Losing my Religion

Out of Time is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on March 12, 1991 by Warner Bros. Records. With Out of Time, R.E.M.'s status grew from that of a cult band to a massive international act. The record topped the album sales charts in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom, spending 109 weeks on American album charts and enjoying two separate spells at the summit, and spending 183 weeks on the British charts and a single week at the top. The album has sold over four and a half million copies in the U.S. and over 18 million copies worldwide. The album won three Grammy Awards in 1992: one as Best Alternative Music Album, and two for the first single, "Losing My Religion." R.E.M. celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 1991 blockbuster Out of Time by releasing a deluxe edition of the album. This was their first release with Concord Bicycle, who signed a licensing deal for the band's Warner albums in 2015, and it's appropriately splashy: there's a standard double-CD set with a full disc of unreleased material.

1991's Out of Time catapulted R.E.M. from an indie favorite to one of the biggest bands in the world, with hit singles 'Losing My Religion' and 'Shiny Happy People.' In a case-bound book, this deluxe, 25th anniversary edition features the remastered album, with a treasure trove of bonus material, including new liner notes, 19 never-before-heard demos, an unreleased 1991 live show.

R.E.M. grew up with the BBC, and this historic relationship is lovingly celebrated across an incredible collection that beautifully illustrates the career trajectory of one of modern music’s greatest bands. The collection—available as a super-deluxe edition 8-CD/1-DVD box set, as well as 2-CD, 2-LP and digital formats—comprises a treasure trove of rare and unreleased live and studio recordings culled from the BBC and band archives. This is a must-have collection for R.E.M. fans and an authoritative introduction for newcomers.

A quarter of a century after ‘Out Of Time’ helped break alternative music into the American mainstream and turned R.E.M. into a worldwide phenomenon, the band have announced a special 25th Anniversary Edition. After putting Athens, GA, on the musical map in the early '80s, R.E.M. went on to become one of the world's biggest bands. Fusing folk, garage rock, pop sensibilities, and insightful lyrics delivered with Michael Stipe's inimitable lead vocals, these alt-rock forefathers built a massive indie following, and in 1988 unleashed their major-label debut, Warner Bros. Green. This roots rock tour de force was followed in '91 by the Grammy-winning #1 blockbuster Out of Time, which led to an ongoing stream of masterpieces.

Unlike its companion, Complete Rarities: IRS 1982-1987, the music collected on the 2014 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.

Unlike its companion, Complete Rarities: IRS 1982-1987, the music collected on the 2014 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.