R.E.M. - Complete Rarities 1988-2011 (2016)

Unlike its companion, Complete Rarities: IRS 1982-1987, the music collected on the 2016 digital-only Complete Warner Bros. Rarities 1988-2011 hasn't been anthologized often. Bits and pieces have been rounded up in singles boxes, and there was a "Rarities and B-sides" bonus disc added to the 2003 compilation In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, but there was no Warner-era equivalent of Dead Letter Office, and the expanded editions of the albums often skimped on bonus tracks. So this mammoth collection – 131 tracks, all instrumentals, alternate, and singles, mixes, covers, and live tracks that never appeared on albums – is noteworthy for providing a service for dedicated fans who nevertheless stopped buying all those multi-part CD singles somewhere around New Adventures in Hi-Fi or Up. The eagle-eyed will notice there are a few songs missing – usually, these are alternate versions from the early '90s – but there are also a couple of live cover versions M.I.A., along with instrumental B-sides from Automatic for the People – but the sheer heft of the set guarantees that almost all will take its title claim of "Complete" as factual; it's close enough to complete for most intents and purposes. Also, as it's a digital clearinghouse and not a sequenced compilation, it's designed to be cherry-picked and not listened to straight through (after all, it'd take many hours to finish). Unlike its I.R.S. cousin, there aren't many major songs tucked away here – only the Automatic-era "It's a Free World Baby" and "Fretless" count, with the Accelerate flips "Redhead Walking" and "Airliner" also coming close – which in itself suggests the shifting dynamics within the band and in the industry in the '90s and 2000s. Once Bill Berry left after 1996's New Adventures, R.E.M. worked harder to complete records, so there weren't as many rarities lying around, and that explains the lack of originals, but the real key to this absurdly large set is that the band was required to churn out B-sides for multi-part singles in every market in the world. The easiest way to do this was through live versions, covers and, for a brief moment, remixes (R.E.M.'s music never lent itself to dance mixes but 808 State did overhaul "King of Comedy"). It's flotsam and jetsam, and although it sometimes sounds like filler, there's enough enjoyable music here to make it worthwhile for those dedicated fans wishing to round out their collection. Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

TRACKLIST
001 Funtime (Iggy Pop Cover)
002 Ghost Rider (Suicide Cover)
003 Dark Globe (Syd Barrett Cover)
004 Pop Song 89 (Acoustic Version)
005 Memphis Train Blues (Non-Album Track)
006 Skin Tight (Ohio Players Cover)
007 Losing My Religion (Acoustic) (Live At KFOG)
008 Losing My Religion (Live In Dublin 2005)
009 Rotary Eleven (Non-Album Track)
010 You Are The Everything (Live – Greensboro Coliseum, NC 11/10/1989)
011 Love Is All Around (Live)
012 Shiny Happy People (Dance To The Music Mix)
013 Shiny Happy People (Pop Mix)
014 Shiny Happy People (Hip Mix)
015 It’s a Free World Baby (Non-Album Track)
016 Winged Mammal Theme (Non-Album Track)
017 First We Take Manhattan (Leonard Cohen Cover)
018 Everybody Hurts (Album Fade)
019 Mandolin Strum (Non-Album Track)
020 Orange Crush (Live Version)
021 Man On The Moon (Album Edit)
022 Arms Of Love (Non-Album Track)
023 World Leader Pretend (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
024 Belong (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
025 Low (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
026 The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Non-Album Track)
027 Fretless (Non-Album Track)
028 Everybody Hurts (Live) (9/2/93-Los Angeles for the MTV Video Awards)
029 Orange Crush (Instrumental)
030 Fall On Me (Live)
031 Me In Honey (Live)
032 Finest Worksong (Live)
033 Drive (Live) (1992)
034 Funtime (Live) (1992)
035 Radio Free Europe (Live) (1992)
036 What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
037 Bang And Blame (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
