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Dead Letter Office

R.E.M.

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Album Review

Arriving mere months before Document took the group into the Top Ten, the B-sides and rarities collection Dead Letter Office sums up all of the quirks and idiosyncrasies that made R.E.M. the leading underground guitar pop band of the '80s. While only a handful of songs on Dead Letter Office rank among the group's best, the record is extremely entertaining, even for casual fans, particularly because it captures the wild spirit of R.E.M. that was evident at their concerts, but not always on their records. Among the gems scattered throughout the collection are the cheerily ridiculous "Band Wagon," "Voice of Harold" (which features Michael Stipe singing the liner notes to a gospel album over the backing of "7 Chinese Brothers"), covers of the Velvet Underground, Pylon, and Aerosmith, the ringing pop of "Burning Down" (which is later reworked as "Ages of You"), and "Walter's Theme," a drunken attempt at a commercial for a local restaurant that segues into a clueless cover of "King of the Road." The material may be slight, but it's fun — and R.E.M.'s albums aren't always fun. [The CD version of Dead Letter Office contains the group's debut EP, Chronic Town.]

Customer Reviews

Better than most A-side recordings

This remains my favorite R.E.M. album, capturing them in their most creative and spontaneous moments. I remember when this was released as a throwaway B-side and outtakes compilation thinking "This is better than most of the dreck many bands put out as new material!" The fact that the Chronic Town EP has been added in on the CD/download is a super extra bonus. I've listened to this so much over the years that "Voices of Harold" feels like the real "7 Chinese Brothers" to me. To think that Stipe could deliver such a catchy tune by singing the liner notes of a gospel album...wonder what the yellow pages would have sounded like sung over the melody of "Fall On Me?" Buy this...it's lots of fun and reminds you how R.E.M. could rock and have clever fun in their heyday.

Before rem mailed it in...

You can divide rem's career into 2 parts: their first 4 albums (chronic town, murmur, reckoning and DLO) and the drivel they produced afterwards. Dead Letter Office is a collection of B-sides, covers and out-takes and its now being packaged with Chronic Town. It offers a glimpse at a band that didn't take itself that seriously and figured that most songs could be improved by simply playing them faster. These were the albums that changed alternative music.. everything else they produced only served to change their bank account. A must have.

Chronic Town

NOTE: This review is only for the original "Chronic Town" EP featured in the last 5 tracks of this album, and ignores the rest of the tracks.

There's not much left to say about this band that hasn't already been said. Their albums from "Murmur" through "Automatic for the People" have been praised by critics, fans, and general music lovers alike for years. But what has largely been ignored by all but the most hardcore of R.E.M. fans is the little EP that started it all.
The year is 1982. R.E.M. have just gotten off the road supporting their crude recording of their independently released debut single "Radio Free Europe". The tour, while enjoyed by everyone who saw it, was small and generated little profit for the band, and saw them performing only in small venues in the deep South of the U.S. While the single was praised by critics, it didn't even make a bump on the radar that was the pop music scene in the early 1980's. The band still had no record label, and weren't seeing much support. This is largely due to the fact that they sounded so different from anything else at the time, choosing to write meaningful, timeless music instead of resorting to pop music techniques like synthesizers and commercial production. They needed a miracle. That miracle came in the form of IRS Records, who noticed the band's single and were intrigued by the group. IRS, a label famous for giving indie bands a start in the rising alternative music scene in the 80's, asked R.E.M. to create a demo tape as an audition. The band, with the help of producer Mitch Easter, recorded an early rough take on "Pilgrimage", a song that later appeared on their debut LP "Murmur". While the band was ecstatic they finally had attracted the attention of a record label, they doubted they would actually be signed. To their pleaseant surprise, IRS was so impressed by the demo tape they immediately signed R.E.M. to a recording contract. However, they still thought R.E.M. was not quite yet ready to record a full LP, so instead requested a shorter EP of 5 tracks. The band decided to record once again with Mitch Easter for "Chronic Town", their debut EP, and they were off, working relentlessly to record the 5 tracks that would be included on the EP. "Ages of You" was actually originally intended to be on the EP, but producer Easter thought "Wolves, Lower" would be a stronger choice, so "Ages of You" was put to the side. It's hard to imagine what "Chronic Town" would've been like with "Ages of You", which later resurfaced on the rarities collection "Dead Letter Office", in place of "Wolves, Lower", one of the EP's strongest tracks. Finally, the EP was released to critical acclaim and became a hit on college rock radio stations across the country, setting the band up for their debut LP "Murmur" and the years to come that R.E.M. could not yet possibly imagine. It's those works, and the fact that "Chronic Town" can today only be found at the end of the very "Dead Letter Office" CD this review is for, that overshadow "Chronic Town", and make many people forget its existence. While the band may have made stronger albums in later years, "Chronic Town" is still the most important R.E.M. release if not for any other reason that it was the original R.E.M. release. It's fascinating today because it allows listeners to listen to an R.E.M. before they were famous, a band unsure of their future, a band that just knew how to make great music. And that is what makes "Chronic Town" so special.

Biography

Formed: 1980 in Athens, GA

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

R.E.M. marked the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock. When their first single, "Radio Free Europe," was released in 1981, it sparked a back-to-the-garage movement in the American underground. While there were a number of hardcore and punk bands in the U.S. during the early '80s, R.E.M. brought guitar pop back into the underground lexicon. Combining ringing guitar hooks with mumbled, cryptic lyrics and a D.I.Y. aesthetic borrowed from post-punk, the band simultaneously sounded traditional...
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