Last month we brought you early word of a giant 9-disc R.E.M. boxed set filled with BBC recordings, and while it’s still not officially announced — though it seems we’re close to that happening — we can now offer full details and a complete tracklist for the package.
Due out Oct. 19, R.E.M. at the BBC is now fully listed on Amazon.co.uk, along with a 2LP vinyl set called The Best of R.E.M. at the BBC that’s listed for release that same day. So far, Amazon in the U.S. only lists the digital box set, which omits the DVD that rounds out the full physical edition.
UPDATE: The set now has been officially announced, and we can add that The Best of R.E.M. at the BBC will not only be released as a 2LP vinyl set, but a 2CD edition as well.
So what’s in this thing? The full tracklist is posted below, but here’s a quick rundown of the set, which includes live material recorded both in concert and in the studio for the BBC between 1984 and 2008.
Disc 1: A round-up of BBC in-studio sessions, including six songs recorded in 1991, plus a 1998 session with the legendary John Peel and more songs recorded in 2003 and 2008.
Disc 2: A 12-song performance recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre in London in 1998.
Disc 3: Perhaps the most exciting to longtime fans, this is a 16-song set recorded at Rock City in Nottingham, England, in 1984 during the Reckoning tour.
Discs 4 and 5: A complete 25-song Monster tour set recorded at Milton Keynes in 1995.
Discs 6 and 7: The band’s Glastonbury festival appearance in 1999 following the release of Up.
Disc 8: An 11-song, invite-only performance at St. James’s Church in London in 2004.
Disc 9: A DVD featuring the “Accelerating Backwards” film plus a “Later… with Jools Holland” appearance filmed in 1998, and a few other assorted performances.
As for the 2LP and 2CD “best of” editions, they’re described as offering “a selection of in-studio performance and live broadcast highlights” from the boxed set. It should be noted, though, that the two contain slightly different tracklists, and the 2CD edition does include audio of two “Later… with Jools Holland” performances only included on the DVD of the larger set.
Check out the full tracklists below.
Tracklist: R.E.M., R.E.M. at the BBC (8CD/1DVD set)
Disc 1
Into the Night, BBC Radio 1 (March 13, 1991)
1. “World Leader Pretend”
2. “Fretless”
3. “Half A World Away”
4. “Radio Song”
5. “Losing My Religion”
6. “Love Is All Around”
John Peel session (Oct. 25, 1998)
7. “Walk Unafraid”
8. “Daysleeper”
9. “Lotus”
10. “At My Most Beautiful”
Mark and Lard, BBC Radio 1 (Oct. 15, 2003)
11. “Bad Day”
12. “Orange Crush”
Drivetime, BBC Radio 2 (Oct. 15, 2003)
13. “Man On The Moon”
14. “Imitation Of Life”
Radio 1 Live Lounge (March 16, 2008)
15. “Supernatural Superserious”
16. “Munich”
Disc 2
BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, London, England (Oct. 25, 1998)
1. Introduction
2. “Losing My Religion”
3. “New Test Leper”
4. “Lotus”
5. “Parakeet”
6. “Electrolite”
7. “Perfect Circle”
8. “The Apologist”
9. “Daysleeper”
10. “Country Feedback”
11. “At My Most Beautiful”
12. “Walk Unafraid”
13. “Man On The Moon”
Disc 3
Rock City, Nottingham, England (Nov. 21, 1984)
1. “Second Guessing”
2. “Hyena”
3. “Talk About The Passion”
4. “West Of The Fields”
5. “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”
6. “Auctioneer (Another Engine)”
7. “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
8. “Old Man Kensey”
9. “Gardening At Night”
10. “9-9/Hey Diddle Diddle/Feeling Gravitys Pull”
11. “Windout”
12. “Driver 8”
13. “Pretty Persuasion”
14. “Radio Free Europe”
15. “Wendell Gee”
16. “Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)”
Disc 4
National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England (July 30, 1995): Part 1
1. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”
2. “Crush With Eyeliner”
3. “Drive”
4. “Turn You Inside Out”
5. “Try Not To Breathe”
6. “I Took Your Name”
7. “Undertow”
8. “Bang And Blame”
9. “I Don’t Sleep I Dream”
10. “Strange Currencies”
11. “Revolution”
12. “Tongue”
Disc 5
National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England (July 30, 1995): Part 2
1. “Man On The Moon”
2. “Country Feedback”
3. “Half A World Away”
4. “Losing My Religion”
5. “Pop Song 89”
6. “Finest Worksong”
7. “Get Up”
8. “Star 69”
9. “Let Me In”
10. “Everybody Hurts”
11. “Fall On Me”
12. “Departure”
13. “Its the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
Disc 6
Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England (June 25, 1999): Part 1
1. “Lotus”
2. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”
3. “So Fast, So Numb”
4. “The Apologist”
5. “Fall On Me”
6. “Daysleeper”
7. “The Wake-Up Bomb”
8. “The One I Love”
9. “Sweetness Follows”
10. “At My Most Beautiful”
Disc 7
Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England (June 25, 1999): Part 2
1. “Losing My Religion”
2. “Everybody Hurts”
3. “Walk Unafraid”
4. “Star 69”
5. “Finest Worksong”
6. “Man On The Moon”
7. “Why Not Smile”
8. “Crush With Eyeliner”
9. “Tongue”
10. “Cuyahoga”
11. “Its the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
Disc 8
St. James’s Church, London, England (Sept. 15, 2004)
1. Intro
