R.E.M. Accelerate

Fuzzy Bits:

Release Date: April 1

Last Album: Around the Sun (2004)

Sounds Like: R.E.M. is back, with a vengeance.

Overall Rating: 81

From the opening "Living Well’s The Best Revenge," the immediacy exuded in the song alone seems like a desperate attempt on the bands part to ensure fans that everything is indeed alright again in the land of R.E.M. The first three tracks of the album rock with absolute conviction, and lead up to a nicely done, but terribly uneven "Hollow Man." The mercifully short "Houston" feels like an unnecessary aberration, but does lend way to the equally dark, but vastly better, title track.  With the relentless guitars and drums backing up Michael Stipe’s very personal lyrics, "Accelerate" is easily one of the better songs on the album. Oddly enough, the band switches back to yet another middling slow song "Until the Day is Done" before returning to the radio ready "Mr. Richards," a definite stand out track that is just as impactful as the other songs despite not being a straight on rocker. The album loses some momentum with the clumsy "Horse to Water" and the overly busy "Sing for the Submarine" before closing with the admittedly goofy yet inanely fun "I’m Gonna DJ." Like the opening trio of songs, the conviction that the band performs with on this closer is what makes it work. They’re not overthinking, but merely having fun and doing what they do best– and that seems to be the formula for Accelerate as a whole. The album is short and to the point, running at a mere 35 minutes, so one can’t very well accuse them of embellishment. It’s easy to simply label this release as the ultimate R.E.M. apology album, and with the immediate nature of the music it’s hard to argue against such a point. At the same time, however, there’s a definitive sense of purpose and evolution to their songs. Whether the loss of the fan base was the cause of all this though, doesn’t really matter, the fact is, although far from perfect– as it does have its share of inconsistencies– R.E.M. is most certainly back in business on Accelerate. That alone, should be enough to win the fans back, not to mention bring a fair share of the casual fanbase back into the fold.

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