New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Parallel1995Road Movie1996studioNew Adventures in Hi-FiR.E.M. - New Adventures in Hi-Fi.jpgA black and white photograph of a hot desert.Cover to the standard edition of the album.R.E.M.Template:Start date1995–1996Various locations in the United StatesBad Animals (Seattle)* Folk rock

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New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the tenth studio album by the 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 following day in the United States. New Adventures in Hi-Fi was the band's final album recorded with founding drummer Bill Berry (who left the band amicably the following year), original manager Jefferson Holt, and long-time producer Scott Litt. The members of R.E.M. consider the recorded album representative of the band at their peak,<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref> and fans generally regard it as the band's last great record before a perceived artistic decline during the late 1990s and early 2000s.<ref name="ReferenceA">Mojo, November 1996</ref> It has sold around seven million units, growing in cult status years after its release, with several retrospectives ranking it among the best of the band's recorded catalogue.<ref name="cos">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Composition and recording

The album was recorded during and after the 1995 tour in support of Monster. The material on the album mixed the acoustic, country rock feel of much of Out of Time and Automatic for the People with the rock sound of Monster and Lifes Rich Pageant.<ref name="reynolds">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The band has cited Neil Young's 1973 album Time Fades Away as a source of inspiration.<ref name="young">Template:Cite journal</ref> The album has been labeled as "folk rock-jangle" by critic Robert Christgau.<ref name=rcreview/>

In an interview with Mojo, bassist Mike Mills said:

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File:PyramidArena.jpg

Memphis, Tennessee's Pyramid Arena was one of several locations used to record New Adventures in Hi-Fi

File:Patti Smith performing at TIM Festival, Marina da Gloria, Rio De Janeiro (4).jpg

Patti Smith—an influence on Peter Buck and Michael Stipe—added vocals to lead single "E-Bow the Letter"

File:Scott McCaughey 01.jpg

New Adventures in Hi-Fi represented the beginning of R.E.M.'s long-time association with Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist Scott McCaughey (pictured here in 2011)

The band noted that they borrowed the recording process for the album from Radiohead, who had 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 and Scott McCaughey are featured throughout, with Andy Carlson contributing violin to "Electrolite".

After the tour was over, the band went into Seattle'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 came to the sessions and contributed vocals on "E-Bow the Letter". Audio mixing was finished at John Keane Studio in Athens and Louie's Clubhouse in Los Angeles with mastering by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine.

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.

Artwork

File:Hill in “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” cover in April 2024.jpg

The album's cover shot was taken from U.S. Route 95 in Nevada, between Mercury and Amargosa Valley.

The photograph used in the album cover was shot by Stipe in Nevada during a road trip to Georgia from Los Angeles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other parts of the packaging were done by Chris Bilheimer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Critical reception

Critical reaction to the album was mostly extremely positive. Several publications lauded the album for its rich diversity, including Rolling Stone, which said "The sequence of songs and the range of emotions on New Adventures convey a narrative that has all the dynamics and contradictions of life itself."<ref name="rsreview"/> Q and Mojo also gave positive reviews. At the same time, however, Melody Maker criticized the album's empty and flat sound caused by recording in arenas and soundchecks.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said, "New Adventures in Hi-Fi feels like it was recorded on the road. Not only are all of Michael Stipe's lyrics on the album about moving or travel, the sound is ragged and varied, pieced together from tapes recorded at shows, soundtracks, and studios, giving it a loose, careening charm." and concluded "In its multifaceted sprawl, [R.E.M.] wound up with one of their best records of the '90s."<ref name="allmusicreview" /> In a 2017 retrospective on the band, Consequence of Sound ranked it third out of R.E.M.'s 15 full-length studio albums.<ref name="cos" />

New Adventures in Hi-Fi is frontman Michael Stipe's favorite R.E.M. album, and he considers it the band at their peak.<ref name="nyt"/> Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who has cited R.E.M. as a major influence, called it his favorite R.E.M. album and "Electrolite" the band's greatest song.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Jeremy Bifras of BrooklynVegan called the album "an experimental masterpiece".<ref name="Nifras">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards

New Adventures in Hi-Fi has since appeared on several lists compiling the best albums of the 1990s or all time: Magnet listed the album at #20 on its list of the "Top 60 Albums 1993–2003",<ref name="magnet">Magnet Tenth Anniversary issue, January 2003</ref> 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's All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd Edition, 2000).<ref name="Larkin">Template:Cite book</ref> It was also featured on several year-end best-of lists for 1996:

• Entertainment Weekly (#2)
• Eye Weekly (#11)
• The Face (#28)
• Magnet (#26)
• Mojo (#4)
• NME (#16)
• Q (unranked)
• Rock Sound (French edition) (#2)
• Rolling Stone (#4)
• Spin (#11)
• Village Voice (#11)

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

The Hi Side

1. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" – 4:31
2. "The Wake-Up Bomb" – 5:08
3. "New Test Leper" – 5:26
4. "Undertow" – 5:09
5. "E-Bow the Letter" – 5:23
6. "Leave" – 7:18

The Fi Side

7. "Departure" – 3:28
8. "Bittersweet Me" – 4:06
9. "Be Mine" – 5:32
10. "Binky the Doormat" – 5:01
11. "Zither" – 2:33
12. "So Fast, So Numb" – 4:12
13. "Low Desert" – 3:30
14. "Electrolite" – 4:05

Unlike most R.E.M. albums, this vinyl release did not have custom side names; instead, it was 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".

