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R.E.M Release Live Album
R.E.M.'s 2007 “working rehearsals” in Ireland for its latest studio album, 2008's “Accelerate,” are the subject of the group's new live album, “R.E.M. Live at the Olympia,” which comes out Oct. 27.
The two-disc set was recorded during July 2007 at the Olympia club in Dublin, where the group played five shows while in the midst of recording “Accelerate” with producer Jacknife Lee, who also helmed the “Olympia” set. It's R.E.M.'s second concert souvenir in three years, following 2007's “R.E.M. Live.”
Guitarist Peter Buck concurred that the Olympia shows “really helped us focus on what the record was all about. It was really nice to play the songs in a kind of adrenalized setting in front of people. It helped to show us that, 'Yeah, we're on the right path' and then we did go back in the studio and re-record a couple things and clean a couple of other things up. And there was one song in particular we played and figured out that, 'Eh, we don't need to have that on the record.' “