R.E.M. Releases Demo From 'Fables of the Reconstruction' Reissue

Before R.E.M. became one of the biggest bands in the world, they were one of the best indie rock acts around. The band's first trio of albums are a case study in pitch-perfect jangly guitar rock and the group is gearing up to rerelease 'Fables of the Reconstruction,' the third album in that series for I.R.S. Records. It was also the first where the band started to seriously stretch its sound and explore deeper aspects of surrealism.

As a teaser for the reissue, R.E.M. posted a demo of a non-album track called 'Throw Those Trolls Away.' The song fits well with the band's early material and bypasses some of the novel production techniques used on the album by famed British folk producer Joe Boyd that alienated some fans.

Similar in sound to past successes like 'Pretty Persuasion' off of 1984's 'Reckoning,' 'Throw Those Trolls Away' finds R.E.M. in a loose, exploratory mode. As Stereogum notes, at one point you can actually hear a mid-song "Turn the guitar up!" command -- a refreshing moment for a band that's mostly known for crisp studio perfection.

'Fables of the Reconstruction' deserves a revisit and listeners will get just that with the reissue slated for July 13 via EMI. The new version features a bonus disc that includes 'Throw Those Trolls Away' along with 13 other demos from the album's sessions. Along with the new demo, there are two other tracks that didn't make the final record and have remained obscure for the past 25 years.