Personnel

"How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"

Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion, "ennio whistle"Template:Refn
• Peter Buck – guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, bass guitar
• Mike Mills – piano, backing vocals, synthesizer
• Michael Stipe – lead vocals, synthesizer

"The Wake-Up Bomb"

Recorded live at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 16, 1995

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion
• Peter Buck – guitar
• Nathan December – guitar
• Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals, organ
• Michael Stipe – lead 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 in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 3, 1995

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion
• Peter Buck – guitar
• Nathan December – guitar
• Scott McCaughey – ARP Odyssey
• Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Michael Stipe – lead vocals

"E-Bow the Letter"

Recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion
• Peter Buck – guitar, E-bow, electric sitar
• Mike Mills – bass guitar, organ, Moog synthesizer, Mellotron
• Patti Smith – vocals
• Michael Stipe – vocals

"Leave"

Recorded at a soundcheck at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 18, 19, or 21, 1995

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, synthesizer
• Peter Buck – guitar, E-bow
• Nathan December – guitar
• Scott McCaughey – ARP Odyssey
• Mike Mills – bass guitar, keyboards
• Michael Stipe – vocals

"Departure"

Recorded live at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on June 6 or 7, 1995

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion
• Peter Buck – guitar
• Nathan December – guitar
• Mike Mills – fuzz bass, backing vocals, Farfisa organ
• Michael Stipe – lead vocals

"Bittersweet Me"

Recorded at a soundcheck at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee, 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 – lead vocals

"Binky the Doormat"

Recorded live at the Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix, Arizona, 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 – lead vocals

"Zither"

Recorded in the dressing room of The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 12, 13, or 14, 1995

• Bill Berry – bass guitar
• Peter Buck – guitar
• Nathan December – tambourine
• Scott McCaughey – autoharp
• Mike Mills – organ
• Michael Stipe – count in

"So Fast, So Numb"

Recorded at a soundcheck at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, on November 15, 1995

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion
• Peter Buck – guitar
• Scott McCaughey – piano
• Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals, organ
• Michael Stipe – lead 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
• 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
• Andy Carlson – violin
• Nathan December – güiro
• Mike Mills – piano
• Michael Stipe – vocals

Technical personnel

• 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
• Scott Litt – co-producing and mixing engineering
• Bob Ludwig/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

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.<ref name="bb961019">Template:Cite book</ref> The album peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and spent 22 weeks on chart. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it has sold 994,000 units in the U.S. as of March 2007.<ref name="billboardweeks">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=allmusicalbumcharts>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="USAT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first single, "E-Bow the Letter", received only modest radio airplay in the U.S. and peaked at #49 on its charts.<ref name=allmusicsinglescharts>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the UK, however, the single became the band's biggest hit at that point, reaching #4. Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2

Weekly charts

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Weekly chart performance for New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Chart (1996–97)	Position
Canadian Albums (The Record)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
Danish Albums (IFPI/Nielsen Music Control)<ref name="bb961012">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)<ref name = "Europe">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	7
Irish Albums (IRMA)<ref name="bb960928">Template:Cite book</ref>	1
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref name="Jachart">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	26
Portuguese Albums (AFP)<ref name="bb960928"/>	2
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)<ref name="bb961005">Template:Cite book</ref>	5

Year-end charts

Template:Album chart

1996 year-end chart performance for New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Chart (1996)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	58
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria Top 40)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	16
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	78
European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)<ref name = "Europe"/>	19
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	34
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	25
Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	37
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	50
UK Albums (OCC)<ref name="UKYearend96I">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	34
US Billboard 200<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	96

Release history

Like all R.E.M. albums since 1988's Green, 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 disc containing a new audio mix of the album (in 5.1-channel surround sound, high resolution, AC3, Dolby Stereo, and DTS 5.1) done by Elliot Scheiner 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 with previously unreleased promotional materials.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Due to issues related to the 2021 global supply chain crisis, all CD variations of the remastered reissue were delayed to mid-November 2021.<ref name="REMNAIHF">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Worldwide	Template:Start date	Warner Bros.	Compact disc, cassette tape, double LP	46320
United States	Template:Start date	Warner Bros.	Compact disc, cassette, 2LP	46320
United States	Template:Start date	Warner Bros.	Limited-edition compact disc	46321
Worldwide	Template:Start date	Warner Bros.	Compact disc and DVD-Audio	73950
Worldwide	Template:Start date	Craft Recordings	2LP	CR00438
	Template:Start date		2CD	CR00440
	Template:Start date		2CD/1 Blu-ray/book	CR00439

External links

• New Adventures in Hi-Fi from REMHQ.com
• New Adventures in Hi-Fi press release
• Template:MusicBrainz release group
• The story of New Adventures in Hi-Fi