''R.E.M. Live'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

from

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 ...

, recorded at the

Point Theatre The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, on February 26 and 27, 2005, the closing nights of the winter European leg of the ''Around the World Tour'' in support of their thirteenth studio album ''

Around the Sun ''Around the Sun'' is the thirteenth studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on October 5, 2004 on Warner Bros. Records. The album was supported by several singles and a world tour. It was commercially successful but recei ...

'', released in late 2004. It was released in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2007, and in the United States a day later as a two- CD audio set and a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

, then released in February 2008 as a triple vinyl set. The performance was filmed by Blue Leach, who also directed

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

's '' Touring the Angel: Live in Milan''. ''R.E.M. Live'' features rare performances of "I Took Your Name" from 1994's ''

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

'' and "Ascent of Man" from ''Around the Sun'', as well as the previously unreleased "I'm Gonna DJ". A studio version of that song appeared on the band's 2008 release, '' Accelerate''. On September 26, 2007, the band launched ''R.E.M. Live Zine'' to solicit reviews from fans and promote the album. The DVD has the option for stereo or digital 5.1 surround sound.

Album cover

The album cover features an image of

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 his stage makeup running when R.E.M. performed in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa, on March 8, 2005. According to Stipe, "It's such an intense picture. It was the hottest recorded stage we ever performed on, in Durban, South Africa. It was 130 degrees recorded on stage. I think that's like an oven. It was insanely hot, and the makeup was dripping off my face. But we used it for a live album cover, and it looked good. I think it was the only time I put my face on an R.E.M. record cover."

Reception

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 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

except as indicated. CD 1 #"I Took Your Name" (

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 ...

, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on ''

'') – 4:08 #"So Fast, So Numb" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on ''

New Adventures in Hi-Fi ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' is the tenth studio album by the United States, American alternative rock 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 fol ...

'') – 4:40 #"Boy in the Well" (originally on ''

'') – 5:16 #" Cuyahoga" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on ''

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 ...

'') – 4:25 #"

Everybody Hurts "Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, '' Automatic for the People'' (1992), and released as a single in April 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. It was written by the band and produced by them with ...

" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on '' Automatic for the People'') – 6:49 #" Electron Blue" (originally on ''

'') – 4:13 #" Bad Day" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on '' In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003'') – 4:26 #"The Ascent of Man" (originally on ''

'') – 4:12 #"

The Great Beyond "The Great Beyond" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., written for the 1999 film '' Man on the Moon''. It was released as a single the same year for support of the film's soundtrack album. On the soundtrack, there is some dialogue from the m ...

" (originally on '' Man on the Moon Soundtrack'') – 4:49 #"

Leaving New York "Leaving New York" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released as the lead single from the band's 13th studio album, ''Around the Sun'' (2004). Although it was not as heavily promoted as earlier singles, it reached number ...

" (originally on ''

'') – 4:48 #"

Orange Crush Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. It was created in 1911, 30 years before Coca-Cola's Fanta, by beverage and extract chemist ...

" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on ''

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 ...

'') – 4:27 #"I Wanted to Be Wrong" (originally on ''

'') – 5:02 #"Final Straw" (originally on ''

'') – 4:10 #" Imitation of Life" (originally on '' Reveal'') – 3:53 #" The One I Love" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on ''

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 ...

'') – 3:27 #"Walk Unafraid" (originally on '' Up'') – 5:02 #"

Losing My Religion "Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on February 19, 1991 by Warner Bros. as the first single from their seventh album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). It developed from a mandolin riff improvised by the ...

" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on '' Out of Time'') – 4:53 CD 2 #"

What's the Frequency, Kenneth? "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. from their ninth studio album, '' Monster'' (1994). The song's title refers to an incident in New York City in 1986 in which two then-unknown assailants attack ...

" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on ''

'') – 4:06 #"

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on '' Automatic for the People'') – 5:41 #"

(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 ...

" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on ''

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 ...

'') – 4:39 #" I'm Gonna DJ" (later released on '' Accelerate'') – 2:27 #" Man on the Moon" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) (originally on '' Automatic for the People'') – 6:46 The DVD consists of all of the preceding songs, in the same sequence. The original show was February 27, 2005 (except " Electron Blue", from the night before at the same venue) but had a longer setlist, and four songs were cut from the DVD: "

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

", "

High Speed Train High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

", " Sweetness Follows", and " The Worst Joke Ever".

Personnel

R.E.M. *

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

background 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 u ...

, keyboards,

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

on "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" *

– vocals,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

on "Bad Day" Additional musicians *

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 ...

– guitar, keyboards, background vocals *

Bill Rieflin William Frederick Rieflin (September 30, 1960 – March 24, 2020) was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scen ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Ken Stringfellow Kenneth Stuart Stringfellow (born October 30, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer. Best known for his work with The Posies, R.E.M., and the re-formed Big Star, Stringfellow's discography include ...

– keyboards, guitar,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

, background vocals * Daniel Ryan of

The Thrills The Thrills are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 2001. The band was founded by lead vocalist Conor Deasy and guitarist Daniel Ryan, guitarist and bass player Padraic McMahon, pianist Kevin Horan and drummer Ben Carrigan. Their b ...

– guitar and background vocals on "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"

Release history

The two-CD/DVD version was first released in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2007 and the United States the following day. A triple vinyl LP was released in the UK on January 21, 2008, with the US release on February 19, 2008.

Certifications

References

External links

*
''R.E.M. Live'' at R.E.M.HQ

R.E.M. Live Zine

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

pool
McCaughey announcing the albumChris Bilheimer discusses designing the album
* * {{Authority control R.E.M. video albums 2007 video albums R.E.M. live albums 2000s live video albums 2007 live albums Concert films Warner Records live albums Warner Records video albums Films directed by Blue Leach 2007 films American documentary films Films shot in the Republic of Ireland 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s Irish films English-language documentary films