The end of Bill Berry’s tenure in R.E.M. proved to be a critical time for the band. But they persevered, and their first album as a trio, Up from 1998, remains an essential look at the group’s reinvention.
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In honor of its 25th anniversary, that album is getting an expanded edition due out November 10, the band announced on Tuesday (September 19).
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The newly remastered version of Up will include the entire album along with “a never-before-released 11-track live performance from the band’s ‘99 taping for the TV series Party of Five,” according to a product description. Also included are high-res restorations of their music videos from that time and a 32-page hardcover book featuring liner notes and interviews with the band.
The Party of Five episode in question, “Fragile,” first aired on April 28, 1999 on Fox. In it, the band performed in front of a crowd, sourced from 175 lucky R.E.M. fan club members, MTV News reported at the time. “Who would have thought we’d ever do stuff like this?” bassist Mike Mills said at the time.
Up contains key singles that showcased the band’s late-’90s metamorphosis without Berry, their longtime drummer, who departed under amicable circumstances in 1997. After suffering a brain aneurysm while performing onstage in Europe in 1995, Berry ended up leaving the group to focus on health and becoming a farmer.
Songs like “Daysleeper” and “At My Most Beautiful” on Up showcase a growing Brian Wilson influence and a desire to broaden what R.E.M. — at that time one of the world’s biggest bands — could actually sound like.
Mills, along with guitarist Peter Buck and vocalist Michael Stipe, continued their exploration and found plenty of sounds to play around with on Up. The collection will be available on vinyl, CD, Blu-Ray, and digital formats. Pre-order info is available here.
R.E.M.’s song “Strange Currencies” soundtracked a key love story in the Hulu series The Bear this year as well. You know what this Up news means, R.E.M. fans. Only three more years until we get this same treatment for our beloved Reveal!
Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc
