R.E.M.’s ‘Document’ 25th anniversary reissue to include unreleased 1987 concert

The break-up of R.E.M. won’t stop the release of new product from the beloved college-rock vets, and the next title in line is a 25th anniversary reissue of the band’s fifth album, Document, which is expected to be formally announced next week and appears likely to be released as soon as mid-September.

R.E.M. on Friday night teased the release on its website (“Details and special features on the Document anniversary re-issue coming here next week!”), and multiple online retailers in Europe and Japan — including Germany’s Amazon.de — show a new 2CD anniversary edition of Document set for release on Sept. 10.

None of those listings include a tracklist, so it’s not yet known what will appear on the second disc. The reissues of Murmur and Reckoning each included a bonus live disc, while for Fables of the Reconstruction and Lifes Rich Pageant, the bonus disc was comprised of studio demos instead.

Separately from the deluxe 2CD reissue, there’s also a Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab 180-gram audiophile vinyl reissue of Document on the way; although that title doesn’t yet appear on MoFi’s website, the record is listed for a Sept. 25 release on Amazon.com.

UPDATE 8/5/12: Amazon.com is now listing the Document reissue for a Sept. 25 release, and shows the 2CD set will feature a digitally remastered edition of the album, plus “a previously unreleased 1987 concert from R.E.M.’s Work Tour,” all packaged in a “lift-top box” with four postcards. Based on the tracklist, shown below, fans on the Murmurs.com board have suggested the live disc is the widely bootlegged Sept. 14, 1987, concert in Utrecht, Holland — minus the four cover songs played that night (“Superman,” “Strange,” “Funtime” and “Harpers”).

UPDATE: 8/7/12: R.E.M. officially announced the reissue today, confirming the bonus disc as featuring the concert recorded in Utrecht.

Tracklist: R.E.M., Document: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

CD 1: Original album
1. “Finest Worksong”
2. “Welcome To The Occupation”
3. “Exhuming McCarthy”
4. “Disturbance At The Heron House”
5. “Strange”
6. “Its The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
7. “The One I Love”
8. “Fireplace”
9. “Lightnin’ Hopkins”
10. “King Of Birds”
11. “Oddfellows Local 151”

CD 2: Previously unreleased 1987 concert
1. “Finest Worksong”
2. “These Days”
3. “Lightnin Hopkins”
4. “Welcome To The Occupation”
5. “Driver 8”
6. “Feeling Gravitys Pull”
7. “I Believe”
8. “The One I Love”
9. “Exhuming McCarthy”
10. “Wolves, Lower”
11. “Fall On Me”
12. “Just A Touch”
13. “Oddfellows Local 151”
14. “Little America”
15. “Its the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
16. “Begin The Begin”
17. “Disturbance At The Heron House”
18. “Moral Kiosk”
19. “Life And How To Live It”
20. “So. Central Rain”

PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS

• R.E.M.’s Peter Buck recording solo album — and it could be a vinyl-only release
• Stream: R.E.M.’s final fan-club holiday single — ‘Perfect Circle,’ ‘Life and How to Live It’ live
• Stream: R.E.M. ‘Radio Free Europe’ original Mitch Easter mix from ‘Cassette Set’ demo
• R.E.M. unveils ‘Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011’ tracklist
• Stream: Slicing Up Eyeballs’ hour-long R.E.M. retrospective on Strangeways Radio (3/8/11)
• R.E.M., 1980-2011: Genre-defining college rock band breaks up after 31 years