R.E.M. at the BBC [Box Set]

Though repetition of "Losing My Religion" and "Man on the Moon" exhaust, there's a mighty pop to R.E.M. at the BBC.

While it may feel like there's no more to say on the subject of R.E.M.'s music, there's certainly plenty more that's worthwhile to listen to here.

The cream of this set is the five full concerts captured at different junctions of the group’s existence. All are near perfect, breaking down with clarity how tightly controlled they approached live performance and elucidating how R.E.M. evolved from the jangle and fidget of Chronic Town to the agitated rock and lucid beauty of Accelerate. ... The set isn’t a complete picture of R.E.M.’s full evolution as it skips over the post-Reckoning years.

If nine discs of REM is too much for the wallet, the collection is available as a two-CD highlights pack which includes a full disc of sessions, and a second disc focusing on a chronological selection of live broadcasts. Recommended, any which way. [Dec 2018, p.95]

While this collection spans three decades, the focus is skewed towards the later years.

We get to see and hear almost all the stages of R.E.M.'s woozy path to superstardom on At the BBC. ... For the slightly more conservative R.E.M. fan (or those of you unwilling to spend the time or the cash on negotiating your way through hours of R.E.M. live material) there's a double CD, which bolts together a healthy selection of the archive. ... There is a ton of great stuff here. It's time to retire those hissy bootlegs and remind yourself how great this band were.

This may be familiar to the dedicated whose allegiance never wavered, but for those who believed R.E.M. faltered after Berry's departure, R.E.M. at the BBC is a gateway into the band's last act.

Freed from the studio sheen that bogged down much of the material in the post-Berry years, the songs are given the room they need to breathe, and make a case for R.E.M.'s second act being filled with overlooked gems.

R.E.M. At The BBC is not definitive history, but as a corrective to the idea that the post-Monster years were just R.E.M.'s long sweep into elder statesmanhood, it presents a fine alternative one. [Dec 2018, p.101]

The radio sessions on this nine-disc set show that their most anthemic songs could just be as captivating in an intimate setting, but it's the live sets here that really illustrate their story. [Dec 2018, p.117]

Proves that even when their studio work was in the doldrums, REM were never less than a compelling live band. [Dec 2018, p.47]