R.E.M. celebrate "Reckoning" anniversary with deluxe CD reissue, digital-only live EP

Did you catch the new R.E.M. release yet? Last week (Tuesday, July 7) the band released, “Reckoning Songs From The Olympia,” a live set of four songs from their critically-acclaimed, fan-beloved sophomore album. The tracks, recorded during a show at Dublin's famed Olympia Theater two years ago, act as a teaser for the band’s forthcoming, two-CD set, “R.E.M. Live At The Olympia,” which is set for release this fall. Unlike the coming full-length, however, the EP is available only digitally, through iTunes, amazon and other online music providers.

While the two singles from “Reckoning” - the chart hit "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" and the oft-covered "(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” – aren’t on the EP, there’s a good chance both may appear on the full set, which will contain performances of songs from R.E.M.’s latest studio album, “Accelerate,” along with cuts from the band’s full catalog.

All of these live tracks – for the EP and the 2-CD set - were recorded at the Olympia in July 2007, when singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills, performed a special five-night residency at the venue to test out songs in preparation for their 2008 studio album “Accelerate.”

Releasing a live set of songs from “Reckoning” is a way of celebrating the 25th anniversary of the R.E.M.’s breakthrough second album, originally released in April, 1984. The live EP follows the release in June of a deluxe 2-CD remastered edition of the studio album with a bonus disc including eight of its 10 songs (plus other vintage favorites) recorded at a 1984 concert at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom. (Back then, of course, Bill Berry, who retired from the group in 1987, was still the band’s drummer.)

And for “old school” fans, both “Reckoning” and R.E.M.'s 1983 debut, “Murmur,” have been reissued on audiophile quality 180 gram vinyl with original packaging.