In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (2LP)

Craft Recordings is pleased to announce the vinyl reissue of R.E.M.’s platinum-selling collection, In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003. Available for the first time on vinyl in over 15 years, the album includes 18 songs from the Athens, GA alt-rockers, spanning 1988’s Green to 2001’s Reveal, plus two previously unreleased tracks. The double-LP set—which makes its debut on audiophile-quality, 180-gram vinyl on June 14^th—is housed in a deluxe gatefold jacket.

Originally released in late 2003, In Time serves as an opportunity to reflect on the astonishing creative and cultural influence that R.E.M. offered during the height of their 30-year run together. The songs included on In Time offer more than just a collection of charting hits. Rather, listeners will hear the evolution of a band on the rise, reaching and surfing the peak of its fame.

Highlights from In Time include fan favorites like “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” (off 1994’s Monster), “Orange Crush” from Green (1988), and “Daysleeper,” from 1998’s Up. Listeners can also expect R.E.M.’s most iconic hits, like Automatic for the People’s soulful hit single “Everybody Hurts,” a song which, Buck recounts, “doesn’t really belong to [the band] anymore; it belongs to everybody who has ever gotten any solace from it.”

Among the 18 tracks on the compilation are two songs which had previously been exclusive to soundtracks: “All the Right Friends,” from 2001’s Vanilla Sky, and “The Great Beyond,” written for the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic, Man on the Moon; a film which borrowed its title from R.E.M.’s 1992 single about the late comedian. Also on the album are two previously unreleased tracks, 2003’s “Animal” and “Bad Day,” a song which was conceived of in the mid-’80s, but remained unfinished until 2003.

Track Listing

Side A:

1. Man On The Moon
2. The Great Beyond
3. Bad Day
4. What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?

Side B:

1. All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star) 
2. Losing My Religion
3. E-Bow The Letter
4. Orange Crush
5. Imitation Of Life

Side C:

1. Daysleeper
2. Animal
3. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
4. Stand
5. Electrolite

Side D

1. All The Right Friends
2. Everybody Hurts
3. At My Most Beautiful
4. Nightswimming