Good news for R.E.M. fans today -- the band will release an IRS-years best-of that includes a bonus disc of rare material, and a DVD that brings back into print the videos and weirdness of the VHS-only Succumbs. The best-of disc is fairlly predictible, comprising nearly everything from 1988's Eponymous and more. It's the bonus disc that will send fans to the store, however, with its mix of live tracks, demos and unreleased songs, it is a further excavation of the vaults. The oft-bootlegged "Theme From Two Steps Onward" and demos of the early "All the Right Friends" and "Mystery to Me" are particular gems. As I've mentioned here several times, I think the band ought to either free up recordings of those early, pre-IRS songs, or re-record them for a fanclub-only release. This, when added to the band's re-recording of "All the Right Friends" for the Vanilla Sky soundtrack and the iTunes release of a recent rehearsal recording of that era's "Permanent Vacaction" means that is slowly becoming a reality.

The disc, And I Feel Fine… The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987, comes out Sept. 12. The DVD, When the Light Is Mine -- The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 Video Collection, is out the same day. It includes several music videos, live tracks, interviews and extras, as well as the 20-minute oddball film "Left of Reckoning" by James Herbert. That curiosity is likely to be viewed by most folks once and then skipped over, but it's nice to see the band making sure its old days are preserved and, um, documented.