Tag: Mike Mills

audio review : New Adventures In Hi-Fi ( album ) … REM

audio review : New Adventures In Hi-Fi ( album ) ... REM

REM is a big rock band, but this album suggests they’re at their best when the music isn’t led by big rock guitars. The best songs are the exceptions to the rule; the ones that take a more subtle approach in the way of sonics.

How The West Was Won wouldn’t sound out of place in a jazz lounge. E-Bow The Letter flirts with a country twang. Electrolite, which takes you up LA’s Mulholland Drive, is a thing of beauty. The heavier stuff can’t quite compare.

my rating : 3 of 5

1996

audio review : Accelerate ( album ) … REM

audio review : Accelerate ( album ) ... REM

REM return from their trip Around The Sun at godspeed. The songs are faster, conceptually edgier and, thanks to the help of grunge producer Jacknife Lee, more rock-and-roll than anything they’ve released in the past several years. If those last few albums were polished down to a nice elegant sheen, this one is, right out the gate from the opening guitar riff, a throwback to the old dirty garage band days. While I have no problem with the relaxed post-party digression REM began once Bill Berry fell from the tree, there’s a certain nostalgic charm to this sudden return to form.

Lacking are the songs. In the way of sonics, the album sounds like vintage REM. The guitars are set louder in the mix, sometimes with a mild distortion effect to give them a hardcore rock vibe. Michael Stipe is still a wonderful, if ambiguous, wordsmith, but, even with Mills harmonizing softly in the background, there are few melodies to match. Until The Day Is Done stands as one of their best songs, the chorus on Man-Sized Wreath is fun and Sing For The Submarine is catchy, but, at a mere 34-minute stretch, the album doesn’t have enough melodic gas to go the distance.

my rating : 3 of 5

2008

audio review : Up ( album ) … REM

audio review : Up ( album ) ... REM

“I jumped Up,” says the Sad Professor, but I don’t think he’s referring to the album title. That seems to be a bit of poetic irony as the pace of the music goes in the opposite direction. It’s a collection of mostly downtempo songs with singer Michael Stipe delivering inspirational messages in a somber voice. Why Not Smile, he asks a friend, while sounding himself sad enough to cry.

It’s a pretty uplifting ballad though, with a nice build-up of sonic instrumentation stuck to its sides. Listen in a pair of high-fidelity headphones. It sounds almost as beautiful as My Most Beautiful; a romantic beach gem that could be a conceptual sequel to Smile if whoever decided on the order of the songs were thoughtful enough to place the former after the latter.

Bill Berry, the main drummer, is gone. REM, now a trio, instead rely on electronic drum machines and an array of trippy synth effects to get their musical points across. Even much of the rock guitars are laid to rest in place of pianos, chimes and Santa bells. It works well to the point where, at times, the music starts to sound like something made for body relaxation and mind elevation.

my rating : 4 of 5

1998

audio review : Around The Sun ( album ) … REM

audio review : Around The Sun ( album ) ... REM

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