''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' is the tenth studio album by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

band R.E.M. It was their fifth major-label release for Warner Bros. Records, released on September 9, 1996, in Europe and Australia, and the following day in the United States. ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' was the last album recorded with founding member

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar ...

(who left the band amicably the following year), original manager

Jefferson Holt Jefferson Holt is the founder of Daniel 13 Press and manager of rock band R.E.M. from 1981 to 1996. Under the name Vibrating Egg, Holt recorded a five-song EP on his label Dog Gone Records that included R.E.M.'s Mike Mills on bass. In 1996, Holt ...

, and long-time producer

Scott Litt Scott Warren Litt (born March 10, 1954) is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s during the band's most su ...

. The members of R.E.M. consider the recorded album representative of the band at their peak, and fans generally regard it as the band's last great record before a perceived artistic decline during the late 1990s and early 2000s.''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'', November 1996 It has sold around seven million units, growing in cult status years after its release, with several retrospectives ranking it among the top of the band's recorded catalogue.

Composition and recording

The album was recorded during and after the tour in support of ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'' in 1995. The material on the album mixed the acoustic,

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal ...

feel of much of '' Out of Time'' and '' Automatic for the People'' with the rock sound of ''Monster'' and '' Lifes Rich Pageant''. The band has cited

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

's 1973 album ''

Time Fades Away ''Time Fades Away'' is a 1973 live album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young. Consisting of previously unreleased material, it was recorded with the Stray Gators on the support tour following 1972's highly successful album ''Harvest''. Due t ...

'' as a source of inspiration. In an interview with ''

'', the band's bass guitarist Mike Mills said: : PyramidArena

The band noted that they borrowed the recording process for the album from

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...

, who recorded some of the basic tracks for '' The Bends'' while on tour and who supported the band in 1994 and 1995. R.E.M. took eight-track recorders to capture their live performances, and used the recordings as the base elements for the album. As such, the band's touring musicians

Nathan December Nathan December is an American rock guitarist, best known for his work as a side musician with R.E.M. and the Goo Goo Dolls during the 1990s. He lives in Los Angeles, California. Music December appeared in the 1994 film ''Reality Bites'' playing ...

and

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

are featured throughout, with

Andy Carlson Andrew Carlson is a violinist from the United States. He began learning traditional fiddle music from his grandfather when he was five. He has won numerous fiddle contests including being named Georgia State Champion Fiddler twice and being named t ...

contributing violin to "Electrolite". After the tour was over, the band went into

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

's Bad Animals Studio and recorded four additional tracks: "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us", "E-Bow the Letter", "Be Mine" and "New Test Leper".

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

came to the sessions and contributed vocals on "E-Bow the Letter".

Audio mixing Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aesthetic ...

was finished at

John Keane Studio John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

and Louie's Clubhouse in Los Angeles with mastering by

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Que ...

at Gateway Mastering in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

. In part due to the nature of the recording process, several of the songs are about travel and motion—including "Departure", "Leave" and "Low Desert". The album's liner notes contain pictures from the road and the deluxe edition of the album is a hardcover book in a slipcase featuring more photographs of R.E.M.'s tour.

Critical reception

Critical reaction to the album was mostly favorable. Several publications lauded the album for its rich diversity, including ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', '' Q'', and ''

''.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

said, "In its multifaceted sprawl, .E.M.wound up with one of their best records of the '90s." At the same time, however, ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' criticized the album's empty and flat sound caused by recording in arenas and soundchecks.''

'', September 30, 1996 In a 2017 retrospective on the band, ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' ranked it third out of R.E.M.'s 15 full-length studio albums. The album is lead vocalist

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence. Pos ...

's favorite from R.E.M. and he considers it the band at their peak. Radiohead singer

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

, who cited R.E.M. as a major influence, said it was his favorite R.E.M. album and "Electrolite" was the greatest song of their career.

Awards

''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' has since appeared on several lists compiling the best albums of the 1990s or all time: ''

Magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nicke ...

