In celebration of its 40th anniversary, R.E.M. has reissued their debut 1982 EP, Chronic Town. The set is now available for the first time ever as a standalone CD — as well as an exclusive LP picture disc, and cassette. The new package features extensive liner notes by producer Mitch Easter.
Chronic Town released on August 24, 1982 via I.R.S. Records, with the five-song set including such instant classics as “Gardening At Night,” “Wolves, Lower,” and “1,000,000.” The EP, which followed the band’s debut single, July 1981’s “Radio Free Europe,” was recorded in October 1981 at Winston-Salem, North Carolina’s Drive-In Studio and sold 20,000 copies in its first year of release.
Chronic Town finally saw wide release when it was included on the CD edition of R.E.M.’s 1987 fan favorite rarities compilation, Dead Letter Office.
For all new Chronic Town merch, log on to: https://store.remhq.com/
SOURCE: Press release
SIDE NOTES
- Last September, Michael Stipe was quoted by NME as saying R.E.M. was done for good: “We will never reunite. We decided when we split up that that would just be really tacky and probably money-grabbing, which might be the impetus for a lot of bands to get back together. We don’t really need that, and I’m really happy that we just have the legacy of the 32 years of work that we have.”
CHECK IT OUT: R.E.M. 1982 Chronic Town EP: