R.E.M. release playlist of band-favourite songs
Alternative rock legends R.E.M. have shared a new playlist compiling all of the band members’ favourite songs from across their 30-year catalogue.
With input from all four band members – singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry – R.E.M. have compiled a thorough overview of their three decades of recording and releasing material together.
“Just for fun, Bill, Peter, Mike & Michael put together a great playlist of their 40 favourite R.E.M. songs,” the band wrote on their social media. “Each guy picked ten songs, and the results are quite interesting—Michael’s are 1-10, Peter’s 11-20, Mike’s 21-30, & Bill’s 31-40.”
Each member’s choices reveal some interesting views of the band. For instance, Berry included three tracks from the period after he departed the band in 1997: ‘Beachball’ from 2001’s Reveal, ‘Daysleeper’ from 1998’s Up, and ‘Leaving New York’ from 2004’s Around the Sun.
Berry also singled out two tracks from the 1987 compilation album Dead Letter Office, ‘Rotary Ten’ and ‘Voice of Harold’. ‘Rotary Ten’ is a country-jazz instrumental that appeared as the B-side to the ‘Fall On Me’ single, while ‘Voice of Harold’ is a version of ‘7 Chinese Bros.’ with Stipe singing the liner notes to the Revelaires’ gospel album The Joy of Knowing Jesus.
Stipe doesn’t include any songs from the band’s first three albums in his choices, with the oldest track being ‘The Flowers of Guatemala’ from 1985’s Lifes Rich Pageant. Mills’ choices are arguably the most in line with the band’s best-known material, with tracks like ‘It’s the End of the World As We Know It’, ‘Orange Crush’, and ‘What’s the Frequency, Kenneth’ all making appearances.
For his part, Buck’s choices feature both his signature guitar work – like ‘Feeling Gravity’s Pull’, ‘So. Central Rain’, and ‘Finest Worksong’ – and some more obscure minimalist choices like ‘You’re In The Air’ and ‘All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be a Star)’. Buck also picked two choices from 1996’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi, ‘Undertow’ and ‘Electrolite’.
Check out the ‘R.E.M. Top Forty Playlist’ down below.
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