NewsR.E.M. / Reveal reissue
25th anniversary re-release falls short
R.E.M.’s 2001 album Reveal will be reissued in November for its 25th anniversary.
The band’s 12th studio album spawned two hits in the UK, including the top 10 single ‘Imitation of Life’ and ‘All the Way to Reno (You’re Gonna Be a Star)’. The band’s commercial fortunes remained in decline in the US where ‘Imitation of Life’ stalled at No 83.
Despite both singles offering demos, alternate versions of album tracks, live cuts and non-album B-sides (‘2JN’, ‘Yellow River’, ‘165 Hillcrest’) none of these are included on any format of the anniversary reissue, with bonus audio content reserved solely for The Black Sessions Revealed, a 2001 concert recorded for Radio France.
The formats are 2CD+blu-ray and 2LP vinyl of The Black Sessions Revealed. The album is also available on vinyl although availability seems limited (at least for now). The official R.E.M. store also has exclusive coloured vinyl versions of both. There is no word on remastering, which suggests the album hasn’t been remastered.
The 2CD+blu-ray edition features the album on CD 1, The Black Sessions Revealed on CD 2 and a blu-ray which includes the album in 5.1 Surround and hi-res stereo. Presumably these are the same mixes that were put out 21 years ago on the CD+DVD-A reissue.
The lack of Dolby Atmos needs to be commented upon. Back in 2017, Automatic For The People was only the second pop/rock album to be released physically in Dolby Atmos (INXS’ Kick being the first). R.E.M. were pioneers of sorts, and looked to be setting the bar for the emerging spatial audio scene. Or so we thought. They quickly abandoned Atmos for the 2019 Monster reissue (despite the stereo version getting a remix) and have not created Atmos Mixes of any of their albums as the subsequent reissues have been chalked off (New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Up and now Reveal).
Ignoring non-album material from singles already marks this reissue out as imperfect, but not bothering to embrace modern immersive audio and just trotting out a 21-year old 5.1 mix (admittedly, a good mix) does not cut the mustard. It’s not the end of the world as we know it, but it’s disappointing.
Reveal will be released on 20 November 2026 via Concord.
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R.E.M.
Reveal 2CD+Blu-ray
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R.E.M.
The Black Sessions Revealed - 2LP vinyl
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Tracklisting
Reveal R.E.M. / 25th anniversary
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CD 1: Reveal
- The Lifting
- I’ve Been High
- All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star)
- She Just Wants To Be
- Disappear
- Saturn Return
- Beat A Drum
- Imitation Of Life
- Summer Turns To High
- Chorus And The Ring
- I’ll Take The Rain
- Beachball
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CD 2: The Black Sessions Revealed
Recording made by RADIO FRANCE for The Black Sessions –7 May 2001
- Imitation Of Life
- The Great Beyond
- What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?
- All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star)
- Daysleeper
- I’ve Been High
- Electrolite
- The Lifting
- At My Most Beautiful
- I’ll Take The Rain
- The One I Love
- She Just Wants To Be
- Walk Unafraid
- Losing My Religion
- Man On The Moon
- So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)
- Its the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
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CD 3: Blu-ray
- Hi-Resolution Audio
- 5.1 Surround Sound
- Imitation Of Life (music video)
- All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star) (music video)
- I’ll Take The Rain (music video)
- Reveal EPK
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CD 1: Reveal
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By Paul Sinclair
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