R.E.M. have announced a 25th anniversary reissue of ‘Reveal’, featuring a previously unreleased 17-song live session from 2001.
The expanded edition of the band’s 12th studio album will arrive on November 20 via Craft Recordings, pairing the original 12-track record with ‘The Black Sessions Revealed’ – a performance recorded for Radio France in Paris on May 7, 2001 (pre-order here).
Taking place just days before ‘Reveal’ was released, the 17-song session saw Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills joined by guitarist Scott McCaughey, keyboardist Ken Stringfellow and drummer Joey Waronker.
The set mixes then-new material including ‘Imitation Of Life’, ‘All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star)’, ‘I’ve Been High’ and ‘She Just Wants To Be’ with older favourites such as ‘Losing My Religion’, ‘The One I Love’, ‘Man On The Moon’ and ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’.
Unlike most R.E.M. albums, ‘Reveal’ was not followed by a conventional tour, with the band instead playing a relatively limited series of promotional shows around its release.
“We were having a good time,” Mills recalled of the Black Session in new liner notes for the anniversary edition.
Buck added: “It’s a cool performance of a lot of songs that we didn’t really play live that much, so it’s nice to have that out there. Something a little different.”
A live version of ‘Imitation Of Life’ from the session has been released today (September 30) as the first preview of the collection. Check it out here:
‘Reveal (25th Anniversary Edition)’ will be available digitally and as a deluxe two-CD/Blu-ray package housed in a 32-page hardcover book featuring archival photographs and new liner notes from journalist Birgit Fuss, including fresh reflections from Stipe, Buck and Mills.
The Blu-ray includes the album in high-resolution audio and 5.1 surround sound, as well as the original music videos for ‘Imitation Of Life’, ‘All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star)’ and ‘I’ll Take The Rain’.
‘The Black Sessions Revealed’ will also be released separately on vinyl for the first time as a double-LP. Exclusive coloured editions of both releases and new anniversary merchandise will be available through R.E.M.’s official website. Pre-order the collection here.
Originally released in May 2001, ‘Reveal’ was produced by the band alongside Pat McCarthy, who had previously co-produced its predecessor, 1998’s ‘Up’. It was recorded across Athens, Georgia, Vancouver, Dublin and Miami, and arrived as the band became more settled into life as a three-piece following founding drummer Bill Berry’s departure in 1997.
“Everyone was in a pretty relaxed mood,” Mills recalls in the new liner notes. “We had come to terms with all of the complications from Bill leaving the band, with all of the complexities of being a three-piece. Just finding the balance between us. We were in a good space.”
He described ‘Reveal’ as “our most underrated record”, adding: “Not only are the songs and the performances good, but it captures a feeling that holds throughout the entire record.”
The 25th anniversary set follows R.E.M.’s expanded reissue of ‘Up’ in 2023, which similarly unearthed a previously unreleased live performance from the era.
R.E.M. split amicably in 2011, but all four original members have made a handful of rare appearances together in recent years. In 2024, Stipe, Buck, Mills and Berry performed ‘Losing My Religion’ together at their Songwriters Hall Of Fame induction, their first public performance as a quartet in years.
They subsequently reunited on stage in their hometown of Athens, Georgia in February 2025 to play ‘Pretty Persuasion’.
Despite those appearances, the band have repeatedly ruled out a permanent comeback, with Buck saying of a full-scale reunion: “It’d never be as good.”
The ‘Black Sessions Revealed’ tracklist is:
- ‘Imitation Of Life’
- ‘The Great Beyond’
- ‘What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?’
- ‘All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star)’
- ‘Daysleeper’
- ‘I’ve Been High’
- ‘Electrolite’
- ‘The Lifting’
- ‘At My Most Beautiful’
- ‘I’ll Take The Rain’
- ‘The One I Love’
- ‘She Just Wants To Be’
- ‘Walk Unafraid’
- ‘Losing My Religion’
- ‘Man On The Moon’
- ‘So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)’
- ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’
