R.E.M. - Around the Sun
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Free Music Notes for Around the Sun
Free Music Review: We fell asleep today, going around the sun
Hit: 1 Stars
Because nothing interesting was going on. Unfortunately, our imaginations failed us, so we recorded that boredom. I dunno who was pulling REM's strings this time, but from the out-of-focus cover photo, it seems they couldn't care less who actually made the record, and just assumed the label would sell it well. Obviously, that's not case, as this is (I think) REM's worst selling record ever. Why?
Because, quite frankly, it sucks. `It's the End of the World as We Know It' was the song that originally turned me on to Rock, back in the early 90s. Fast pace, weird lyrics, madcap feel. None of that is present here. Even the *coff* highlight, Electron Blue, sounds like a rehash of Electrolite. I nearly cried when I heard this album, it's really that bad. Fortunately, Accelerate is FAR better, so hopefully they'll continue that upwards trend.
Free Music Review: May cause drowsiness
Hit: 2 Stars
There are 2 amazing songs ("Leaving New York" and the title track) on this album. "Electron Blue," "I Wanted To Be Wrong" and "Ascent of Man" are also extremely good. The remaining tracks are all also solid and could fit easily as a change of pace tune onto even the best REM albums. Why only two stars then? "Around the Sun" is a collection of change of pace songs. Throw them together, and you have a beautiful, long snooze fest.Free Music Review: Bad...check out Accelerate instead
Hit: 1 Stars
Not much to say about this one. The band itself thinks it's crappy! Nuf said. So much better available from REM. I'm a fan from their earliest days, but also like their early to even mid 90's stuff, so I am a fan...but this should never have been released (given the fact that they were not happy with it, knew it was bad).Free Music Review: Underrated and discarded unfairly
Hit: 4 Stars
There are a handful of today's working bands who have created a legacy years ago, and though they continue to make music (because once you start, it is impossible to stop), their past work which comprises their legacy and created their fan base is often used as the foundation for decrying whatever new record they put out. One example that comes to mind involves U2's most recent records being called "corporate" and "out of touch" in comparison to their more politically charged 80s output. Another example is, of course, the last decade of R.E.M. records when compared to everything that came before "Automatic for the People."
Bottom line: such comparisons are unavoidable; critics do it all the time - in fact, they almost have to in order to seem elite and all-knowing. Hating on new output essentially establishes critical credibility.
I was too young to be into R.E.M. in the 80s before they "sold out"; back then, I was still in diapers listening to whatever my parents put on the radio. Still, songs like "Losing My Religion" and "It's the End of the World As We Know It" trickled down from popular culture to my sheltered ears. These are songs that many people don't have to listen to anymore because they overplayed them over a decade ago.
I got into R.E.M. sometime in college, and I wasn't burned out on their albums from the 80s, and as I listened to records like "Reveal" and "Monster" among the rest, I fell in love with this incarnation of the band. Then, I listened to "Around the Sun," really just for kicks because I had already read the reviews telling me how much it sucked.
I found after a few listens that I completely disagreed with all the critics and a sizable number of people who might as well call themselves R.E.M. purists. Songs like "Leaving New York," "Make it All Okay," and "Wanderlust," seem to me to be just as relevant as anything else so long as you close your eyes and still believe in R.E.M. as a creative force. Of course, this mindset requires a predetermined ignorance of what the elitists perpetuate.
Generally, I am an indie kid, eating up everything put out by people like David Bazan and Jason Martin, but certain really big, really "corporate" bands have caught my ear, and I think the reason for this is that they carry with their success a certain universal weight - a monumental appeal. Of course such tremendous bands are always at odds with the legacy for which people remember them; it's really up to the bands to move past this and ignore the haters. After all, most of the elitists got into R.E.M. when I was still in diapers, so naturally anything else the band puts out sounds stale to them.
I can already see the reviews for the upcoming R.E.M. release "Accelerate." "A return to form." "R.E.M. still rocks in spite of the last decade." Stuff like that. To all the critics and R.E.M. naysayers, I say this: whenever you are trying to decide whether or not it is socially acceptable to like the R.E.M of the mid-90s through the new millennium, first slap yourself for trying to fit in. Next, take off your Gap Jeans and mess up your styled hair a little bit. Then put on "I Don't Sleep, I Dream" from "Monster," "Imitation of Life" from "Reveal," "At My Most Beautiful" from "Up," "Leaving New York" from "Around the Sun," and especially "Leave" from "New Adventures in Hi-Fi."
After hearing these wonderful tunes, don't be too hard on yourself for being a former member of the hater crowd. We all fall prey to the establishment from time to time.
Free Music Review: they are lost...and irrelevant
Hit: 1 Stars
REM, lets face it have not put out a good album since they became a threesome. It's clear that Berry wasn't just a drummer but perhaps the best songwriter in the band (Perfect Circle, Driver 8 are on record as being his, but the band gets credit for all songwritng so its tough to tell unless Stipe revels it in an interview)
The songs are pointless now, without any passion or power.
The Who sucked without Moon. Sometimes it better to burnout than to fade away.