Following the news that R.E.M. have officially called an end to their 31 year career, The band revealed that they plan to release their first-ever definitive greatest hits album. Due out from Warner on November 15th, the 40-song retrospective, R.E.M., Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982 - 2011 includes tracks from both the IRS and Warner years plus three brand-new songs.
On choosing the tracklisting for the album, Mike Mills comments;
"Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together.
The band's website also recently featured a video trailer for the upcoming release.
In addition to liner notes written by band members Berry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe, the album also features three new songs that R.E.M. finished after they completed their last album, Collapse Into Now: A Month of Saturdays, We All Go Back To Where We Belong, and Hallelujah, which were recorded over the summer in Athens with Accelerate and Collapse Into Now producer, the estimable Jacknife Lee. The band came roaring back with those two albums in the last two years, achieving some of the best reviews of their career and enabling them to go out at the top of their game.
The digital version of the album will also feature the first ever animated GIF format cover (see above) - which may or may not become rather annoying...