R.E.M. continue their reissue series this July with a 25th anniversary edition of ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’ that will feature a newly remastered version of the 1986 album and a bonus CD featuring 19 unreleased demos that include a never-before-released song.

To help celebrate the release of R.E.M.’s latest album ‘Collapse Into Now,’ the folks at EMI Music — who now control the band’s classic college-rock output on I.R.S. Records — have provided us with a 5CD/2LP prize pack to award to a lucky Slicing Up Eyeballs reader.

While R.E.M. is busy promoting its forthcoming new album ‘Collapse Into Now,’ the band will continue its reissue series with the release later this year of an expanded 25th anniversary edition of 1986’s ‘Lifes Rich Pageant.’

The influence of R.E.M. on indie-folk outfit The Decemberists is no secret, so it’s no surprise to see that Colin Meloy and Co. trotted out a cover of ‘Cuyahoga’ off ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’ during the band’s visit to KCRW’s ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic’ on Thursday.

R.E.M. will mark the 25th anniversary of their third album, ‘Fables of the Reconstruction,’ this summer with the third installment in the band’s ongoing reissue series, a double-disc re-release featuring 14 previously unreleased demos — including one never-before-heard song.

Tweet Today marks a milestone in the history of college rock: R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, in many ways the mumbly voice of ’80 indie and […]