R.E.M. - Accelerate
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.47 You Save: $10.51 (75%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Accelerate
Free Music Review: R.E.M. Reborn Revitalized and totally Relevant(4.5 Stars)
Hit: 5 Stars
Being counted out is possibly the best thing that could have happened to this band, as 28 years into their illustrious career, when R.E.M. had been relegated to being called a 'great band' in the past tense, the band have come out swinging on Accelerate. NEVER has a band this long in the tooth made such an angry, vital, and totally contemporary and relevant record. This is album is indeed a complete 180 turn from Around the Sun. It clocks in at half the time of the previous record; the drums are FINALLY back and in full force, Peter's guitar is fully plugged in, and Mike Mills' is finally harmonizing again. And lest I forget, Michael Stipe's voice sounds utterly fantastic. Just listen to him 'wow' and 'ow' on Man Sized Wreath and yoyu can tell, Michael's playful sarcasm is in full swing, and he sounds absolutely energized, whereas he sounded tired on the last record.
The songs are short and hit like a ton of bricks. If anyone remembers the anger on The Final Straw from the last record, well this album is like a full album's worth of that song with the amps turned way up and the songs at full speed. Living Well Is The Best Revenge is the best and loudest opener since Whats the Frequency Kenneth or maybe even Finest Worksong. Man-Sized Wreath is an unconventional but totally catchy rocker and Michael sounds absolutely fantastic and pissed off and Mike Mills backing vocals are terrific! 'Supernatural Superserious' sounds like the closest thing to a classic R.E.M single on this record. It may not be the best song here, but it is definitely the most conventionally catchy song to be found here. Hollow Man follows and sounds like a total piano ballad until suddenly, the guitars come in. What a great fake out on the band's part and it sounds like it would be a great single. 'Houston' sounds like it would fit perfectly on Automatic for the people; very folksy...reminds me a lot of Try Not to Breathe musically. "Until The Day Is Done' is another folksy ballad that sounds like it would have been perfect on Automatic...it also sounds a lot like Swan Swan H from Lifes Rich Pageant. Its one of my favorites on the record and if it weren't so openly political, it would make for a great single. 'Horse To Water' is just pure adrenaline and definitely one of the best full on rockers the band has made in a long time. I know it sounds like repetition but its very angry, and definitely a bruiser. Im Gonna DJ is a full on glam stomper that the band played on the last tour. Its a really fun post apocalyptic that not quite as Its the End of the World, but almost as fun and inspired nonetheless and its a perfect closer to the record.
Anyone accusing the band of making this record to satisfy record company execs, would be absolutely wrong. On the contrary, the majority of the songs are so openly political, that Top 40 will not likely touch them at all (if U2 cant get on the radio, R.E.M. wont either). R.E.M. seems to be reaching back into the ire and anger of their indie IRS days, as this sounds more like an updated 'Lifes Rich Pageant' and 'Document' than it does any of their Warner Brothers records (with Monster being the exception) as it rocks aplenty, and it is a very righteously angry album except now the anger is placed in the Bush administration and not the Reagan administration as it was in their indie days. But, rest assured, this is not a nostalgic record. It is definitely firmly placed in the here and now. Also like Lifes Rich Pageant, this album is a solidly good album all the way through, without there necessarily huge singles waiting to be plucked out. There is nary a bad track on here. It is not QUITE classic album in the vein of Murmur or Automatic...but it is indeed a necessary and much needed addition to their discography and their best album since at least New Adventures in Hi Fi. R.E.M. are back and they're coming out swinging!
Free Music Review: Back from the dead.
Hit: 5 Stars
R.E.M.: Accelerate - Welcome Back R.E.M.! Much like how; Aerosmith, Pearl Jam and Flamming Lips all had to reinvent themselves to become relevant again, R.E.M. must have reflected deeply upon their extensive library and decided to become rather vengeful, once again.
This album seems to have already caught headlines from every magazine that circulates the globe and from each a relatively positive, if not overwhelmingly positive, review. If you haven't read one of these review, then maybe you've noticed pictures of the band or lead singer, Michael Stipe, on a cover. This sort of publicity is almost impossible to buy for the majority of bands, but for R.E.M. it's just life as usual when they actually try on an album.
So what do I mean when spouting out words like, "reinventing, relevant and try?" That's easy to answer, listen to the album once and you'll know what I mean. And this won't take much time, because this is R.E.M.'s shortest album that they've ever recorded, coming in at under 35 minutes. So short of a time-span that it can only fit 11 tracks, which makes the album only one track longer than the shortest tracked album of 10. There's no clean computerized synthesizer or inexplicably, impossible-without-studio, cuts. Accelerate, is simply an album that was written out of pure neurotic explosion, and equally by each individual member. The base guitar bounces around playfully, sounds wonderful and not drowned-out like bands from the 2000's, the guitar is fast and full of rhythm similar to a more youthful R.E.M. of ole and the drums again bang away, even though without longtime drummer, Bill Berry, Ministry's Bill Rieflin fills the roll perfectly - we're not talking nuclear science with R.E.M.'s drumming, but that still doesn't make Bill Rieflin an honorary member, yet. So the basics, which speak volumes, are all present for the making of a modern-classic, but what do the vocals sound like, are the lyrics personable and does the album hold up?
