R.E.M. – Accelerate – 2008
Well, this is different. Did someone have a sitdown with Mikey and shake him and tell the boys, “Hey! Dummies! No One is buying your records. We pay you to sell records. Not to masturbate in the studio. Get us something we can sell!”
Because “Living Well is the Best Revenge” is the biggest cut throat rocker since “These Days”. More reminiscent of Lifes Rich Pageant than any somnambulist crap from the past decade. Rock on, guys.
The band hasn’t sounded like a band since, well, since Berry left. Here they give us everything we’ve been begging for since Automatic for the People. Remember how the next album would be “the one that would rock”? But it never was? This is tight. This is REM at it’s boldest and strongest. And they haven’t compromised, they don’t sound like another band. They sound like REM. “Supernatural Superserious” sounds like REM circa Green but with considerably more punch.
There’s definitely some experimentation on songs like “Houston” but it’s shrouded with power and energy and purpose, so instead of being awful, it’s great.
Guys, where was this record 8 years ago??? There’s no bloat, no filler. It’s 36 minutes and lean and powerful.
I imagine the guys knew they were in danger of losing all their fans. Diminishing returns for 10 years proved that. Ray Davies said, Give the People What they Want.
What we wanted was something we can dance to, a sequel to “It’s the End of the World”. “I’m gonna DJ (at the end of the world) is just that. I didn’t think they knew how to do it, to be honest.
I’m pretty sure that even if I didn’t just slog through 3 hours of some of the most banal crap I would have loved Accelerate. If you love REM, rather, if you LOVED REM but feel like the direction they went chased you away as they chased Radiohead, give Accelerate a spin. It’s worth it.
Grade: A
ASide: Living Well is the Best Revenge, Man Sized Wreath, Supernatural Superserious, Accelerate
BlindSide: Hollow Man, Houston, Until the Day is Done, Mr. Richards, Horse to Water
DownSide: Sing for the Submarine
(To the best of my knowledge this is the 370th album review since I started the Listening Post, Reflecting Pool, DoublShot and One Off series)