2. “So Fast, So Numb”
3. “Boy In The Well”
4. “I Wanted To Be Wrong”
5. “E-Bow The Letter” (with Thom Yorke)
6. “Around The Sun”
7. “Aftermath”
8. “Losing My Religion”
9. “Walk Unafraid”
10. “Leaving New York”
11. “Imitation Of Life”
12. “Man On The Moon”
Disc 9: DVD
“Accelerating Backwards” film
1. “Moon River”
2. “Pretty Persuasion”
3. “Pop Song 89”
4. “Orange Crush”
5. “Losing My Religion”
6. “Half A World Away”
7. “Crush With Eyeliner”
8. “Man On The Moon”
9. “Daysleeper”
10. “Imitation Of Life”
11. “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
12. “All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star)”
13. “Leaving New York”
“Later… with Jools Holland Presents R.E.M.” (Oct. 27, 1998)
14. Intro
15. “Losing My Religion”
16. “Lotus”
17. “New Test Leper”
18. “Daysleeper”
19. “Electrolite”
20. “At My Most Beautiful”
23. “The Apologist”
24. “Country Feedback”
25. “Parakeet”
26. “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
27. “Walk Unafraid”
28. “Man On The Moon”
29. “The Passenger”
Bonus videos
30. “I’ve Been High”
31. “Nightswimming”
32. “Bad Day”
Tracklist: R.E.M., Best of R.E.M. at the BBC (2CD set)
Disc 1: Best Of BBC Sessions
Into the Night, BBC Radio 1 (March 13, 1991)
1. “World Leader Pretend”
2. “Half A World Away”
3. “Radio Song”
4. “Losing My Religion”
John Peel session (Oct. 25, 1998)
5. “Lotus”
6. “At My Most Beautiful”
7. “Electrolite”
8. “Perfect Circle”
9. “Daysleeper”
“Later… with Jools Holland” (Oct. 27, 1998)
10. “Country Feedback”
Mark and Lard, BBC Radio 1 (Oct. 15, 2003)
11. “Bad Day”
12. “Orange Crush”
“Later… with Jools Holland” (Oct. 14, 2003)
13. “Nightswimming”
Drivetime, BBC Radio 2 (Oct. 15, 2003)
14. “Man On The Moon”
15. “Imitation Of Life”
Radio 1 Live Lounge (March 16, 2008)
16. “Supernatural Superserious”
Disc 2: Best of BBC Live Broadcasts
Rock City, Nottingham, England (Nov. 21, 1984)
1. “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”
2. “Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
3. “Gardening At Night”
4. “Driver 8”
5. “Radio Free Europe”
National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England (July 30, 1995)
6. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”
7. “Crush With Eyeliner”
8. “Drive”
9. “Half A World Away”
10. “Pop Song 89”
11. “Finest Worksong”
Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England (June 25, 1999)
12. “Fall On Me”
13. “The One I Love”
14. “Everybody Hurts”
15. “Its the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
St. James’s Church, London, England (Sept. 15, 2004)
16. “E-Bow The Letter” (with Thom Yorke)
17. “Losing My Religion”
18. “Man On The Moon”
Tracklist: R.E.M., Best of R.E.M. at the BBC (2LP set)
Disc 1: Best Of BBC Sessions
Into the Night, BBC Radio 1 (March 13, 1991)
A1. “World Leader Pretend”
A2. “Radio Song”
A3. “Losing My Religion”
John Peel session (Oct. 25, 1998)
A4. “Lotus”
A5. “At My Most Beautiful”
Mark and Lard, BBC Radio 1 (Oct. 15, 2003)
B1. “Bad Day”
B2. “Orange Crush”
Drivetime, BBC Radio 2 (Oct. 15, 2003)
B3. “Man On The Moon”
B4. “Imitation Of Life”
Radio 1 Live Lounge (March 16, 2008)
B5. “Supernatural Superserious”
Disc 2: Best of BBC Live Broadcasts
Rock City, Nottingham, England (Nov. 21, 1984)
C1. “Driver 8”
C2. “Radio Free Europe”
National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England (July 30, 1995)
C3. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”
C4. “Drive”
C5. “Half A World Away”
C6. “Pop Song 89”
Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England (June 25, 1999)
D1. “Everybody Hurts”
D2. “Its the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
St. James’s Church, London, England (Sept. 15, 2004)
D3. “Losing My Religion”
D4. “Man On The Moon”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- The absolute best of R.E.M.: All 282 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers
- MTV promo from 1988: ‘When I’m an old person, I think I’ll still be listening to R.E.M.’
- R.E.M.’s ‘Automatic For the People’ to receive 25th anniversary reissue this fall
- Watch: Michael Stipe looks back on 30 years of R.E.M., vows to never reunite band
- R.E.M. to release 14 hours of live material, TV appearances in 6-DVD ‘REMTV’ box
Oh wow, this looks great.
Disc 3 is not enough of a draw for me on this. Too much late period live stuff here to justify it.
R.E.M. has released their equivalent to The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl for this aging college rocker. Full marks to those who are excited though. I hope the format you seek is at a reasonable price and/or someone snags it for you for the holidays.
Maybe this will mean the fan club singles are next? One can hope!
Fan club singles and DVDs of their MTV Unplugged appearances, please!
The MTV Unplugged shows came out on DVD a few years ago. Look for the box set “REMTV.”
I do wonder if they’ll ever get around to the fan club singles as a packaged release. They’re pretty easy to find bootlegged on CD in the meantime.
Sorry, but I lost them when they signed to Warner Brothers. Not enough IRS era to make me desire this.
That Milton Keynes set is one of the best live performances ever put to tape. I must own this item.