R.E.M.'s Rich Pageant

R.E.M. speed up their career on Accelerate

When it comes to classic college rockers R.E.M., I am admittedly a fair weather fan. This probably stems from the feeling of taste makers and people "in the know" insisting R.E.M. was the greatest thing since the invention of the metronome throughout the '80's. I hated them for years without hearing a single song from them. When I actually heard their music, I had to admit they were OK. Then, as I went to college and heard a lot more of them (my college roommate was a fan and played Green in between Crowded House, Joe Jackson and Ramones records) and they grew on me. Soon after, I was a fan along for the ride of Out of Time (1991) and their true classic Automatic for the People (1992). At their peak, they were the Dallas Cowboys of the wimpy side of alternative rock - they were America's Band.

The R.E.M. doctrine was that the band wasn't great because of individual players but instead due to the chemistry that exists between Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry. An all-for-one-and-one-for-all approach included talk that if one member left the band, they would break up. In the mid 1990's Bill Berry left the band. And R.E.M. didn't break up.

I was disappointed that a band that to some degree stood for artistic integrity didn't keep their word and split. But what was more painful was watching R.E.M. become intensely mediocre, at least from my view. I heard songs or whole albums that followed and would grab onto a song or two per disc but otherwise be bored. R.E.M. became as wobbly as a three legged chair, boldly forging new yet dull paths into their increasingly hermetic sound. Around The Sun (2004) was the clincher, the band made an album so boring I had a chance to get it for free and still didn't bother to pick it up. Though I liked the song "Leaving New York" I heard the rest as a streaming free preview and dozed off.

Meanwhile, fans and the media armchair quarterbacked the band. Why don't they return to sounding like they used to? Why doesn't Stipe go back to writing riddles for lyrics? Why has their music been drained of all energy like a dying star? This type of second guessing (which I am not above either obviously) drives most bands nuts. Most bands say you don't like what you hear, form your own band then talk (always a valid point). Which is what makes R.E.M.'s Accelerate all the more unexpected.

However they arrived at this conclusion, Accelerate makes it clear that R.E.M. is willing to return to the past with a vengeance. Speedy grooves, jangling guitars, confusing lyrics sung in a stream of consciousness way, delayed background vocals - all the hallmarks of R.E.M. mid 80's comes back. And even better, the band sounds freed and renewed in getting back to their seminal sound. In terms of spirit and energy, this is the strongest R.E.M. disc since 1985's Life's Rich Pageant and will have you reminiscing about early tracks like "West of the Fields" in no time.

The opener "Living Well Is The Best Revenge" sets the tone early with it's near "It's the End of the World as we Know it" sound. "Supernatural Superserious" harkens back to Pageant because of it's chunky guitar riffs and memorable melody. They cut loose on the fun rocker "I'm Gonna DJ" but still find time to get nice and moody on cuts like the slow hurdy gurdy of "Houston" or the pensive "Song for a Submarine."

Accelerate brings the fun and excitement back which has this fair weather fan saying "Ahead is nothing but blue skies and sun." It's the first R.E.M. cd I've bought since New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996) and find this album to be a fine follow up to that disc from over a decade ago. Should I go overboard and say I'm a Shiny Happy Person now? No, I won't do that but it's still really really good.

R.E.M. "Supernatural Superserious"