R.E.M. : The Rolling Stone Files : The Ultimate Compendium of Interviews, Articles, Facts, and Opinions from the Files of Rolling Stone

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful archival tribute to R.E.M.
Review: A nice collection of articles, factoids, interviews with bandmembers, interesting quotes and opinions on R.E.M. from music biz insiders. It was a pleasure to read and very informative. Nice pictures. This book is a great start for those just learning about R.E.M., the folks who have fallen in love with their music and want to learn how these 4 guys from Athens could possibly be saying exactly what is in your head. This is also a good companion piece for the longterm R.E.M. fan, those who cannot live without their music, there are lots of interesting tidbits to savor. You WILL enjoy this book!

Rating:
Summary: A neat history of R.E.M.'s critical acclaim.
Review: First of all, I need to point out that this book has no pictures at all. There seems to be some confusion about that. What it does contain is a complete anthology of all Rolling Stone articles ever written on R.E.M. from their inception to the Monster era. There are classic album reviews and insightful interviews. If you don't feel like hunting down and collecting all those back issues, this is perfect. This is a pretty good read because everything in here was written before Rolling Stone became the pretentious twaddle that it is today. Relive not only the golden era of R.E.M., but also one of music's formerly great mags. I gave it four stars because it would have been perfect if it had also included all the photos that were published with the articles.

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Sourcebook on R.E.M.
Review: This book should be on the bookshelf of every R.E.M. fan. It is jam packed with all kinds of information about the band. I only wish that the book included glossy photo's of the band. I think that you should be forewarned that the book covers the band from the time period of 1982's "Chronic Town" to 1994's "Monster". Overall, if you are an R.E.M. fan buy the book you will not be disappointed!