In 1991, the members of R.E.M. found themselves celebrating something new: A Top 5 hit. “Losing My Religion,” a mandolin-driven plaint from the band’s seventh album, “Out of Time,” surpassed “Stand” as its most successful single and quickly became inescapable. “For someone who had no real grand ambitions, to have a ‘song of the summer’ was possibly the greatest possible gift that I could receive,” the singer Michael Stipe said.

Although the band did little publicity and, exhausted from nearly a decade of touring, chose not to promote the record on the road, “Out of Time” catapulted R.E.M., a quartet from Athens, Ga., to superstardom. Now, 25 years after that release, and five years since the band broke up, Mr. Stipe finds himself scrutinizing the album’s songs anew for a deluxe reissue, out on Friday, that includes revelatory demos, an acoustic live recording and the record’s eight ambitious music videos.

“I don’t want to hear every live recording or demo that Bob Dylan ever made,” Mr. Stipe said. “That’s not my thing.” But in the early versions included in the reissue, he lets listeners in on his creative process. “You’re seeing me really reaching, in some cases really over- or under-reaching, to try and find a melody, to work out a lyric to see if it’s working or not with the music; never to be heard,” Mr. Stipe said. He added cheerfully, “And here, 25 years later, we’re offering it to the public.”

Since R.E.M.’s split, Mr. Stipe has focused on brass and bronze sculpture, and his visual art will be on display through Dec. 31 at the gallery 39 Great Jones in the East Village, followed by a group show in Stockholm about mentors in which he is paired with the poet John Giorno. But performing as part of two tributes to David Bowie this year led to a realization: “I’m not ready to go completely into pop stardom again, as a 56-year-old,” he said, but “I want to work in music again.”