'' listed the album at #20 on its list of the "Top 60 Albums 1993–2003",Magnet Tenth Anniversary issue, January 2003 and ''Mojo'' also listed the album at #20 on a list of "The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993–2006". It was voted #186 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by '' The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along w ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by t ...

'' (3rd Edition, 2000). It was also featured on several year-end best-of lists for 1996: *''Entertainment Weekly'' (#2) *''

Eye Weekly ''Eye Weekly'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the '' Toronto Star'', and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The foll ...

'' (#11) *''

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...

'' (#28) *''Magnet'' (#26) *''Mojo'' (#4) *''NME'' (#16) *''Q'' (unranked) *''

Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk ...

'' (French edition) (#2) *''Rolling Stone'' (#4) *''Spin'' (#11) *''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' (#11)

Track listing

All songs written by

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his ca ...

, Mike Mills and

. The Hi Side #"

How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" is a song by R.E.M. released as the fourth and final single from their tenth studio album ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' in 1997. It was released in Germany and Japan was the final R.E.M. single and music vi ...

" – 4:31 #"The Wake-Up Bomb" – 5:08 #"

New Test Leper "New Test Leper" is a song by R.E.M., included on their tenth studio album, ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'', which was released in 1996. It wasn't released as a single; its only non-album issue was on a 1996 Germany-only-released Warner Bros. Recor ...

" – 5:26 #"Undertow" – 5:09 #"

E-Bow the Letter "E-Bow the Letter" is the first single from American rock band R.E.M.'s 10th studio album, '' New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' (1996). It was released on August 19, 1996, several weeks before the album's release. During the same month, R.E.M. signed a ...

" – 5:23 #"Leave" – 7:18 The Fi Side #

"Departure" – 3:28

Bittersweet Me "Bittersweet Me" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their 10th studio album, ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' (1996). Like much of the album, the song originated while the band were on the road for the ''Monster ...

" – 4:06 #"Be Mine" – 5:32 #"Binky the Doormat" – 5:01 #"Zither" – 2:33 #"So Fast, So Numb" – 4:12 #"Low Desert" – 3:30 #" Electrolite" – 4:05 Unlike most R.E.M. albums, this vinyl release did not have custom side names and was instead released as a double album. Record one has tracks 1–6 (three songs per side) and record two has tracks 7–14 (four songs per side). The tape release maintained the custom side names: the first side was called the "Hi-side" and the second side was called the "Fi-side."

Singles and B-sides

''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' consisted of material written during some of the same sessions as ''Monster'' and its following promotional tour; consequently, there were few outtakes or left-over tracks for inclusion as B-sides. The first three tracks were international singles, with "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" being released only in Germany and Japan. "E-Bow the Letter" *"Tricycle" – recorded during soundcheck at the

Riverport Amphitheater The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre (originally Riverport Amphitheatre and formerly the UMB Bank Pavilion and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater) is an outdoor concert venue in Maryland Heights, Missouri, near St. Louis. History The venue was built ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, on September 22, 1995. *"Departure" (Rome soundcheck version) – recorded during soundcheck at the PalaEur,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy, on February 22, 1995. *"Wall of Death" ( Richard Thompson) – taken from the Richard Thompson tribute album ''Beat the Retreat''. "Bittersweet Me" *"Undertow" (Live) – recorded at the Omni Theater,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, on November 18, 1995. Taken from the live performance video ''

Road Movie A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

''. *"Wichita Lineman" (

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", " MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wo ...

) – recorded at

The Woodlands, Texas The Woodlands is a special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands is primarily located in Montgomery County, with p ...

