R.E.M., 'Accelerate' (Warner Bros.)
Alt rock's inconsistent elders floor it to the fountain of youth.
By Josh Modell 03.01.08 3:43 PM
R.E.M.'s last album, Around the Sun, stays on my shelf only for the sake of catalog completeness; it's been freed once or twice since 2004 to be dusted off and quickly reassessed: Did a band this important really release something so incomprehensibly dull and unrelentingly bored with itself? Well, they did. And Michael Stipe -- the one singing and wearing raccoon eye shadow lately -- even acknowledged the misstep, admitting that the group had lost focus, and that he, guitarist Peter Buck, and bassist Mike Mills "didn't talk… for a couple of records." The slow-moving, keyboard-heavy, adult-contemporary-leaning Sun felt like a sputtering roadside breakdown for a band that was running on fumes. But the critical and commercial shrugs that met the album seem to have had one overwhelmingly positive effect: They gave R.E.M. something to prove.
Nothing to do, then, but hit the gas and hope for the best, a method Accelerate -- R.E.M.'s 14th studio album -- establishes right there in the title. Whether inspired by their own stagnation, market forces, or producer Jacknife Lee, the decision to lift the rock restraining order worked wonders: Accelerate corrals 35 minutes of the fastest songs Stipe and Co. have written in decades, all performed with a sense of joyous purpose that clearly comes from a "Fuck it, let's just do this" attitude. They haven't sounded this surprised with themselves since 1998's Up, haven't made an album this consistent since 1992's Automatic for the People, and haven't redlined so engagingly since 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant, whose terrific "These Days" lives on in spirit here.
ILLUSTRATION BY RICCARDO VECCHIO
And though populated almost exclusively by snarling guitars and hell-bent drums, Accelerate doesn't suffer any whiffs of desperation like 1994's half-decent, glam-rock youth grab, Monster. Instead, here's a band rediscovering the shadings and strengths of rock'n'roll elementalism. Sure, album bookends "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" and "I'm Gonna DJ" share the same basic ingredients and roughly the same tempo, but the former looks lovingly at R.E.M.'s distant rockin' past, while the near-ecstatic latter ("Death is pretty final / I'm collecting vinyl / I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world!") offers conclusive proof they haven't lost their inspiration completely in recent years.
More than just velocity lifts Accelerate: It slows for the requisite Important Ballad ("Until the Day Is Done"), a political brooder more akin to "Drive" than "Everybody Hurts," and the terrific, mid-tempo "Hollow Man," with the most satisfying R.E.M. chorus in eons. Still, Accelerate will be rightfully championed as the defibrillator that shocked a once-great band back to its senses. R.E.M. lay no claim to being the biggest rock group on earth -- leave that empty title to their contemporary U2 -- but if they need an award, here's one that fits: Most Improved.
Now Watch This: R.E.M., "Supernatural Superserious"
I find it interesting the multitudes of perspective this review generated.
They have become an enigma in recent years. Their last couple of albums all had moments, but lacked the cohesiveness that I was drawn to when I first hear Life's Rich Pageant my freshman year in college and that led eventually to incredible works like Out of Time and Automatic for the People.
REM has great fans, loyal and appreciative of their entire body of work. The fact is, though, that things had gotten rough for them. Stipe disclosed that he and Mills and Buck went through a period of time when they didn't talk much. Buck has shown dissatisfaction in musical direction at times. There was a restlessness in the air.
Listening to Living Well is the Best Revenge made me flash back to Begin the Begin off of Life's Rich Pagaent. The guitar sound that I associated with the band in my youth was back. The lyrics had matured a bit, but were powerful in their own way. Mill's backing vocals reverberate through the album. Their was a tightness, an intensity that I hadn't felt in awhile.
Someone said the songs wouldn't stick with people. I couldn't disagree more. Every time I listen to the album I appreciate the music more. The great chorus in Man-Sized Wreath, the brilliant harmony of Supernatural Superserious, the sizzling guitars on Accelerate. The blatant honesty and straightforwardness of Houston.
Their are reminders of the past, but instead of it making the album feel like an attempt to cash in on the past, it shows that their sound remains relevant.
I've always thought reviewing an REM album is like reviewing Dylan. They have been so brilliant over time that expectations are always ratcheted up. While this album may not be as groundbreaking or unexpected as Reckoning or Murmurs, or as powerful as Automatic for the People, it is a strong a cohesive work where everything works and a reminder to those of us who have went from college to middle age listening to this band of what originally drew us to them.
