The best part of this album happens during the first song. “I told you I’d love you forever,” Michael Stipe reminds a special someone. When the chorus comes back, with a layer of windswept harmony, it soars.
Around The Sun is mixed and mastered with a soft and pleasant finish; REM has never sounded so lush; but most of its songs are bland. This is evanescent music best played as a backdrop in an airport lobby.
my rating : 3 of 5
2004