When I first listened to, Accelerate, I instantly enjoyed the music, but thought there was something amiss. The further I dove into the album, the more I realized that the music was great, but that the vocals were a little off. Sure, it sounded like Mike, but still, he didn't sound as convicted as usual, almost as if the music was faster-paced than he could handle. And so I listened, and listened and listened some more to this album (as I do now with most albums) and what I came up with was that this is just the theme of the album mixed-in with a little with Stipe's age. But overall, this is signature R.E.M. sound, it just takes week's worth of radioplay to be addicting. And you know what the thing is, this album consists of a lot of repeatable & memorable material, most of which fans might have forgot R.E.M. was capable of composing.
So now that I've finally gotten a grasp of what might take the average listener an estimated 3 weeks of listening to, I'm willing to stand firm on saying this album is damn good. The lyrics, nothing new to R.E.M.; personal, political, a little coded but also could be interpreted as ultra-direct. While I've heard comments that mention, "Man on the Moon-ish," I lean towards an album with songs that range between a mix of, "Drive," "The One I Love," and variations of yes, material from, Monster, specifically, "Star 69." I actually enjoy most of the album, and respect the fact that I didn't love it on first spin, because it most definitely takes time to grow on you, but when you get there, it's oh so rewarding. One thing
Album Highlights: All of it - minus "I'm Gonna DJ"
Rating 9.5 out of 10
Free Music Review: Stunning comeback
Hit: 5 Stars
In the two albums before Bill Berry retired from R.E.M., the band had begun working on its harder rock side, seen best in the mid-1980s albums Lifes Rich Pageant and Document. 1994's Monster was...well, give the band credit for stepping out of its comfort zone. New Adventures in Hi-Fi from 1996 met with more considerable success, with a rawer sound based in large part on songs written, performed, and recorded while on tour. But once Berry called it a day, the band retreated to its original signature strengths...tuneful midtempo ballads and upbeat songs with inscrutable lyrics. Trouble is, the band did sound incomplete, struggling to perform well in the studio, and those strengths were blunted, resulting in what may be the weakest era in R.E.M.'s history.
No more. Accelerate is a wildly dynamic, loud, in-your-face album that barely lets up during its short, punk-like duration. It's one of the best and most fun albums R.E.M. has ever released. Looser, rawer, and harder than Monster or New Adventures, with political statements that rival those on Document, these are songs that just scream to be heard in arenas...even more so than those on Green. It's all too easy to imagine screams of delight echoing off the bleachers with the opening chords of "Living Well Is The Best Revenge" and "Supernatural Superserious."
And man, does the band sound like it's back in its groove and enjoying itself again. Michael Stipe sings "Wow!" during each of the first three songs (well, it's actually "now" during "Living Well," but in his enthusiasm, it could just as well be "wow"), and ends the album with a triumphant "Yeah!" The title song is a fast and furious romp, filled with angst and adrenaline and Peter Buck's ragged power chords, with no hint of the Byrdsian jangle that used to be the band's calling card. (The song is such a letter-perfect copy of Led Zeppelin's "Achilles' Last Stand," though, that the band might do good to prepare against a copyright lawsuit.)
Accelerate is a fighting album, with verbal attacks all over the place ("Nature abhors a vacuum, but what's between your ears?" "You're forgiven for a narrow lack of vision" "You weakened shill!"), but in its quieter, pensive moments, the band reveals what can result from such aggression. The title of "Hollow Man" speaks for itself. Stipe pleads, "Believe in me, believe in nothing/Corner me and make me something...I'm emptied out, I'm incomplete." During the somber "Until the Day is Done," with funeral drums and dry, rustic guitar that recalls The Band, a resigned Stipe sings, "The battle's been lost, the war is not won," and leaves very little room for hope, despite the tuneful accompaniment. In contrast, the harsher "Houston" eloquently pits hope against hope from the eyes of a Katrina victim: "So a man's put to task and challenges/I was taught to hold my head high/Collect what is mine/Make the best of what today has."
And about that closing song: "I'm Gonna DJ" is one of the most unlikely R.E.M. songs ever made. Utterly tuneless, with no real music line, some of the most vapid lyrics the band has ever written, and an obnoxious singalong tagline: "I'm gonna DJ at the end of the WOOOOOORLD!" But somehow, the song is utterly contagious, a punk free-for-all where so many wrongs make an ineffable right. It's also a brilliant flip-off to those who didn't think R.E.M. had it in them anymore...a perfect closer to an album that should stand as the most triumphant album R.E.M. has ever made.
