New Adventures in Hi-Fi

★美国乔治亚州摇滚乐团勇夺英国，德国，澳洲等14个国家排行榜冠军，晋升全美专辑榜第2名的1996年专辑

★专辑获得Q杂志给予五颗星，滚石杂志给予四颗半星的优质鑑赏----包括：庞克摇滚女歌手Patti Smith友情跨刀担任和声演唱，英国单曲榜第4名单曲"E-Bow The Letter"，全美另类歌曲榜第6名单曲"Bittersweet Me"

自1980年代的后庞克摇滚浪潮中窜起的R.E.M.合唱团，成员包括主唱Michael Stipe，吉他手Peter Buck，贝斯手Mike Mills与鼓手Bill Berry(*1997年离团)，这支来自美国乔治亚州的东北部城市雅典市的摇滚乐团在他们闯荡乐坛的第一个十年裡经由不断的巡迴演唱练就他们融合了优美悦耳的旋律，诗意般的歌词，清亮和谐的吉他音色，触动情感的主唱演唱歌声的独特风格，继而成为美国校园摇滚的重要推手，他们在主流乐坛的成功启发了日后不同世代的艺人，乐团与乐迷，三十多年过去，R.E.M.合唱团的惊人创作力成就了他们作为流行音乐史上最经得起时间考验与具有重要性的摇滚乐团的传奇地位。R.E.M.合唱团的全球专辑销售量超过8500万张。 进入1990年代之后，R.E.M.合唱团的每一张专辑在全美专辑榜上名列前茅，「Out Of Time」与「Monster」这两张专辑登上冠军王座，而「Automatic For The People」与1996年发行的第10张录音室专辑【New Adventures In Hi-Fi】则是高居第2名，R.E.M.合唱团在这张与製作老友Scott Litt合作的作品中，延续了前张专辑「Monster」的音乐结构实验，这一回在音乐上充满著电影的影像画面感觉，不和谐感的旋律感觉，同时夹带著强烈的感受。

R.E.M.合唱团在「Monster」专辑发行后的巡迴演唱期间利用八轨的录音器材录下他们的现场演出，以这些演唱会的现场录音作为【New Adventures In Hi-Fi】专辑的创作起始点，R.E.M.合唱团同时邀请了参与巡迴演出的乐手，像是曾经参与The Goo Goo Dolls乐团1998年专辑「Dizzy Up The Girl」录製的洛杉矶吉他手Nathan December，以及在The Minus 乐团时期就经常与Peter Buck合作的吉他手Scott McCaughey等人加入专辑的录音，由于专辑的歌曲大多是在巡迴演唱的旅程中进行创作，所以，专辑裡的歌曲主题多与旅行有关。

除了在全美专辑榜晋升至第2名之外，【New Adventures In Hi-Fi】专辑在加拿大，英国，爱尔兰，德国，奥地利，瑞士，比利时，瑞典，挪威，丹麦，芬兰，荷兰，澳洲，纽西兰等14个国家的排行榜上都登上冠军王座。在此张专辑中，Michael Stipe深受他在美国南加州圣塔莫尼卡山区居住两年期间喜欢到著名地标Mulholland Drive观看洛杉矶夜景，还有从Mulholland Drive的制高点望向洛杉矶时所看到的宛如星光点点的景象的启发，以及对于洛杉矶孕育了詹姆斯狄恩，史提夫麦昆，马丁辛等三位传奇影星的感触，写下了他个人向二十世纪告别的歌曲"Electrolite"。专辑裡的畅销曲包括：对于乐团团员Michael Stipe，Peter Buck的音乐创作有著深远影响的庞克摇滚女歌手Patti Smith友情跨刀担任和声演唱，晋升英国单曲榜第4名的"E-Bow The Letter";晋升全美另类歌曲榜第6名的"Bittersweet Me"。

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Recorded during and immediately following R.E.M.'s disaster-prone Monster tour, New Adventures in Hi-Fi feels like it was recorded on the road. Not only are all of Michael Stipe's lyrics on the album about moving or travel, the sound is ragged and varied, pieced together from tapes recorded at shows, soundtracks, and studios, giving it a loose, careening charm. New Adventures has the same spirit of much of R.E.M.'s IRS records, but don't take the title of New Adventures in Hi-Fi lightly -- R.E.M. tries different textures and new studio tricks. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" opens the album with a rolling, vaguely hip-hop drum beat and slowly adds on jazzily dissonant piano. "E-Bow the Letter" starts out as an updated version of "Country Feedback," then it turns in on itself with layers of moaning guitar effects and Patti Smith's haunting backing vocals. Clocking in at seven minutes, "Leave" is the longest track R.E.M. has yet recorded and it's one of their strangest and best -- an affecting minor-key dirge with a howling, siren-like feedback loop that runs throughout the entire song. Elsewhere, R.E.M. tread standard territory: "Electrolite" is a lovely piano-based ballad, "Departure" rocks like a Document outtake, the chiming opening riff of "Bittersweet Me" sounds like it was written in 1985, "New Test Leper" is gently winding folk-rock, and "The Wake-Up Bomb" and "Undertow" rock like the Monster outtakes they are. New Adventures in Hi-Fi may run a little too long -- it clocks in at 62 minutes, by far the longest album R.E.M. has ever released -- yet in its multifaceted sprawl, they wound up with one of their best records of the '90s.

最后一张四人时期的专辑[流泪]

1996年第十张录音室专辑 专辑时长:65:33 销量:1,000,000[IFPI] AllMusic:3.5/5 Robert Christgau:A- Rolling Stone:4.5/5 Pitchfork:9.5/10 Q:5/5 NME:8/10 Select:4/5 Spin:6/10