038 I Don’t Sleep, I Dream (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
039 What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? (Radio Version)
040 Monty Got A Raw Deal (Live)
041 Everybody Hurts (Live) (Athens, GA ’92)
042 Man On The Moon (Live) (Athens, GA ’92)
043 Bang And Blame (Album Version w/o Between Track Noise)
044 Losing My Religion (Live) (Athens 1992) (Applause Faded)
045 Country Feedback (Live) (Athens 1992) (Applause Faded)
046 Begin The Begin (Live) (Athens 1992)
047 Undertow (Live)
048 Wichita Lineman (Live) (Non-Album Track)
049 New Test Leper (Live Acoustic)
050 Tricycle (Instrumental) (Non-Album Track)
051 Departure (Live) (Rome Soundcheck)
052 Wall Of Death (From Beat The Retreat-Richard Thompson Tribute Album)
053 The Wake Up Bomb (Live Version) (Atlanta)
054 Binky The Doormat (Live Version) (Atlanta)
055 King Of Comedy (808 State Remix)
056 Be Mine (Mike On Bus Version)
057 Love is All Around (The Troggs Cover)
058 Sponge (Vic Chesnutt Cover)
059 Emphysema (Non-Album Track)
060 Sad Professor (Live In Studio Version)
061 Why Not Smile (Oxford American Version)
062 Surfing The Ganges (LP Version)
063 Suspicion (Live In Studio Version)
064 Lotus (Weird Mix)
065 Electrolite (Live From Jools Holland)
066 Man On The Moon (Live From Jools Holland)
067 Suspicion (Live At Ealing Studios)
068 At My Most Beautiful (Radio Remix)
069 Passenger (Recorded From Later With Jools Holland)
070 Country Feedback (Recorded From Later With Jools Holland)
071 So. Central Rain (Live From Later)
072 The Great Beyond (Non-Album Track)
073 The One I Love (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
074 Everybody Hurts (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
075 Man On The Moon (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
076 Yellow River (Non-Album Track)
077 165 Hillcrest (Non-Album Track)
078 Imitation Of Life (Live From Trafalgar Square)
079 Summer Turns To High (32 Chord Song Demo)
080 I’ve Been High (Live Video Version) (Channel V, Sydney)
081 The Lifting (Original Version)
082 Beat A Drum (Dalkey Demo)
083 2JN (Non-Album Track)
084 Favorite Writer (Non-Album Track)
085 Out in the Country (Non-Album Track)
086 Adagio (Unused Tune)
087 Turn You Inside-Out (Live Version)
088 Chance (Dub)
089 Drive (Live Version) (1994)
090 Star Me Kitten (Featuring W.S. Burroughs)
091 Revolution (Non-Album Track)
092 Leave (Alternate Version)
093 The Lifting (Demo)
094 The One I Love (Live Version) (MMM Sydney)
095 Maps & Legends (Live Rehearsal Version)
096 Tongue (Live Rehearsal Version)
097 Little America (Live Rehearsal Version)
098 South Central Rain (Live Rehearsal Version)
099 Imitation Of Life (Live Rehearsal Version)
100 So Fast, So Numb (Live) (Athens Rehearsal Sessions, 2004)
101 All The Right Friends (Live) (Athens Rehearsal Sessions, 2004)
102 Animal (New Mix)
103 Pretty Persuasion (Live) (NYC 2003)
104 Welcome To The Occupation (Live) (NYC 2003)
105 You Are The Everything (Live) (Raleigh, NC-Oct. 10, 2003)
106 These Days (Live) (Toronto-Sept. 30, 2003)
107 (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville (Live) (Oslo NRK P1 National Radio-Oct. 25, 2003)
108 Wanderlust (Live-Santa Barbara, CA 2004)
109 Sweetness Follows (Live) (Recorded in Cincinnati-Oct. 27, 2004)
110 Horse To Water (Live In Vancouver)
111 Indian Summer (Non-Album Track)
112 Living Well Is The Best Revenge (Live In London)
113 Auctioneer (Live In London)
114 Hollow Man (Live In London)
115 Supernatural Superserious (Live In London)
116 Fall On Me (Live In London)
117 West Of The Fields (Live In London)
118 Horse To Water (Live In London)
119 Man-Sized Wreath (Live In London)
120 Man On The Moon (Live In London)
121 Mr. Richards (Vancouver)
122 Living Well Jesus Dog (Non-Album Track)
123 Airliner (Non-Album Track)
124 Redhead Walking (Non-Album Track)
125 Houston (iTunes Live From London)
126 Harborcoat (Live At The Olympia)
127 Letter Never Sent (Live At The Olympia)
128 Second Guessing (Live At The Olympia)
129 Pretty Persuasion (Live At The Olympia)
130 NOLA-4/26/10 (Non-Album Track)
131 That Someone Is You (Live In The Studio)