Free Music Review: R.E.M. RETURN TO ROCK
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is not a return to form, as a lot of critics said, for this legendary group, but it represents just a return to rock! They've always been in form, and R.E.M. LIVE (2007)it's simply the best prove for what I'm writing! The previous two albums (Reveal 2001, Around The Sun 2004) were just too slow, but they anyway contains some pearls. Probably with a faster production and a little more of guitars and drums the average atmosphere of these two albums could have been more familiar to the band fans and even a bit more commercial. Up (1998) sounds like an incomplete album, and probably this is due to the suddenly departure of Bill Berry at the beginning of the recording sessions. It definitely sounds a little too different from anything else in 1998, but this is very R.E.M.! R.E.M. has often been very different from their contemporaries, like for example in 1983, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1996 and this is what allows them to be considered so special and great!
They've always had an average creativity and quality level superior than any other band! Reveal and Around The Sun should sound a little less R.E.M.ish than the previous albums but to explore different patterns is what they've tried to do since the winter of 1979. They're R.E.M. and this is what they've always done!!!
Accelerate is a great return to rock, or to the kind of rock they have refined during the last quarter of century (alternative, indie, jangle, garage, sofisticated, post-punk/new wave as you prefer). It's probably the better album they've done since New Adventures In Hi-Fi (their best in my opinion) but this is very reductive for this album. Some critics said it sounds like Life's Rich Pageant and Document but it isn't at the same level. I think R.E.M. has never sound the same, only the quality level is often the same! Two random R.E.M. songs could sound the same only at first listen, but not everyone is able to catch exactly the differences: You have to feel their music more than listen to it to understand!
In my opinion Sing For The Submarine and Accelerate are simply two of the best song written in this millennium, Houston is a very deep song and Living Well Is The Best Revenge and Horse to Water are very catchy. The rest is on an high level, We will listen Supernatural Superserious and Hollow Man even in a not so close future!
The production isn't exactly what You expext from Jacknife Lee, the whole atmosphere is a little to loud, and artists like Mike Mills and Peter Buck always deserves the finest and clearer production it is possible to made. But this loud atmosphere fit very well with the usually great Stipe's lyrics, visceral as ever.
Someone said this album isn't as creative as they use to be until Reveal; I say that Accelerate sounds like R.E.M. Sounds in 2008 and this is enough for me!!!
Free Music Review: The improbable but triumphant return of REM
Hit: 5 Stars
After the last album, 2004's "Around the Sun", I have to admit I had given up on REM as that album marked the lowest and most disappointing point yet in their rich and illustrious career yet. When word came out last year that REM was yet again prepping a new album to be released in 2008, I kinda rolled my eyes. Then a funny thing happened: I heard the first single "Supernatural Superserious" and boy that song just rocked! Now comes the new album.
On "Accelerate" (11 tracks; 35 min.) REM attacks with a vigor not heard since "Monster" and "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" (the last album with original drummer Bill Berry). From the opening sounds of "Living Well's the Best Revenge", REM sounds completely reinvigorated and rejuvenated, and what a joy it is to hear. The album goes from one highlight to the next. The songs are short and to the point, they make their point and move on. Track 4 "Hollow Man" is when you think you'll catch your breath, and you do for about 15 seconds, before that songs also crashes in to your speakers. "Houston" follows and is the only weak track on the album, in my opinion. The second half kicks off with the rousing title track, and we're off to the races again: "Until the Day Is Done" and "Mr Richards" are superb. "Horse to Water" is one of my favorites with an irresistible sing-along chorus of "I'm not that easy/I am not your horse to water/I hold my breath I come around") sing-along, and "I'm Gonna DJ" is a killer track to close this set (with such choice lines of "Death is pretty final/I'm collecting vinyl/I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world"). It truly is remarkable that some how REM has rediscovered its musical focus and muse. Peter Buck's guitar work is among the best he's ever done, Stipe sounds like he's actually enjoying the songs, and Mills' harmonizing back vocals are really great (check out "Living Well", for example, but surely some credit of this resurgence must go to producer Jacknife Lee.
I can't emphasize enough how pleasantly surprised I am by this album, even shocked. I truly didn't think that REM had another great album in them, but I am more than happy to say that I was flat wrong and in my book "Accelerate" brings REM back to relevance, after so many disappointing years. I had the opportunity to see REM headline the Langerado Music Festival in early March in South Florida, and they play a bunch of songs from "Accelerate", and it all sounded fantastic. Welcome back REM, we've missed ya! "Accelerate" is one of the early favorites for top album of the year. Highly recommended!