Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1996…
#3 – New Adventures in Hi-Fi – R.E.M.
I owned a lot of CDs back in the days before streaming, and for a select few of them I can recall the exact time and place they first came into my possession. One such album is R.E.M.’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi, the band’s final release as a quartet.
My soon-to-be-wife bought this CD for me while I was on a work trip to the Dominican Republic and surprised me with it when she picked me up at the airport. As a huge R.E.M. fan, I’d been anticipating the release for months and cursing the timing. But thanks to her thoughtfulness, I was able to hear it ASAP.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi is R.E.M.’s last great album, and arguably their last “true” album. The band released five more records as a trio following the departure of drummer Bill Berry and while there is greatness within many of those releases, none of them quite feels like the real R.E.M.
This album was recorded during the tour for their previous release, Monster, with the songs performed live or during sound checks. Those recordings were later embellished in the studio. The band also recorded four additional tracks, including first single ‘E-Bow the Letter.’
The result is one of R.E.M.’s most interesting albums, sonically, ranging from hard rockers to earthy acoustic ballads. While the quartet didn’t yet know they would lose Berry, the album at times plays like a retrospective of their previous 13 years.
“Twentieth century, go to sleep,” Michael Stipe sings at the close of the gorgeous final track ‘Electrolite,’ “I’m outta here.” It was a glorious send-off for the full lineup of one of the greatest bands of all time.
Look up, what do you see? All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry, some of them, they surprise
The bus ride, I went to write this, 4 AM, this letter
Fields of poppies, little pearls, all the boys and all the girls
Sweet-toothed, each and every one a little scary
I said your name, I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars
Hash bars, cherry mash and tinfoil tiaras
Dreaming of Maria Callas, whoever she is
This fame thing, I don’t get it
I wrap my hand in plastic to try to look through it
Maybelline eyes and girl-as-boy moves
It can take you far, this star thing, I don’t get it
[Chorus]
I’ll take you over, there
I’ll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I’ll take you over, there
It tastes like fear
I’ll take you over
[Verse 2]
Will you live to 83?
Will you ever welcome me?
Will you show me something that nobody else has seen?
Smoke it, drink, here comes the flood
Anything to thin the blood
These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet
Phone, eat it, drink, just another chink
Cuts and dents, they catch the light
Aluminum, the weakest link
I don’t wanna disappoint you, I’m not here to anoint you
I would lick your feet, but is that the sickest move?
I wear my own crown of sadness and sorrow
And who’d have thought tomorrow would be so strange?
My loss, and here we go again
[Chorus]
I’ll take you over, there
I’ll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I’ll take you over, there
It tastes like fear, pulls us near
I’ll take you over
[Verse 3]
Look up, and what do you see?
All of you and all of me, fluorescent and starry
And some of them, they surprise
I can’t look it in the eyes, Seconal, Spanish fly, absinthe, kerosene
Cherry-flavored neck and collar
I can smell the sorrow on your breath
The sweat, the victory and sorrow, the smell of fear
I got it
[Chorus]
I’ll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I’ll take you over, take you there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I’ll take you over, take you there
It tastes like fear, pulls us near
I’ll take you over, take you there
It tastes like fear, pulls us near
[Outro]
Pulls us near (It tastes like fear)
It tastes like fear (Pulls us near)
Pulls us near (Near, near)
Over, over, over, over (And nearer and nearer)
Over, over, yeah
Oh, oh (I’ll take you over)
Yeah
(I’ll take you over, I’ll take you there)
Oh, over (I’ll take you there)
Over, baby (I’ll take you over)
There, there
There, baby
Meet Me In Montauk 