“R.E.M. Live At The Olympia,” is a two-CD set featuring 39 songs from their acclaimed 2007 working rehearsals in Dublin, Ireland. R.E.M. set up camp at the venerable Olympia Theatre in Ireland’s capital city and tested new material over five nights before passionate, capacity crowds. This 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. “Live At The Olympia” gives fans an opportunity to hear those songs at their earliest stages of development. In addition to the new material, the band also served up twenty-nine other songs, spanning their entire career, all of which can be found on this album.

via www.remdublin.com

Been listening to this album the last few days and it's really bringing back memories. Some good, some, well… It's hard to overemphasize the importance this band's music played in my life. they were the soundtrack to my mid-teens. Peter Buck's Rickenbacher 360d (with Rick-o-sound) was my "precious", and I spent hundreds of hours behind lawnmowers to save up the $800 to buy my own (I still have it!). Listening to "Driver 8", those Mike Mills vocals, is like the time-port to hot summer days trying to learn how to play guitars. If it wasn't for them, god only knows what would have happened to me.