''Eponymous'' is the first

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

by the American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

, released in 1988. It was their last authorized release on

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was a major American record label founded by Miles Copeland III and Jay Boberg in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave and a ...

, to whom they had been contracted since 1982, having just signed with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. ''Eponymous'' includes several alternative versions of songs, including the soundtrack contribution "Romance", which had not previously appeared on an R.E.M. record. Spanning from the initial single release of "

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

" to the previous year's breakthrough hit album ''

Document A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ', which denotes ...

'', ''Eponymous'' provides a fair overview of R.E.M.'s early work. The album features the alternate title "File Under Grain", a reference to the cover photograph. A previous album, ''

'', had "File Under Fire" inscribed on it, and ''

Reckoning Reckoning may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Reckoning (Grateful Dead album), ''Reckoning'' (Grateful Dead album), 1981 live album * Reckoning (R.E.M. album), ''Reckoning'' (R.E.M. album), 1984 album * "Reckoning", a song by Aug ...

'' featured the words "File Under Water". On the reverse of the LP cover is a photograph of singer

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 the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

with the words "They Airbrushed My Face" above his head. The photo is the senior portrait taken of Stipe while at Collinsville High School in

Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville is a city located mainly in Madison County and partially in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,366. Collinsville is approximately east of St. Louis, Missouri, and is ...

. It appears in the Class of 1978 high school year book. The "doodles" on the front cover are the work of Stipe. He asked Tom Laune, the engineer at

Ardent Studios Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The studio was founded in the late 1950s by John King, Fred Smith, and John Fry. Over time, it has become a commercially successful recording studio. ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, to photocopy them and make them larger. Released in October 1988, just a month before R.E.M.'s

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

debut ''

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 com ...

'' appeared, ''Eponymous'' reached #44 in the US and #69 in the UK.

Track listing

All songs written by

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 guita ...

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 played the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his caree ...

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

and

: Side one – "Early" #"

" (original Hib-Tone single) (1981) – 3:47 #"

Gardening at Night "Gardening at Night" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was recorded for the band's 1982 debut EP '' Chronic Town''. Writing The song is said to have been written on a mattress in the front yard of the Oconee Street church in Athens, Geo ...

" (different vocal mix)¹ – 3:30 #"

Talk About the Passion "Talk About the Passion" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single released from its debut album '' Murmur'' in 1983. It was released in Europe only, on 12" vinyl. This song failed to follow up on the ...

" (from '' Murmur'', 1983) – 3:20 #" So. Central Rain" (from ''

'', 1984) – 3:15 #"

(Don't Go Back To) Rockville "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" is the second and final single released by American rock band R.E.M. from their second studio album, '' Reckoning''. The song failed to chart on either the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 or the UK Singles Charts. Backgrou ...

" (from ''

'', 1984) – 4:32 #" Cant Get There from Here" (from ''

Fables of the Reconstruction ''Fables of the Reconstruction'' (or ''Reconstruction of the Fables'') is the third studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released on June 10, 1985, through I.R.S. Records. It was the band's first album recorded outside ...

'', 1985) – 3:39 Side two – "Late" #

Driver 8 "Driver 8" is the second single from American musical group R.E.M.'s third album, ''Fables of the Reconstruction'', released in September 1985. The song peaked at number 22 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song refers ...

" (from ''

'', 1985) – 3:23

#"Romance" (from

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

album to the 1987 film ''

Made in Heaven ''Made In Heaven'' is the fifteenth and final studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 6 November 1995 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by Hollywood Records in the United States. It is the final studio album to ...

'') – 3:25 #" Fall on Me" (from ''

Lifes Rich Pageant ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on July 28, 1986, by I.R.S. Records. R.E.M. chose Don Gehman to produce the album, which was recorded at John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall Stu ...

'', 1986) – 2:50 #" The One I Love" (from ''

'', 1987) – 3:16 #"

Finest Worksong "Finest Worksong" is the third and final single released from R.E.M.'s fifth studio album ''Document (album), Document''. It peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1988, at the time the group's highest-charting single in the UK. Th ...

" (mutual drum horn mix) (from "Finest Worksong" single) – 3:50 #"

It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a song by American Rock music, rock band R.E.M., which first appeared on their 1987 album, ''Document (album), Document''. It was released as the album's second music single, single ...

" (from ''

'', 1987) – 4:05 Notes *¹ Different mix from version on ''

Chronic Town ''Chronic Town'' is the debut extended play (EP) by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released on August 24, 1982, on I.R.S. Records. The five-track EP was recorded at Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in October ...

''.

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eponymous (Album) Albums produced by Don Dixon (musician) Albums produced by Don Gehman Albums produced by Joe Boyd Albums produced by Mitch Easter Albums produced by Scott Litt R.E.M. compilation albums 1988 greatest hits albums French-language compilation albums 1980s French-language albums I.R.S. Records compilation albums