Radiohead’s new album will be released on compact disc this coming week.

Above you’ll find an advertisement for the soundtrack of the final season of the HBO original television series, “Six Feet Under.” The show ended its run in August 2005. Featured on the disc, among others, are Nina Simone, Phoenix, Radiohead, Interpol, Death Cab for Cutie, Arcade Fire, and of course, Sia, whose song “Breathe Me” served as the backdrop for the series finale’s last, and perfect, closing sequence.

The ad originally appeared here in the August 2005 issue of Spin magazine.

Fifteen years ago today, on Sunday, September 17, 1995, R.E.M. played Southpark Meadows in Austin, Texas. Also on the bill were opening acts Natalie Merchant, whose first solo album, Tigerlily, had been released just three months prior to the show, and a fledgling band called Radiohead, then touring in support of its 1995 album, The Bends, which had been released just six months beforehand.

R.E.M., of course, was on tour supporting its 1995 album, Monster - certainly not the most popular album in the band’s catalog. However, the band had not mounted any type of formal tour in support of its previous (and best) album, 1992’s Automatic for the People. So, for many fans, this tour offered the first opportunity to see the band from Athens, Georgia play material from Automatic.

It was quite a day for the city generally, and that music venue in particular, and not just because the previous night Pearl Jam and the Ramones had played there.

Check out the concert ticket depicted above; the cost was a mere $37.50.

It was a fun and lively show. Radiohead was Radiohead, and it exhibited the promise and potential of a band that would soon become known as the best in the world. Natalie Merchant put on a vibrant and energetic performance, so much so that when R.E.M. began the first song of its own set, she ran onto the stage to continue the wild dancing she had begun during her own set just moments before.

With the upbeat and electrified Monster, R.E.M. took a very different path than it had with the darker acoustic material of Automatic, and at this concert, it showed. Thinking back to their set, there was nothing truly remarkable about it, although what lingers is the sense of enjoyment that accompanied seeing such a beloved band with such a fine oeuvre for the first time, and outside, to boot. Yet there was also a haunting feeling that it might have been best to see the band earlier in its career (or at one of those rare, stray shows it played after Automatic but before the release of Monster). Following this tour, R.E.M. lost a bit of its luster. Lead singer Michael Stipe would later be forced to abdicate his crown as the king of alternative rock to Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, a task in which Stipe would take no joy. Sadly, it now seems that the once proud and spirited band lives largely off of the goodwill it engendered during those long ago years. Alas.

But this was 1995, and the band’s decline, though perhaps hinted at by Monster, was still well in the future, and all was (mostly) well at this particular show.

A funny aside: R.E.M. did not play “Stand,” one its most popular and recognizable singles, at this show, but Radiohead did play “Creep,” its most popular and recognizable single during its opening set. One wonders if Stipe and Yorke ever discussed the burdens of their great hits during this tour, as Radiohead now rarely, if ever, plays “Creep” in concert, just as R.E.M. rarely, if ever, plays “Stand.”

You can find R.E.M.’s complete setlist from that gig here.

You’re probably not going to see John Mayer perform at his concert tonight at Aaron’s Ampitheatre at Lakewood in Atlanta, Georgia. But, perhaps, today, you should pause to reflect upon the fact that Mayer once covered Radiohead. Back in 2003, Mayer released “Bigger Than My Body,” the first single from his album, Heavier Things. The second track was a respectable cover of Radiohead’s “Kid A,” the original of which was released just three years earlier. Hear the cover here.

“Huh huh huh, music that doesn’t suck?”

Surely, looking back, Thom Yorke would shudder at the actions of the Capitol Records marketing department, which described Radiohead as “Better Than Butt-Head” for this 1993 Spin magazine advertisement promoting the release of the band’s debut album. Modern listeners would also probably be surprised to learn that Radiohead was once “Oxford England’s rowdiest new band.”

Best part: The care of notation for correspondence to Radiohead is “I Wanna Be A Creep.” Please stand up if you wrote that on your envelope seventeen years ago.

UPDATE: This post has now been been linked by Stereogum.