A piano plays at 02:34. It’s panned to the right, but it should be mixed, louder than it is, in stereo. That or dead center. It should play repeatedly, perhaps as a continuous loop, so that the guitars, drums and what sounds like orchestral strings revolve around it.
As it is, REM’s Hallelujah, their final song as far as album chronology goes, struggles to lift itself up from the pits of mediocrity. The music carries with it the grandeur of a huge and historic cathedral. The verses are also enchanting. It’s the refrain that suffers.
my rating : 3 of 5
2011
