When I logged into the ATV control panel, it made the Aerosmith sound. I can’t tell you exactly what that means, but briefly, it just means that it’s been a helluva long while since the last time we spoke.

(Speaking of Aerosmith, I got a chance to interview guitarist Brad Whitford briefly last week….woooooo! The end of that last sentence was 13 year old me high-fiving myself. Check out our conversation right here.)

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the R.E.M. album Green. As fans, we’ve come to know that each time another album from our favorite Athens export hits this milestone, we can expect a cool expanded release to follow.

Our friends did not disappoint — May 14th saw the release of an upgraded Green via Rhino, accessorized with a fresh remastering of the original album, plus a bonus disc featuring live performances recorded in Greensboro, North Carolina on November 10th, 1989 during the Green tour. (Looking back, it would have seemed appropriate if R.E.M. would have decided to stage the entire Green tour in Greensboro….but luckily for all of us, they decided to take the show to a bunch of other territories.)

Here’s a peep at the track listing for the full set:

Disc One – Original Album

1. “Pop Song 89”
2. “Get Up”
3. “You Are The Everything”
4. “Stand”
5. “World Leader Pretend”
6. “The Wrong Child”
7. “Orange Crush”
8. “Turn You Inside Out”
9. “Hairshirt”
10. “I Remember California”
11. “Untitled”

Disc Two – Live In Greensboro 1989
1. “Stand”
2. “The One I Love”
3. “Turn You Inside Out”
4. “Belong”
5. “Exhuming McCarthy”
6. “Good Advices”
7. “Orange Crush”
8. “Cuyahoga”
9. “These Days”
10. “World Leader Pretend”
11. “I Believe”
12. “Get Up”
13. “Life And How To Live It”
14. “Its The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
15. “Pop Song 89”
16. “Fall On Me”
17. “You Are The Everything”
18. “Begin The Begin”
19. “Low”
20. “Finest Worksong”
21. “Perfect Circle”

On that same date, Rhino also released the newly remastered Green on 180 gram vinyl for all of the black wax lovers to enjoy in analog. Since this is Addicted to Vinyl, we’ve got a copy of that platter (read: vinyl edition) to give away to one lucky ATV reader.

Sweetening the deal, we’ll also throw in a vintage R.E.M. tour program from that 1989 trek in support of Green.  Having seen this piece of memorabilia in person, let me assure you that it’s awesome. (Oh alright — we’ll show you a picture at the end of this post…)

We’ll make it relatively simple for you to win this: just send us an email with “R.E.M. Green Contest Giveaway” in the subject line and in the email, tell us in a few words why you deserve to win this vinyl. We’ll select one lucky entrant to receive this great prize package.

Good luck!

P.S.

There have been a number of reflections regarding Green as it hits the 25 year mark. At the time that the album came out, I was 13 years old and R.E.M. was one of those bands that each time that there was new music to be had, I was definitely interested to hear it. I think that a lot of people have conflicted feelings about the band and where they went when they made the transition from the I.R.S. years to their Warner Brothers output. I don’t see a lot of division between the two periods, although clearly there are some separating factors.

What sticks out to me about R.E.M. from their earliest recordings to their present state of inactivity is that they were a band that was always pushing the envelope with every bit of new music that they would release. They were and are a group of individuals who have consistently marched to the beat of their own drum and they were never afraid to go against the grain when it came to following the path of what they were supposed to do as a band. Particularly in the later years when they would release a new album, that obligatory world tour that was supposed to follow a new release would often never come to pass.

Sometimes the lack of tour meant that they were already back in the studio working on new music and sometimes, no tour just meant no tour. Whatever the reasoning was, I always had a great deal of respect that they didn’t just take the check to go out and do something they didn’t want to do.

It would be many years before I would meet the woman who was 200 times more of an R.E.M. fan than I was, as evidenced by her “Driver 8”-themed license plate but when I did, I eventually married her — although it wasn’t just because she was a huge R.E.M. fan. Because you can’t have a successful marriage that’s built around R.E.M. and nothing but R.E.M., can you?

Anyway — she wrote a nice reflection about the Green album which you can read here.

Some more reading regarding Green can be found over at Popdose courtesy of George Howard.

Enjoy.

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