REM set to release 'Live at the Olympia'

‘Live at the Olympia’, REM's upcoming double live album featuring 39 songs from their acclaimed 2007 working rehearsals in Dublin has been given a release date of October 23.

In July 2007, R.E.M. set up camp at the venerable Olympia Theatre in Dublin and tested new material over five nights before sold out crowds. The live album was produced by Dublin native Jacknife Lee who, along with R.E.M., co-produced Accelerate, the album which emerged from these shows. In addition to the new songsl, the band also served up twenty-nine older tracks, spanning their entire career, all of which will be on the album.

‘We were just trying to something we hadn’t done before’ said guitarist Peter Buck ‘which meant there was no relaxing during the set. Every second we were playing something we didn’t know all that well. Which was kind of good . . . there was all kinds of terror elements going on during those shows’

The album will be released across various formats, including 2CD / 2CD&DVD & 4 LP Set (t.b.c.) and will also be available for download.

The special edition 2 CD & DVD set will contain a film of the Dublin shows by Vincent Moon and Jeremiah, who previously worked with R.E.M. on Ninetynights, Six Days and the Supernatural Superserious video.