"Wow."
I have no idea where Accelerate will unfold into their canon, but I'll just sit back and savor it and leave it to the iconoclasts to hold it under a microscope in relation to their prior work.
On first listen, by the time I hit "Supernatural..." it wasn't until I heard MM's counter-vocal "and you cried and you cried" that I realized that while I had this HUGE grin on my face, I also had tears running down my cheeks (perhaps there is a tad of nostalgia happening there--so yes, SHOOT me) ...
... but Accelerate is in NO WAY a "return" album, marketing ploy, or "the album 'Monster' should have been." They couldn't have made this album in the early 90's because it contains elements from the prior 18 or so albums within it. Upon that first listen, when the echoes of that last "YEAH!" from "I'm Gonna DJ" finally diminished and my hair was smoking, it took me about a minute before I returned to my senses ... and hit PLAY again (afterwards, I went off to search for my vinyl copy of Chronic Town and start all over again).
Stipe & Co. are an enigma--perhaps a more popular one than say Tom Waits or Paul Weller, but an enigma nonetheless.
Urgent, passionate, contemporary, vintage R.E.M.
"Ow!"
I was only 8 when I heard my first REM song, Pretty Persuasion, and was hooked immediately and have been ever since. Each album represents to me a different stage of my life and development. I think that, like life, their back catalogue reflects what happens to all of us; some highs, some lows, some periods where life was treating us fairly indifferently and we were keeping our heads down and just doing what it took to get by. Of course, I have my favourites....some I like better than others, but every album is an important step in a remarkable musical journey, from a band who have achieved (in my opinion) the "Holy Grail" of rock music; to make it "big" (and let's face it, they don't come much bigger than this) without compromise and with integrity intact. I am eagerly anticipating the release of Accelerate with the same sense of excitement as ever and relishing the opportunity to see REM live again on two of their UK dates. They are an extraordinary band and I adore them. Let's just enjoy this next stage of their development. It will be a long time (if ever!) before the commered, money-orientated music business of today spits out another act who can achieve so much, for so long....and just be themselves. Here endeth the lesson for today.
Obviously, you DIDN'T listen to Around the Sun. That's obvious.
OK, so what was wrong with Around the Sun CD? Perhaps most of the songs required a bit of thinking and insight into the messages.....or did you just not like the message?
I have a question for REM:
WHY haven't you play Phoenix, Arizona in 13 YEARS? We are the 5th largest metro area, tons of fans here. Band like The Cure, U2, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode....heck every band on Earth plays here:
EXCEPT REM?
You skipped us on the Up tour in 1999
You skipped us on the Greatest hits Tour in 2003/2004
And once again you are skipping us on the Accelerate Tour!!!!!
WHY? Did we do something to piss you off?
REM owes Phoenix a 5 night stand to make up for this !
I for one, will not buy Accelerate or spend one dime on REM until you play here in Arizona again.
songs like Supernatural Superserious dont grow up on you. you are done with it in several days. It s classic radio hit . ****1/2 is probably prediction of commercial success not a review.......
I for one am excited to read this review -- can the album live up to it? (Note to self: stop by Be-Bop tomorrow.) I'm one of those REM fans who got to know them in the 80's, when they were the 'alternative' to bullshit on the radio, and when they (and we) were young and full of P & V. Matter of fact, I found myself having to explain who they REALLY were to a younger female co-worker of mine.
It went something like, "No, seriously, these guys used to kick ass. Here, listen to Carnival of Sorts." To be honest, it's been hard for me to sit through some of the more recent (read: slower) albums, so count me as excited to have the original idea of REM back. But, hey, Modell and I could be the only ones...
I agree with the first post. Since when did REM really care about the critics anyway? . Ive loved every album the group has recorded since Murmur. Sure, some songs on past albums seemed darker than others, but we can't all write popsy wopsy songs on every album. Some of REMs best songs were written on those " slow moving, keyboard heavy" albums. Leaving New York, Boy In the Well, I Wanted to Be Wrong , Walk Unafraid are GREAT songs. I love Supernatural Superserious (thank God the guitar is amped up). Look what junk actually won the Grammys this year (dont include Foo Fighters, they were great) REM writes what they write. If one does not like the music, dont listen.
this review is useless. it only copies what others wrote about accelerate. Supernatural Superserious is just what author of this article and the otehrs wanted to hear from REM. It looks like REM have been pushed to do record like this. What a shame. I liked all high speed trains and beating the drums. You just want them to play easy listening pop n roll.....