, on September 15, 1995. *"New Test Leper" (Live acoustic) – recorded at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, on April 19, 1996. "Electrolite" *"The Wake-Up Bomb" (Live) – recorded at the Omni Theater, Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 1995. Taken from ''Road Movie''. *"Binky the Doormat" (Live) – recorded at the Omni Theater, Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 1995. Taken from ''Road Movie''. *"King of Comedy" (

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' Newb ...

remix) "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" *"Be Mine" (Mike on the Bus Version) *"Love Is All Around" ( Reg Presley) – previously released on the 1996 soundtrack for '' I Shot Andy Warhol''. *"Sponge" ( Vic Chesnutt) – previously released on the Chesnutt benefit album '' Sweet Relief II'' in 1996. "Revolution" was also released from these sessions—initially on the ''Batman & Robin'' soundtrack and later on disc two of '' In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003''. Other singles "New Test Leper" and "The Wake-Up Bomb" were released as promotional singles for the album; the former had a music video directed by

Lance Bangs Lance Bangs (born September 4, 1972) is an American filmmaker and music video director. He has created videos for Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Neutral Milk Hotel, Green Day, Arcade Fire, The Shins, The Thermals, Belle & Sebastian, Menomena, Yeah Y ...

and Dominic DeJoseph. All five videos from the album were later collected on '' In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003''. The R.E.M. fan club, which issued a special single every year at Christmas time, featured two singles recorded during these sessions: 1996's "Only in America" (originally by Jay & The Americans)/"

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 as the second single from her sixth album, '' Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. A top-selling song, it is a popular di ...

" (a

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor (née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits " I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of " Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...

cover) and 1997's R.E.M. original "Live for Today" was backed with

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, g ...

's "Happy When I'm Crying".

Personnel

"How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" :Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington *Bill Berry –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, " ennio whistle" *Peter Buck –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Mike Mills –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

*Michael Stipe –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, synthesizer "The Wake-Up Bomb" :Recorded live at the

North Charleston Coliseum The North Charleston Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is part of the North Charleston Convention Center Complex, which also includes a performing arts center and convention center. It is owned by the City ...

in Charleston,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, on November 16, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – guitar *Nathan December – guitar *Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals,

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

*Michael Stipe – vocals "New Test Leper" :Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – guitar *Mike Mills – bass guitar, organ *Michael Stipe – vocals "Undertow" :Recorded live at the

FleetCenter TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, a subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Ontario. It opened in 1995 as a replacement for the original Boston Garden and has bee ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, on October 3, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – guitar *Nathan December – guitar *Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals *Michael Stipe – vocals "E-Bow the Letter" :Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – guitar, E-bow,

electric sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the tradition ...

*Mike Mills – bass guitar, organ,

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...

*Patti Smith – vocals *Michael Stipe – vocals "Leave" :Recorded at a soundcheck at the Omni Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 19, or 21, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, synthesizer *Peter Buck – guitar, E-bow *Nathan December – guitar *Scott McCaughey –

ARP Odyssey The ARP Odyssey is an analog synthesizer introduced by ARP Instruments in 1972. History ARP developed the Odyssey as a direct competitor to the Moog Minimoog and an answer to the demand for more affordable, portable, and less complicated "perf ...

*Mike Mills – bass guitar, keyboards *Michael Stipe – vocals "Departure" :Recorded live at

The Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly referred to as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena built in 1988 and located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shoc ...

in Auburn Hills,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, on June 6 or 7, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – guitar *Nathan December – guitar *Mike Mills – fuzz bass, backing vocals,

Farfisa Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professio ...

organ *Michael Stipe – vocals "Bittersweet Me" :Recorded at a soundcheck at the

Pyramid Arena The Memphis Pyramid, formerly known as the Great American Pyramid and the Pyramid Arena, is a building located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, United States, at the banks of the Mississippi River. Built in 1991 as a 20,142-seat arena, the facili ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, on November 7, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – guitar *Scott McCaughey – piano *Mike Mills – bass guitar, organ, Mellotron *Michael Stipe – vocals "Be Mine" :Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – bass guitar, guitar, E-bow *Mike Mills – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards *Michael Stipe – vocals "Binky the Doormat" :Recorded live at the Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, on November 4, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion, backing vocals *Peter Buck – guitar *Nathan December – guitar *Scott McCaughey – Farfisa organ *Mike Mills – fuzz bass, backing vocals, keyboards *Michael Stipe – vocals "Zither" :Recorded in the

dressing room A changing-room, locker-room, (usually in a sports, theater, or staff context) or changeroom (regional use) is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes. Changing-rooms are provided in a semi-public situation to enable people to ch ...

of The Spectrum in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, on October 12, 13, or 14, 1995 *Bill Berry – bass guitar *Peter Buck – guitar *Nathan December –

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, tho ...

