Vinyl love: R.E.M. “New adventures in hi-fi”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: R.E.M.
Album Title: New adventures in hi-fi
Year released: 1996
Year reissued: 2021
Details: 25th anniversary, gatefold sleeve, 2 x 180 gram vinyl

The skinny: Just a day over three weeks ago, I signed off from work, from social media, and from blogging on these pages for a much needed vacation. And while I can’t say it was restful time away, it was good for the soul nonetheless. Last weekend, in particular, placed me in Tarannah to find something to do to celebrate my birthday so I dragged my wife downtown to explore one of its many neighbourhoods and it just so (coincidentally) happened to be where Rotate This, one of my favourite record stores, is located. Being my birthday, my wife patiently waited outside for me while I went in to browse the wares. I came out with the new-ish 25th anniversary pressing of R.E.M.’s 10th studio album, “New adventures in hi-fi”. Not only was this the last album recorded with founding drummer Bill Berry and the last in a series of successful collaborations with producer Scott Litt, but it’s also the only album out of those that I consider ‘must haves’ from the band’s discography that was as yet missing from my vinyl collection. (Hmm… I smell the beginnings of a new ‘Vinyl love’ series…)

Standout track: “Leave”