R.E.M. - When the Light Is Mine
When The Light Is Mine compiles the videos from R.E.M.’s years on IRS Records, and adds several live television performances from the same period. Many of these videos have never been released on DVD, having appeared only on the VHS compilation Succumbs. The band’s low-budget, experimental mentality – driven equally by former art student Michael Stipe’s interest in the medium and Bill Berry, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills’ near-complete lack thereof – is apparent throughout.
This is especially true of Left of Reckoning, a short film with the first half of Reckoning as its soundtrack. A half hour of low-lit, stop-and-start footage of the band visiting a rural whirligig factory is the sort of thing you can watch once and appreciate the atmospherics and the quirky nature of the Georgia region the band called home, but I’m not sure how well it captures the tone of the different songs on the album or stands up to repeat viewing. The only other video from Reckoning is a performance clip for “So. Central Rain”, in which Stipe sings the vocal “live” over the prerecorded music track from the album. (During the band’s early years, Stipe refused to lip-sync for videos after trying it for the “Wolves, Lower” video included on this DVD.)
Generally speaking, I find most of the other videos here enjoyable, and I’m glad the longer version of “Radio Free Europe” is included as an Easter egg. (IRS trimmed the video down and inserted some band-in-concert footage for the version they released to MTV.) The clips for “Life and How to Live It” and “Feeling Gravitys Pull” are similar to Left of Reckoning, based on live concert footage, and seem like something of a dress rehearsal for the way that Tourfilm would be filmed and edited. The live performances are fun, although they also evoke a certain sense of “My God, look how young they were.” Those who feel that the band’s latest efforts have lacked a certain energy or enthusiasm will probably find ample ammunition in these clips.
Extras include some interview clips and performance outtakes from the band’s promotional efforts and the IRS-produced show The Cutting Edge. The interviews aren’t long enough to be terribly insightful if you’ve followed the band closely, but it is interesting to see how the personalities interacted before they were superstars.