R.E.M.
April08, music reviews, music April 19th, 2008
By Matt Walker, April 2008
Accelerate, Warner Bros. Records
While it’s become clear that R.E.M. probably won’t ever reach the greatness of albums like Murmur or Life’s Rich Pageant again, their newest is the best they’ve offered in over a decade.
Accelerate shows a band that still knows how to genuinely write great songs, rather than a washed-up band pretending they know how to. It’s taken a while, but it looks like they might have finally recovered from drummer Bill Berry’s departure in 1997.
R.E.M. keeps the energy level high on this one, unlike their last few adult-radio friendly albums. Many of the tracks are driven by Peter Buck’s distorted guitar chords, but they don’t go overboard like they did at times on the grungy Monster. Songs like “Man-Sized Wreath” and “Supernatural Superserious,” with bassist Mike Mills’ prominent and powerful backing vocals, would not sound out of place on any of their late ‘80s albums. And “Until the Day is Done” is on par with many of their greatest moments. The primarily acoustic track shows a glimpse of their Southern roots and features some of Michael Stipe’s most memorable melodies in this collection as he sings, “Hold tight your babies and your guns / Forgive us our trespasses, father and son.”
That’s not to say they get it right on every track, there are some missteps here and there. Stipe and company seem to try a little too hard on “I’m Gonna DJ,” which comes off like something the B-52s might have passed on twenty years ago: “Death is pretty final / I’m collecting vinyl / I’m gonna DJ at the end of the world!”
Overall, Accelerate is the best thing R.E.M. has done in a long time and hopefully hints at some more good things to come.
Leave a Reply
R.E.M.
April08, music reviews, music April 19th, 2008
By Matt Walker, April 2008
Accelerate, Warner Bros. Records
While it’s become clear that R.E.M. probably won’t ever reach the greatness of albums like Murmur or Life’s Rich Pageant again, their newest is the best they’ve offered in over a decade.
Accelerate shows a band that still knows how to genuinely write great songs, rather than a washed-up band pretending they know how to. It’s taken a while, but it looks like they might have finally recovered from drummer Bill Berry’s departure in 1997.
R.E.M. keeps the energy level high on this one, unlike their last few adult-radio friendly albums. Many of the tracks are driven by Peter Buck’s distorted guitar chords, but they don’t go overboard like they did at times on the grungy Monster. Songs like “Man-Sized Wreath” and “Supernatural Superserious,” with bassist Mike Mills’ prominent and powerful backing vocals, would not sound out of place on any of their late ‘80s albums. And “Until the Day is Done” is on par with many of their greatest moments. The primarily acoustic track shows a glimpse of their Southern roots and features some of Michael Stipe’s most memorable melodies in this collection as he sings, “Hold tight your babies and your guns / Forgive us our trespasses, father and son.”
That’s not to say they get it right on every track, there are some missteps here and there. Stipe and company seem to try a little too hard on “I’m Gonna DJ,” which comes off like something the B-52s might have passed on twenty years ago: “Death is pretty final / I’m collecting vinyl / I’m gonna DJ at the end of the world!”
Overall, Accelerate is the best thing R.E.M. has done in a long time and hopefully hints at some more good things to come.
Leave a Reply
R.E.M.
April08, music reviews, music April 19th, 2008
By Matt Walker, April 2008
Accelerate, Warner Bros. Records
While it’s become clear that R.E.M. probably won’t ever reach the greatness of albums like Murmur or Life’s Rich Pageant again, their newest is the best they’ve offered in over a decade.
Accelerate shows a band that still knows how to genuinely write great songs, rather than a washed-up band pretending they know how to. It’s taken a while, but it looks like they might have finally recovered from drummer Bill Berry’s departure in 1997.
R.E.M. keeps the energy level high on this one, unlike their last few adult-radio friendly albums. Many of the tracks are driven by Peter Buck’s distorted guitar chords, but they don’t go overboard like they did at times on the grungy Monster. Songs like “Man-Sized Wreath” and “Supernatural Superserious,” with bassist Mike Mills’ prominent and powerful backing vocals, would not sound out of place on any of their late ‘80s albums. And “Until the Day is Done” is on par with many of their greatest moments. The primarily acoustic track shows a glimpse of their Southern roots and features some of Michael Stipe’s most memorable melodies in this collection as he sings, “Hold tight your babies and your guns / Forgive us our trespasses, father and son.”
That’s not to say they get it right on every track, there are some missteps here and there. Stipe and company seem to try a little too hard on “I’m Gonna DJ,” which comes off like something the B-52s might have passed on twenty years ago: “Death is pretty final / I’m collecting vinyl / I’m gonna DJ at the end of the world!”
Overall, Accelerate is the best thing R.E.M. has done in a long time and hopefully hints at some more good things to come.
