R.E.M. – The Best of R.E.M.

Artist: R.E.M.

Title: The Best of R.E.M.

Label: Warner Bros.

Rating: 7/10

The Good:
“Man On The Moon” – As the linear notes state… it is the quintessential R.E.M. song.
“What’s The Frequency Kenneth?” – Grand glittery R.E.M.
“Losing My Religion” – In my opinion there is only one song better than this from the R.E.M. catalog; “Everybody Hurts” which thankfully is included. I can’t even listen to “Everybody Hurts” without tearing up.

The Average:
“The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight” – Light fun. Speaking of light fun; “Stand” reminds of days when this odd song inspired nothing more than a smile –thank you R.E.M.
“The Great Beyond” – I’m not sure how this soundtrack song knocks out “Shiny Happy People”.
“Orange Crush” – A nonsensical song that still sticks tight to you.

The Ugly:
“Bad Day” – Why do we need a bad unreleased song that could have had something much better?
“Animal” – New song huh? Unreleased huh? It should have stayed that way.
“All The Right Friends” – From the Vanilla Sky soundtrack and that is where it should have stayed.

Frankly: R.E.M. has many songs worth calling the best – to bad they left a bunch of those off this release. Tisk-tisk.

+ Rae Gun