Don't Talk to Me About Being Alone

In Time: The Best of R.E.M (1988 - 2003) - 2003

As far as best of albums go, In Time is somewhat of a disappointment. The biggest problem is that it covers too large of a period of R.E.M.'s career, culling songs from all their albums from Warner Bros. up to this point. The first five records in that group, Green, Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster, and New Adventures in Hi-Fi, were released during the band's most commercially successful period. In fact, this collection would have been better served if it had been split off accordingly: one disc of the five Warner albums with Bill Berry, and a disc to be released a few years later (say after Accelerate) covering R.E.M. as a trio. In an effort to include material from the two post-Bill Berry albums, Up and Reveal, as well as two new songs and a few from some soundtracks, a lot of great material is left off this retrospective.

The entire notion that Out of Time is only represented by one song, the triumphant "Losing My Religion", is pretty insulting. This record was a huge commercial hit and made R.E.M. a household name. "Shiny Happy People" may have been a little silly, but it was still a big hit. Also, "Radio Song", "Near Wild Heaven" and "Texarkana" all got significant radio play. Monster is given similar short-sighted treatment and is only represented by "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?".

In Time does a decent job as far as new and rare material is concerned. Two songs from soundtracks, "The Great Beyond" and "All the Right Friends" (the later is a reworking of an old R.E.M. tune from their bar playing days) are quite enjoyable. The new material "Bad Day", another reworked old R.E.M. song, and "Animal" are very appreciated after the lackluster showing of Reveal. These two are more rock based compared to the material the band had been putting out as a trio. Also, these songs contained something that had been missing lately: Mike Mills' awesome backing vocals.

The second disc of B-sides and rarities is really hit-or-miss. Most of it is filled with live or alternate versions of previously released material. Fortunately, there is a small assortment of really great songs that were used on soundtracks included. "Fretless" is mesmerizing and has some great Kate Pierson vocals, "Chance (dub)" is goofy but fun, "It's a Free World Baby" is a sold R.E.M. track, and Monster tour staple "Revolution" really rocks.

In Time is still enjoyable, but it falls short of being a really solid retrospective. The focus is too wide and the material on the second disc isn't exceptional enough to warrant it. A person is better off crafting their own version of a mid-career R.E.M. best of album.

6 out of 10