Maps of Music
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
Where the lyrics of New Adventures in Hi-Fi take you, and where it was really made.
Most of this album was never recorded in a studio: its tracks were taped at live shows and soundchecks in arenas across the United States, then pieced together.
View on the mapKey places
Four tracks recorded in Seattle after the tour (1996)
Recording site Bad Animals Studio — After the tour ended, the band recorded four additional tracks at this Seattle studio, including the album's opening song. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Mixing finished in Athens (1996)
Recording site John Keane Studios — Mixing for the album was finished at this Athens studio, which is also listed as a recording location for the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps
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Live take from North Charleston (1995)
Live show North Charleston Coliseum — The track The Wake-Up Bomb was recorded live at this arena in North Charleston on 16 November 1995, during the Monster tour. Google Maps · Apple Maps
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Live take from Boston (1995)
Live show TD Garden (FleetCenter) — The track Undertow was recorded live at this Boston venue, then called the FleetCenter, on 3 October 1995. Google Maps · Apple Maps
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Soundcheck take in Atlanta (1996)
Recording site Omni Coliseum — The track Leave was recorded at a soundcheck at this Atlanta arena during the November 1995 tour dates. Google Maps · Apple Maps
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Live take from Auburn Hills (1996)
Live show The Palace of Auburn Hills — The track Departure was recorded live at this arena in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on 6 or 7 June 1995. Google Maps · Apple Maps
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Soundcheck take in Memphis (1995)
Recording site Pyramid Arena — The track Bittersweet Me was recorded at a soundcheck at this Memphis arena on 7 November 1995. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Live take from Phoenix (1995)
Live show Desert Sky Pavilion — The track Binky the Doormat was recorded live at this Phoenix venue on 4 November 1995. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Dressing room take in Philadelphia (1996)
Recording site The Spectrum — The track Zither was recorded in the dressing room of this Philadelphia venue during October 1995 dates. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Soundcheck take in Orlando (1995)
Recording site Amway Arena (Orlando Arena) — The track So Fast, So Numb was recorded at a soundcheck at this Orlando arena on 15 November 1995. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Cover photo on the road (1996)
Album cover U.S. Route 95 in Nevada — The album cover photograph was shot by Michael Stipe along this highway in Nevada during a road trip from Los Angeles to Georgia. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Album story
Overview
- New Adventures in Hi-Fi: tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M.
- Fifth major-label release for Warner Bros. Records
- Released 9 September 1996 in Europe and Australia, and the next day in the United States
- Final album recorded with founding drummer Bill Berry, who left the band amicably the following year
- Also the last album with original manager Jefferson Holt and longtime producer Scott Litt
- Band members consider the album representative of their peak
Background
- Recorded during and after the band's 1995 tour in support of Monster
- Material mixed the acoustic country rock feel of Out of Time and Automatic for the People with the rock sound of Monster and Lifes Rich Pageant
- Band cited Neil Young's 1973 album Time Fades Away as a source of inspiration
- Bassist Mike Mills said the band got into the studio relieved after Berry's collapse from a brain aneurysm on tour
- Band borrowed the recording process from Radiohead, who had recorded basic tracks for The Bends while on tour
Recording
- Eight-track recorders captured live performances, and those recordings became the base elements of the album
- Touring musicians Nathan December and Scott McCaughey are featured throughout
- Andy Carlson contributed violin to "Electrolite"
- After the tour, four tracks were recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle: "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us", "E-Bow the Letter", "Be Mine", and "New Test Leper"
- Patti Smith sang vocals on "E-Bow the Letter"
- Mixing was finished at John Keane Studio in Athens and Louie's Clubhouse in Los Angeles
- Mastering by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine
- Scott Litt co-produced and mixed the album
Cover
- Photograph shot by Michael Stipe along U.S. Route 95 in Nevada during a road trip to Georgia from Los Angeles
- Other packaging elements by Chris Bilheimer
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com
Artist
Formation
- American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe, all University of Georgia students
- Released the single "Radio Free Europe" in 1981 on the independent label Hib-Tone
- Signed with I.R.S. Records in 1982
Members
- Michael Stipe (lead vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass, vocals), Bill Berry (drums) until 1997
- Bill Rieflin served as touring drummer from 2003 until his death in 2020
Career
- Breakthrough hit "The One I Love" in 1987 from Document; signed with Warner Bros. in 1988
- Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992) made them leaders of alternative rock
- Continued as a trio after Berry left in 1997
- Broke up in 2011 after selling more than 90 million albums worldwide
- Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2024
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reception
At release
- Rolling Stone praised the sequence of songs and the range of emotions, calling it a narrative with the dynamics and contradictions of life itself
- Q and Mojo also gave positive reviews
- Melody Maker criticized the sound, which it attributed to the use of soundcheck and live recordings
- AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the sound is ragged and varied, pieced together from show tapes, soundtracks and studios
- Erlewine called it one of the band's best records of the 1990s
Reappraisal
- Fans generally regard it as the band's last great record before a perceived decline after Berry's departure
- Consequence of Sound ranked it third out of R.E.M.'s fifteen studio albums in a 2017 retrospective
- Jeremy Bifras of BrooklynVegan called the album "an experimental masterpiece"
- Thom Yorke, who cites R.E.M. as a major influence, called it his favorite R.E.M. album
- Michael Stipe considers it the band at their peak
- Listed among year-end best-of lists for 1996, including Rolling Stone at No. 4 and Mojo at No. 4
- Magnet listed it at No. 20 on its "Top 60 Albums 1993–2003"; Mojo listed it at No. 20 on "The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993–2006"
Records
- Topped the charts in over a dozen countries and reached No. 1 on the Top European Albums for five consecutive weeks
- Peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and spent 22 weeks on the chart
- According to Nielsen SoundScan, sold 994,000 units in the U.S. as of March 2007
- Has sold around seven million units overall
- In the UK, the first single "E-Bow the Letter" reached No. 4, the band's biggest hit there at that point; it peaked at No. 49 in the U.S.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- Michael Stipe calls it his favorite R.E.M. album and considers it the band at their peak.
- Mike Mills said that after many years he would probably place it third in the band's recorded work, behind Murmur and Automatic for the People.
- "Revolution", a song the band played live, was left off the album and later appeared on the 1997 Batman & Robin soundtrack.
- The tape release kept custom side names, the "Hi-side" and "Fi-side"; the vinyl release had no custom side names and was a double album.
- A 2005 expanded two-disc edition added a DVD-Audio disc with a new 5.1 surround mix by Elliot Scheiner.
- A 25th-anniversary edition announced in August 2021 for October was delayed to mid-November 2021 by the 2021 supply chain crisis.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org
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