Dead Letter Office

by R.E.M.

Dead Letter Office cover art
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 27 April 1987
  • Label: I.R.S.
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 42:20
  • Community rating: 3.36/5 from 3 ratings

Artists on this release: Don Gehman

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Released as a stopgap collection of B-sides, studio outtakes, and playful cover songs, 'Dead Letter Office' offers a loose, unpolished glimpse into the college-rock titans' early years. Peter Buck heavily detailed the album's liner notes with self-deprecating apologies for the drunken recording sessions and eccentric track choices, including an abundance of Velvet Underground covers. Despite its inherently messy nature, it provides a charming documentation of their formative indie-jangle era.

Genres

Descriptors: Lo Fi, melodic, lo-fi

Tracklist

  1. Crazy (3:00)
  2. There She Goes Again (2:49)
  3. Burning Down (4:10)
  4. Voice Of Harold (4:21)
  5. Burning Hell (3:48)
  6. White Tornado (1:59)
  7. Toys In The Attic (2:26)
  8. Windout (1:57)
  9. Ages Of You (3:39)
  10. Pale Blue Eyes (2:49)
  11. Rotary Ten (2:00)
  12. Bandwagon (2:12)
  13. Femme Fatale (2:27)
  14. Walters Theme (1:35)
  15. King Of The Road (3:08)

Credits

  • R.E.M. - primary artist
  • R.A. Miller - artwork [anthropological renderings]
  • Ron Scarselli - sleeve [package excavation]
  • Curtis Crowe - written-by
  • Michael Lachowski - written-by
  • Randy Bewley - written-by
  • Vanessa Ellison - written-by
  • Lou Reed - written-by

More from R.E.M.: full discography