*Scott McCaughey –

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

*Mike Mills – organ *Michael Stipe – count in "So Fast, So Numb" :Recorded at a soundcheck at the

Orlando Arena Amway Arena (originally known as Orlando Arena and later TD Waterhouse Centre) was an indoor arena located in Orlando, Florida. It was part of the Orlando Centroplex, a sports and entertainment complex located in Downtown Orlando. The arena was ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, on November 15, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – guitar *Scott McCaughey – piano *Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals, organ *Michael Stipe – vocals ;"Low Desert" :Recorded at a soundcheck at the Omni Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 19, or 21, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – guitar *Nathan December –

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos t ...

*Scott McCaughey – piano *Mike Mills – bass guitar, organ *Michael Stipe – vocals "Electrolite" :Recorded at a soundcheck at the Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 4, 1995 *Bill Berry – drums, percussion *Peter Buck – bass guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

*Nathan December – guiro *Mike Mills – piano *Michael Stipe – vocals Technical crew *William Field – assistant engineering, Athens *Sam Hofstedt – assistant engineering, Seattle *Victor Janacua – assistant engineering, Los Angeles * Adam Kasper – recording engineering, Seattle * John Keane – recording and mixing *

– co-producing and mixing engineering *

/Gateway Mastering – mastering * Pat McCarthy – recording engineering, Los Angeles *Mark "Microwave" Mytrowitz – technical assistance *Joe O'Herlihy – tour recording engineering *Jo Ravitch – tour recording engineering *Eric Stolz – digital editing *Jeff Wooding – tour recording engineering

Sale chart performance

While ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' began the band's sales decline in the United States, it topped the charts in over a dozen countries and reached #1 on the Top European Albums for five consecutive weeks. The album peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and spent 22 weeks on chart. According to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

, it has sold 994,000 units in the U.S. as of March 2007. The first single, "E-Bow the Letter", received only modest radio airplay in the U.S. and peaked at #49 on its charts. In the UK, however, the single became the band's biggest hit at that point, reaching #4.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Like all R.E.M. albums since 1988's ''

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

'', ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' was released in a limited-edition packaging. This one contained a 64-page hardcover book designed by Chris Bilheimer and featuring photos from the ''Monster'' tour. In 2005, Warner Brothers Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of the album which included a CD, a

DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The st ...

disc containing a new audio mix of the album (in

5.1 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dolb ...

-channel

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener (surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to s ...

, high resolution, AC3, Dolby Stereo, and DTS 5.1) done by

Elliot Scheiner Elliot Ray Scheiner (born 18 March 1947) is a music producer, mixer and engineer. Scheiner has received 27 Grammy Award nominations, eight of which he won, and he has been awarded four Emmy nominations, two Emmy Awards for his work with the Eagl ...

and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes. In addition, the DVD includes a video documentary, lyrics, and a photo gallery. As with the prior albums, a 25th-anniversary edition was announced in August 2021 for an October release date. The edition includes a remastered album, B-sides from the album and a

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

with previously unreleased promotional materials. Due to issues related to the

2021 global supply chain crisis 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, all CD variations of the remastered reissue are delayed to mid-November 2021.

References

External links

''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' from REMHQ.com
* *
The story of ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi''
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Adventures in Hi-Fi 1996 albums 1996 live albums Albums produced by Bill Berry Albums produced by Michael Stipe Albums produced by Mike Mills Albums produced by Peter Buck Albums produced by Scott Litt R.E.M. albums R.E.M. live albums Warner Records albums Warner Records live albums Live hard rock albums