It's good to see that Monster was just a momentary diversion instead of a Zooropa-style permanent one. The sound of New Adventures In Hi-Fi is like blending all the different styles R.E.M. ever persued into one solid state. You've got a bit of the early Murmur and Reckoning sound, a dab of Reconstruction of the Fables and Life's Rich Pageant, a teaspoon of Green and Out of Time, and a pound of Automatic For The People, marinated in Monster. (Is that all of them?)

"E-Bow The Letter" (for those of you who haven't heard it on the radio or MTV) is possibly one of the greatest songs ever written with its Patty Smithish freestyle poetry lyrics and subtly catchy chorus. (In fact, that's Patti you're hearing on background vocals.) "Bittersweet Me" is rockin' enough to make you swing your head around a bit and Sing Along with Apathy. ("I don't know what I'm hungry for / I don't know what I want anymore.") "The Wake-Up Bomb" is clearly straight out of the Monster days, coming at you with its straight-on stinging distortion and balls-out arena rock sound. Hi-Fi's real champ, though, has got to be the opener, "How The West Was Won and Where It Got Us," which words can't accurately describe.

If there has ever been an R.E.M. record to go out and drop your cash on, New Adventures is it. The photography in the liner notes is awesome, too.

-Ryan Schreiber