Today I’m going to talk about The 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of Automatic For The People by R.E.M., a band that certainly shouldn’t need an introduction, but since its sad demise occurred in 2011, I will gladly share a few words on this incredibly influential group.
R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia. Formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe. After a remarkable debut single on Hib-Tone, a small independent label, and a slew of critically-acclaimed early albums that garnered them increased success in the college rock circuit, R.E.M. signed to Warner Bros Records in 1988. If Green (1988) was universally lauded by listeners and critics and Out Of Time (1990) broke the band into the mainstream, Automatic For The People (1991) became a worldwide hit and stayed at the top of the charts for many months going on to sell 18 million copies globally.
With its perfect mix of somberness (Monty Got A Raw Deal), playfulness (The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite), anger (Drive), and melancholy (Find The River, Man On The Moon), AFTP proves to be the definitive album by anybody’s standards. This beautiful 4-disk, 12”x12” lift-top box deluxe edition features fresh remaster of the original album, a brand new remix of all the songs in Dolby Atmos, a technology that allows for a truly multi-dimensional sound. I did test the disk on my lousy Sony Blu-Ray player piping the audio through a Sonos Playbar, two surround Play:1s and a Play:5 speakers…and it really wowed me! I was really impressed with the quality and spatiality of the whole rendition, offering a rich, shimmering, all-immersive soundscape.
This boxset includes 20 never-before-heard demo versions of the songs, plus previously unreleased tracks Devil Rides Backwards and Mike’s Pop Song. A third disk features a performance recorded live at the 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA, 11/19/92—the only concert the band played for the AFTP album. The fourth disk is a Blu-ray including all the music videos for the album, press kit interviews. the package is rounded of by a nice hardbound book featuring awesome photographies by Anton Corbjin, song lyrics and liner notes.
The long and short: this is the definitive edition of AFTP and the ultimate reason for owning a piece of this legendary band’s art. Here is a link to R.E.M.’s official website, if you would like to purchase a copy.
The Other Mix 