And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987
And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987 is a compilation album by R.E.M. that features songs from the band's years at I.R.S. Records. All tracks have been remastered, and the set was released 12 September 2006. A companion DVD, called When the Light Is Mine, was released the same day.
And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987 | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | September 11, 2006 | |||
Recorded | April 15, 1981 – September 14, 1987 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 154:33 | |||
Label | EMI/I.R.S. Records | |||
Producer | Mitch Easter, Don Dixon, Joe Boyd, Don Gehman, Scott Litt & R.E.M. | |||
R.E.M. chronology | ||||
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R.E.M. compilations chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Blender | [2] |
Pitchfork Media | 9.7/10 [3] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
And I Feel Fine is available in three versions: a standard one-disc version with 21 fan-favorite tracks spanning the Chronic Town EP from 1982 to Document from 1987 including every song released as a single on I.R.S. except for "Wendell Gee" and "Superman;", a second edition that adds a bonus disc including rarities, the "Superman" single, unreleased songs, and alternate mixes, and a third edition, which combines the two disc version with the When the Light Is Mine DVD.
Two songs, "Bad Day" and "All the Right Friends," appear in outtake versions here, as opposed to final versions on the 2003 Warner Bros. R.E.M. compilation In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003. The songs "Theme from Two Steps Onward" and "Mystery to Me" were previously unreleased in any form and, like the version of "Bad Day," were Lifes Rich Pageant outtakes. The band had originally intended to include "Theme from Two Steps Onward" as an exclusive track on Eponymous but had lost the tape. Demo versions of all four songs recorded during the Lifes Rich Pageant sessions were later released on the 25th Anniversary Edition of that album.
And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987 reached #70 in the UK Albums Chart. In the U.S., each version charted separately, with the two-disc version reaching a higher peak than the single-disc version.
Track listing
All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe except "Superman" by Gary Zekley and Mitchell Bottler.
Disc one
No. | Title | Place of origin | Length |
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1. | "Begin the Begin" | Lifes Rich Pageant, 1986 | 3:29 |
2. | "Radio Free Europe" | Murmur, 1983 | 4:06 |
3. | "Pretty Persuasion" | Reckoning, 1984 | 3:51 |
4. | "Talk About the Passion" | Murmur | 3:22 |
5. | "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" (Single version) | Reckoning | 4:33 |
6. | "Sitting Still" | Murmur | 3:18 |
7. | "Gardening at Night" | Chronic Town (EP), 1982 | 3:29 |
8. | "7 Chinese Bros." | Reckoning | 4:15 |
9. | "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" | Reckoning | 3:15 |
10. | "Driver 8" | Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985 | 3:23 |
11. | "Cant Get There from Here" (Single version) | Fables of the Reconstruction | 3:39 |
12. | "Finest Worksong" | Document, 1987 | 3:48 |
13. | "Feeling Gravitys Pull" | Fables of the Reconstruction | 4:51 |
14. | "I Believe" | Lifes Rich Pageant | 3:49 |
15. | "Life and How to Live It" | Fables of the Reconstruction | 4:08 |
16. | "Cuyahoga" | Lifes Rich Pageant | 4:21 |
17. | "The One I Love" | Document | 3:17 |
18. | "Welcome to the Occupation" | Document | 2:47 |
19. | "Fall on Me" | Lifes Rich Pageant | 2:51 |
20. | "Perfect Circle" | Murmur | 3:29 |
21. | "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" | Document | 4:05 |
Disc two
No. | Title | Place of origin | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Pilgrimage" | Mike's pick from Murmur | 4:30 |
2. | "These Days" | Bill's pick from Lifes Rich Pageant | 3:25 |
3. | "Gardening at Night" (Slower electric demo) | Reckoning sessions, 1984 | 4:44 |
4. | "Radio Free Europe" (Hib-Tone single version) | non-album single, 1981 | 3:48 |
5. | "Sitting Still" (Hib-Tone B-side version) | non-album B-side, 1981 | 3:16 |
6. | "Life and How to Live It" (Live at Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands, 14 September 1987) | Previously unreleased, 2006 | 6:36 |
7. | "Ages of You" (Live at the Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, 13 July 1983) | Live! for Life, 1986 | 3:48 |
8. | "We Walk" (Live at the Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, 13 July 1983) | Previously unreleased, 2006 | 3:17 |
9. | "1,000,000" (Live at the Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, 13 July 1983) | Previously unreleased | 3:25 |
10. | "Finest Worksong" (Other mix) | B-side of "Finest Worksong" 12-inch single, 1987 | 3:47 |
11. | "Hyena" (Demo) | Fables of the Reconstruction sessions, 1985 | 2:50 |
12. | "Theme from Two Steps Onward" (Demo) | Lifes Rich Pageant sessions, 1986 | 4:37 |
13. | "Superman" | Lifes Rich Pageant | 2:53 |
14. | "All the Right Friends" (Studio outtake) | Murmur sessions, 1983; Dead Letter Office I.R.S. Years reissue, 1993; later re-recorded for the Vanilla Sky soundtrack, 2001 | 3:53 |
15. | "Mystery to Me" (Demo) | Lifes Rich Pageant sessions | 2:01 |
16. | "Just a Touch" (Live-in-studio version recorded to two-track) | Reckoning sessions | 2:38 |
17. | "Bad Day" (Session outtake; at the time called "PSA") | Lifes Rich Pageant sessions; later re-recorded for In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, 2003 | 3:03 |
18. | "King of Birds" | Document | 4:09 |
19. | "Swan Swan H" (Live acoustic version) | Recorded as part of the film Athens, GA: Inside/Out, 1987; Lifes Rich Pageant I.R.S. Years reissue, 1993 | 2:43 |
20. | "Disturbance at the Heron House" | Peter's pick from Document | 3:32 |
21. | "Time After Time (AnnElise)" | Michael's pick from Reckoning | 3:31 |
Best Buy exclusive
An exclusive Best Buy version contained a digital download card which allowed the buyer to download two bonus tracks and a bonus video:
No. | Title | Place of origin | Length |
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1. | "Pretty Persuasion" (Live-in-studio version) | Reckoning I.R.S. Years reissue, 1992 | |
2. | "Disturbance at the Heron House" (Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California, May 24, 1987) | UK "The One I Love" B-side, 1987 | |
3. | "Radio Free Europe" (Original long-version music video) | Succumbs, 1987 |
Charts
Year | Chart | Position |
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2006 | Billboard 200 | 148 Regular Edition 116 Limited Edition |
2006 | Billboard Top Internet Albums | 207 |
2006 | UK Albums Chart | 70 (1 week on the chart) |
References
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
- "The leaner, hungrier early days of America's greatest-ever college-rock band". Archived from the original on 2006-10-19.
- Stephen M. Deusner (15 September 2006). "R.E.M.: And I Feel Fine". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- "R.E.M.: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 August 2012.