Perhaps a here would be a good place for a more up tempo Green number such as "Pop Song 89".
4. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth". Fits right here.
5. "All the Way to Reno", not a bad song, but clearly out of place, with its rather lounge vibe. move it to the third best of and put the no exuse for leaving it off "Drive" here.
6. "Losing My Religon" all the better after "Drive" nice one two punch.
7. "E-Bow the Letter" leave it here. Great song.
8. "Orange Crush" Ditto.
9. "Imitation of Life" this song works, one of the few that blends, I think its a great song but for integrity, put
"Bittersweet Me" here instead, one of the many NAIHF songs skipped.
10. "Daysleeper" again good but more later day, why not "World Leader Pretend" for overall mood?
11. "Animal" I am tempted to say this is the worst song here and glaringly proves the point that the two eras don't mix. Take it out and go back to Out of Time for "Near Wild Heaven" yeah, let Mills mix things up a little here, this discs "Rockville"
12. "Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" some are critical of this song (even the band), a little too close to "Shiny" but it is a must moment on this disc. It would be weird without it.
13. "Stand" can't leave this out even if many fans hate it. Call this the required part of the disc.
14. "Electrolite" always a little iffy for me but a popular highlight of New Adventures so it can stay, many love it.
15. "All the Right Friends" belongs on the second disc of And I feel Fine. Here, it feels forced and another carrot thrown out of place by Warner Brothers.
16. "Everybody Hurts" A worthy must.
17. "At My Most Beautiful" love the song, clearly off Up though and representative of the Beach Boys faze that they would fully explore with Reveal. A more fitting song would be "You Are the Everything" an overlooked song from Green.
15 b. "Strange Currencies" sets up the closer very nicely.
18. Nightswiming, a great ending to the album.
So the album that should be without much altering would consist of:
1.Man on the Moon
2.Country Feedback
3.Pop Song 89
4.What's the Frequency, Kenneth
5.Drive
6.Losing My Religon
7.E-Bow the Letter
8.Orange Crush
9.Bittersweet Me
0.World Leader Pretend
1.Near Wild Heaven
2.Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
3.Stand
4.Electrolite
5.Everybody Hurts
6.You Are the Everything
7.Strange Currencies
8.Nightswimming
So there you have in my opinion the much better mix, Like I Feel Fine, a good mixture of all the cds (you can add more Bang and Blame, Leave and maybe Me In Honey if we can match 21 songs) and still no Shiny Happy People.
You are left with a very worthy, if still slightly inferior sequel to the IRS disc.

Despite a couple of expensive imports, this is the only domestic disc to cover any post-Document material and is a great overview of R.E.M.'s 90s years. The remastering is crisp and superb, and the liner notes are entertaining and informative, written by Peter Buck of the group. This set puts together the big radio hits that everybody knows, with the lesser-known singles, and a few rarities and new songs (the obligatory new songs put on there to get hardcore fans to buy music they already own). So far, the consensus is that 'Drive' should have been included, and I more than agree, since it's my favorite song from 'Automatic For The People', but that's what owning the albums is for as well. Also, despite its uneven quality, their smash album 'Out Of Time' is represented only with 'Losing My Religion', and seems under-represented.

Aside from small complaints about the tracklisting (which is outstanding, but not perfect, if there is such thing as a perfect greatest hits album), this is a wonderful pickup for fans and novices alike (I'm somewhere in-between, owning a few R.E.M. albums, but not any 90s after 'Automatic For The People',). As for the reviews regarding the lack of early hits, there is already a compilation covering that time period called 'Eponymous' and it has the songs you're looking for from their 1982-1987 period.

As usual when it comes to compilations, fans of the band (whose true love for the music could probably be called into question) are gonna gripe about the song selection. For an album-based band like REM who doesn't release that many singles, a truly "representative" collection is impossible. Sure I would like to see more selections from my favorite albums *Monster* and the criminally neglected *New Adventures* but if I feel like complaining about that, I might as well just listen to those albums. Therefore this collection is useful if you're looking for a mix of classic REM tracks in one place, and if you're in the mood for listening to songs from several different albums in one sitting - in fact the seven different albums from the Warner Brothers years plus a few soundtrack items. A fun bonus is the so-called new song "Bad Day" which is actually a new recording of an old song from the mid-80's, which was probably rejected in favor of the very similar "It's the End of the World...". Also, these tracks are not presented in chronological order, which may be confusing for the historically-minded, but I feel that the sequencing allows you to appreciate both the consistency and variety of REM's work over the years. A winning compilation, regardless of the quibbles every single person will have about the song selection. [~doomsdayer520~]