R.E.M.’S Dead Letter Office And Eponymous To Be Reissued On Vinyl

R.E.M. has teamed with Capitol/UMe for the July 29 reissue of three of the band’s I.R.S. Records releases: Lifes Rich Pageant, Dead Letter Office, and Eponymous. The three standard weight vinyl LPs are presented with their original sleeve art. Long out-of-print on vinyl, Dead Letter Office and Eponymous are both restored to wax with these new LP editions for the first time since their original release.

Released in 1986, Lifes Rich Pageant is R.E.M.’s fourth studio album, recorded by vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry at John Mellencamp’s Belmont Mall Studios in Indiana. Produced by Don Gehman, renowned for producing a string of punchy, soulful heartland-rock albums by Mellencamp, Pageant includes the singles “Fall On Me” and “Superman.” The album was R.E.M.’s first to achieve Gold certification status, and it reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the band’s then-highest chart position.

Released in 1987, Dead Letter Office was R.E.M.’s first compilation, collecting B-sides and rarities. A fan favorite, Dead Letter Office includes R.E.M.’s covers of Aerosmith’s “Toys In The Attic,” the Velvet Underground’s “Pale Blue Eyes,” Pylon’s “Crazy,” and a freewheeling, rough-hewn take on Roger Miller’s “King Of The Road.”

Eponymous, released in 1988, features singles and alternate mixes spanning R.E.M’s first five albums, including the original Hib-Tone single of “Radio Free Europe” and alternate mixes of “Gardening At Night and “Finest Worksong.”

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