Album of the Day: R.E.M. "New Adventures in Hi-Fi"

Oh look at that brilliant lovely cover art! I am a huge fan of artwork, and this one just is so perfect for the purposes at hand on this album. I know I throw around the "overrated"/"underrated" tag a lot, but I think here at the very least its important to say that this one is definitely "overlooked". Mostly because its kind of the forgotten R.E.M. album, but you know what, it's a fucking incredible album. I think its definitely the 2nd best R.E.M. album after "Fables of the Reconstruction". It's just a brilliant, flawless rock and roll masterpiece. It's compiled as a travel album, which is kind of the theme, and many of it is recorded on the road, during sound checks and such, and really has an amazing ability to capture that feel. But it kicks off with the moody "How the West Was Won and Where it Got Us", "the Wake up Bomb" throws things into high gear, "New Test Leper" is a really raw and honest song from Michael Stipe regarding his views on Chrstianity, and though I don't agree with his views, you really have to appreciate emotional honesty he shows here. But yeah, I mean this one is just wall to wall excitement. I really suggest this one to R.E.M. fans who think they own the important material but have yet to look into this, one of their very best.