New Adventures in Hi-Fi

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New Adventures in Hi-Fi is R.E.M.'s tenth album, and their fifth major label release for Warner Bros., released in 1996. It is notable for being the last album with original drummer Bill Berry, who would amicably leave the band the following year. This is also their last record with in-house producer Scott Litt. For their next album, the band parted ways with him as well and hired Pat McCarthy.

New Adventures in Hi-Fi was recorded during and after touring engagements for the preceding Monster album in 1995 and up until a few months before its release. It generally mixes the acoustic and country, feel of Out of Time and Automatic for the People with the loud guitars of Monster. At the time, it was received very favorably and its has grown considerably in critical praise in the years after it release. R.E.M. themselves have gone on record as naming New Adventures in Hi-Fi as their finest album, a view echoed by many in their fan base.

"E-Bow the Letter", featuring an appearance by Patti Smith – a major influence on Michael Stipe – became the band's biggest UK hit yet (reaching #4), but reached only #49 on the US charts. "Bittersweet Me", "Electrolite", and "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" were the follow-ups. Nathan December provided additional guitar work on half of the tracks on the album.

Although it reached #2 in the US and #1 in the UK, it can be argued that New Adventures in Hi-Fi marked the beginning of R.E.M.'s gradual commercial decline. The unconventional choice of lead single in "E-Bow the Letter" has also been cited as the reason radio began to give R.E.M.'s contemporary releases limited airplay time, adding to the curbing of their US sales.

Nonetheless a decade after its release, New Adventures in Hi-Fi is a highly praised and respected R.E.M. record, and in 1998 Q magazine readers voted it the 59th greatest album of all time.

In 2005, Warner Brothers Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of New Adventures in Hi-Fi which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. The CD (as with all in this series) is not remastered.

Contents

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Track listing

All songs written by Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe.

  1. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" – 4:31 Seattle Studio
  2. "The Wake-Up Bomb" – 5:08 Charleston
  3. "New Test Leper" – 5:26 Seattle Studio
  4. "Undertow" – 5:09 Boston
  5. "E-Bow the Letter" – 5:23 Seattle Studio
  6. "Leave" – 7:18 Atlanta Soundcheck
  7. "Departure" – 3:28 Detroit
  8. "Bittersweet Me" – 4:06 Memphis
  9. "Be Mine" – 5:32 Seattle Studio
  10. "Binky the Doormat" – 5:01 Phoenix
  11. "Zither" – 2:33 Dressing Room Philadelphia
  12. "So Fast, So Numb" – 4:12 Orlando Soundcheck
  13. "Low Desert" – 3:30 Atlanta Soundcheck
  14. "Electrolite" – 4:05 Phoenix Soundcheck
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Personnel

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Additional personnel

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Technical personnel

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Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1996 Billboard 200 50

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1996 "E-Bow the Letter" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 2
1996 "E-Bow the Letter" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 15
1996 "E-Bow the Letter" Billboard Hot 100 49
1996 "Bittersweet Me" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 6
1996 "Bittersweet Me" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 7
1996 "Bittersweet Me" Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 28
1996 "Bittersweet Me" Billboard Hot 100 46
1997 "Electrolite" Billboard Hot 100 96
1997 "The Wake-Up Bomb" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 30
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Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – USA Gold November 18 1996
RIAA – USA Platinum November 18 1996

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