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121 of 126 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"I've got to fall in another direction...", April 1, 2008
This is it. This really is the one: the killer comeback R.E.M.'s long-suffering original fans have been hoping for since the band detoured into electronic introspection in 1998. Peter Buck's guitars are front and centre, driving the tracks rather than decorating their edges. Mike Mills can finally be heard again on bass and backups. Stipe's vocals are as rich and complex and scathing as ever, but for the first time in a decade he sounds like he believes every word. And finally, at long last, it feels like a human being is manning the drums again. It's exuberant, angry, joyous, wild - everything the last three albums, for all their deep and subtle rewards, were not. Superficially, this feels like the true successor to "New Adventures in Hi-Fi", or what that album itself might have been had the band bunkered down in the studio for a month rather than putting down tracks on the road. But in reality it's better. Ten years of studio-based experimentation and tweaking a new line-up have paid off. Tight, rich and consummately professional, the immediate loose-and-live feel of "Accelerate" is deceptive. This really is an exquisitely crafted album that repays close listening, just as the last three did for those of us who bothered. The crucial difference is that it ultimately feels less studied, less worried-over, less cautious - because it doesn't need to be. The band sound present, engaged, completely confident in their direction and abilities. Best of all, they sound like they're enjoying themselves again. And that joy is irresistible. No matter what your view of the last three albums (I liked them all), you've got nothing to complain about here. This kind of music really is what R.E.M. do best, and they deliver it in spades.
(P.S. Make sure you grab the non-album track "Redhead Walking" from iTunes: a great novelty song and surely destined for a Tarantino film soundtrack.)
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138 of 147 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The improbable but triumphant return of REM, April 1, 2008
After the last album, 2004's "Around the Sun", I have to admit I had given up on REM as that album marked the lowest and most disappointing point yet in their rich and illustrious career yet. When word came out last year that REM was yet again prepping a new album to be released in 2008, I kinda rolled my eyes. Then a funny thing happened: I heard the first single "Supernatural Superserious" and boy that song just rocked! Now comes the new album.
On "Accelerate" (11 tracks; 35 min.) REM attacks with a vigor not heard since "Monster" and "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" (the last album with original drummer Bill Berry). From the opening sounds of "Living Well's the Best Revenge", REM sounds completely reinvigorated and rejuvenated, and what a joy it is to hear. The album goes from one highlight to the next. The songs are short and to the point, they make their point and move on. Track 4 "Hollow Man" is when you think you'll catch your breath, and you do for about 15 seconds, before that songs also crashes in to your speakers. "Houston" follows and is the only weak track on the album, in my opinion. The second half kicks off with the rousing title track, and we're off to the races again: "Until the Day Is Done" and "Mr Richards" are superb. "Horse to Water" is one of my favorites with an irresistible sing-along chorus of "I'm not that easy/I am not your horse to water/I hold my breath I come around") sing-along, and "I'm Gonna DJ" is a killer track to close this set (with such choice lines of "Death is pretty final/I'm collecting vinyl/I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world"). It truly is remarkable that some how REM has rediscovered its musical focus and muse. Peter Buck's guitar work is among the best he's ever done, Stipe sounds like he's actually enjoying the songs, and Mills' harmonizing back vocals are really great (check out "Living Well", for example, but surely some credit of this resurgence must go to producer Jacknife Lee.
I can't emphasize enough how pleasantly surprised I am by this album, even shocked. I truly didn't think that REM had another great album in them, but I am more than happy to say that I was flat wrong and in my book "Accelerate" brings REM back to relevance, after so many disappointing years. I had the opportunity to see REM headline the Langerado Music Festival in early March in South Florida, and they play a bunch of songs from "Accelerate", and it all sounded fantastic. Welcome back REM, we've missed ya! "Accelerate" is one of the early favorites for top album of the year. Highly recommended!
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
R.E.M. Reborn Revitalized and totally Relevant(4.5 Stars), April 1, 2008
Being counted out is possibly the best thing that could have happened to this band, as 28 years into their illustrious career, when R.E.M. had been relegated to being called a 'great band' in the past tense, the band have come out swinging on Accelerate. NEVER has a band this long in the tooth made such an angry, vital, and totally contemporary and relevant record. This is album is indeed a complete 180 turn from Around the Sun. It clocks in at half the time of the previous record; the drums are FINALLY back and in full force, Peter's guitar is fully plugged in, and Mike Mills' is finally harmonizing again. And lest I forget, Michael Stipe's voice sounds utterly fantastic. Just listen to him 'wow' and 'ow' on Man Sized Wreath and yoyu can tell, Michael's playful sarcasm is in full swing, and he sounds absolutely energized, whereas he sounded tired on the last record.
The songs are short and hit like a ton of bricks. If anyone remembers the anger on The Final Straw from the last record, well this album is like a full album's worth of that song with the amps turned way up and the songs at full speed. Living Well Is The Best Revenge is the best and loudest opener since Whats the Frequency Kenneth or maybe even Finest Worksong. Man-Sized Wreath is an unconventional but totally catchy rocker and Michael sounds absolutely fantastic and pissed off and Mike Mills backing vocals are terrific! 'Supernatural Superserious' sounds like the closest thing to a classic R.E.M single on this record. It may not be the best song here, but it is definitely the most conventionally catchy song to be found here. Hollow Man follows and sounds like a total piano ballad until suddenly, the guitars come in. What a great fake out on the band's part and it sounds like it would be a great single. 'Houston' sounds like it would fit perfectly on Automatic for the people; very folksy...reminds me a lot of Try Not to Breathe musically. "Until The Day Is Done' is another folksy ballad that sounds like it would have been perfect on Automatic...it also sounds a lot like Swan Swan H from Lifes Rich Pageant. Its one of my favorites on the record and if it weren't so openly political, it would make for a great single. 'Horse To Water' is just pure adrenaline and definitely one of the best full on rockers the band has made in a long time. I know it sounds like repetition but its very angry, and definitely a bruiser. Im Gonna DJ is a full on glam stomper that the band played on the last tour. Its a really fun post apocalyptic that not quite as Its the End of the World, but almost as fun and inspired nonetheless and its a perfect closer to the record.
Anyone accusing the band of making this record to satisfy record company execs, would be absolutely wrong. On the contrary, the majority of the songs are so openly political, that Top 40 will not likely touch them at all (if U2 cant get on the radio, R.E.M. wont either). R.E.M. seems to be reaching back into the ire and anger of their indie IRS days, as this sounds more like an updated 'Lifes Rich Pageant' and 'Document' than it does any of their Warner Brothers records (with Monster being the exception) as it rocks aplenty, and it is a very righteously angry album except now the anger is placed in the Bush administration and not the Reagan administration as it was in their indie days. But, rest assured, this is not a nostalgic record. It is definitely firmly placed in the here and now. Also like Lifes Rich Pageant, this album is a solidly good album all the way through, without there necessarily huge singles waiting to be plucked out. There is nary a bad track on here. It is not QUITE classic album in the vein of Murmur or Automatic...but it is indeed a necessary and much needed addition to their discography and their best album since at least New Adventures in Hi Fi. R.E.M. are back and they're coming out swinging!
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