R.E.M.'s 2001 album, Reveal, shared the "lugubrious pace" of Up. Global sales of the album were over four million, but in the United States Reveal sold about the same number of copies as Up. The album  was lead by the single "Imitation of Life," which reached number six in the UK. Reveal included drumming by Joey Waronker, as well as contributions by Scott McCaughey (a co-founder of the band The Minus 5 with Buck) and Posies founder Ken Stringfellow. Writing for Rock's Backpages, The Rev. Al Friston described the album as "loaded with golden loveliness at every twist and turn," in comparison to their "essentially unconvincing work on New Adventures in Hi-Fi and Up." Similarly, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called the album "a spiritual renewal rooted in a musical one" and praised its "ceaselessly astonishing beauty."
In 2003 Warner Bros. released the "best of" compilation In Time, which featured two new songs, "Bad Day" and "Animal." That same year during a concert in Raleigh, North Carolina, Berry made a surprise appearance, performing backing vocals on "Radio Free Europe". He then sat behind the drum kit for a performance of the early R.E.M. song "Permanent Vacation," marking his first performance with the band since his retirement.
R.E.M. released Around the Sun in 2004. Stipe had suggested the new album would be "primitive and howling," and the band had released a stark political protest song called "Final Straw" free over the Internet during the invasion of Iraq, leading fans to expect a return to roots. Instead, the album (and the final recording of that song) was ultimately more processed than even Reveal, although it featured some of Stipe's most personal songwriting. Around the Sun received a mixed critical reception, and peaked at #13 on the Billboard charts. The first single from the album, "Leaving New York," was a Top 5 hit in the UK. For the record and subsequent tour, the band hired a new full-time touring drummer, Bill Rieflin, who had previously been a member of Ministry. In late 2004 the band toured with Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Bright Eyes and others on the Vote for Change tour. Throughout 2005, the band embarked on their first full-length world tour since the Monster Tour ten years earlier. During the tour, R.E.M. participated in the Live 8 concert event.
EMI, which owns the I.R.S. catalogue, released a compilation album covering R.E.M.'s work from the I.R.S. years in September 2006 called And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987, accompanied by a DVD entitled When the Light Is Mine: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 released at the same time. In September 2006, all four original band members performed during the ceremony to honor their induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. While rehearsing for the ceremony, the band recorded a cover of John Lennon's "#9 Dream" for "Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur," a tribute album benefiting Amnesty International, as well as releasing the song as a single for the album and the campaign, "#9 Dream" was Berry's first studio recording with the band since his departure almost a decade earlier. In October 2006, R.E.M. was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility. The band was one of five nominees accepted into the Hall, and the induction ceremony took place on March 12, 2007, at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The group was inducted by Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder and performed four songs with Bill Berry.
Work on R.E.M.'s fourteenth studio album commenced in early 2007. The band planned to record with producer Jacknife Lee in Vancouver and Dublin, where they played five nights in the Olympia Theatre between June 30 and July 5 as part of a "working rehearsal." The dates are their only planned concerts for 2007. Speaking of the dates Stipe noted, "Returning to Dublin for our live rehearsal this summer provides the great start we need for our next album’s work," and that he "[intends] to hit the ground running." Mills said the band chose the Olympia—a historic music hall built in 1879—because of all the great shows they’ve seen there over the years: "From the Waterboys to Lou Reed. I am thrilled to play at this wonderful venue, and in front of some of the best fans in the world." R.E.M. Live, the band's first live album (featuring songs from a 2005 Dublin show), is due for release in October 2007.
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Band Introductions 
