Tag: Peter Buck

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

audio review : Live At The Olympia ( album ) … REM

audio review : Live At The Olympia ( album ) ... REM

It’s REM, one of the most popular rock bands in the world, at The Olympia in Dublin, but they insist it’s “not a show”. What they mean is that it’s not an official concert. It is a show. That’s evident by the way Michael Stipe addresses the crowd; a selection of people with “impeccable” tastes. It’s a rehearsal show; a 2007 practice performance of songs from Accelerate and the tour that would presumably follow.

Fans of Around The Sun and Reveal might be disappointed with this album. The setlist, a special selection of the songs they performed, spends most of its time on the old stuff. There are six songs from Reckoning, for example, and five from Fables Of The Reconstruction, but none from Up, probably my favorite REM album. How cool it would have been to hear Sad Professor raw, unpolished and Jacknifed.

That’s a relatively minor complaint though. My major one is the talking the band does during some of the breaks, specifically the one that ruins the album’s conceptual flow; Stipe mentioning to his very appreciative audience that it’s the band’s “fifth” of five nights before magically going back in time to perform songs from the previous nights. With just that, this comes across as a random compilation rather than a proper set.

My favorite song here is Until The Day Is Done, which, like other Accelerators, had yet to been released. It sounds a lot like the album version though, unlike Disguised, which is a demo version of Supernatural Superserious. Other highlights include On The Fly; its absence from the Accelerate album baffles me; and Pretty Persuasion. I like the way Michael Stipe says the word “confusion” on that one.

my rating : 3 of 5

2009

audio review : Reveal ( album ) … REM

audio review : Reveal ( album ) ... REM

As far as choruses and drumbeats go, REM’s Reveal is a step down from Up. That’s despite the titles of the first two songs, which seem to imply further artistic elevation. High, with a dreamy snare and hazy chords, conjures 1980s Phil Collins. That’s a good thing. The Lifting, even with a rhythm section pleasantly reminiscent of Can You Feel It by The Jacksons, never really gets off the sand.

There’s a Beautiful Beach Boy ballad on the last album, but this entire Reveal has a warm summer atmosphere. There’s a Beachball flying thru the sky. The shiniest gem, Beat A Drum, has the sun reflecting in the back of Michael Stipe’s eye. Cool in contrast are the spacey sound effects on Saturn Return, which throws what sounds like a referee’s whistle into the mix, and the album’s Rain song.

my rating : 3 of 5

2001

audio review : Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage ( album ) … REM

audio review : Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage ( album ) ... REM

I don’t know why I consider REM one of my favorite bands. They’ve made some great songs, sure, and a few are included on this compilation; an album-to-album collection of mostly popular singles, along with three new songs. But they’ve also made songs that aren’t so great. A lot of those are also included here. There’s no “garbage”; that’s a joking display of modesty; but compared to personal favorites that aren’t included on this consumer-focused set, like Up‘s Sad Professor, some of what is emit a rather unpleasant odor.

The One I Love is the template for a generic “love” ballad and Everybody Hurts has always been overrated, but Shiny Happy People is better than bitter angry people say it is and I consider the second half of this chronological set; the era in which REM’s music supposedly began to decline; much better than the first. End Of The World, from that first half, is their best song, but the inclusion of Bad Day; their second best; a reworked demo-child of End Of The World; makes for an off-putting clash. They should have chosen one or the other.

I like that there are three songs from Collapse Into Now; a decision that serves as a free promotional plug for their last (final) album, released only a few months ago. Überlin, despite the silly stylization of its title; the “Ü” means “thru” and “berlin” is the capital city of Germany; soars. That’s thanks partially to the harmonic background vocals of Mike Mills, which also help make Leaving New York the best cut from Around The Sun. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite is another major stand-out and I have nothing but praise for Country Feedback.

Driver 8 is tired. New Test Leper, which sounds beautiful enough during the verses, falls under the weight of its deadpan chorus. How fitting is it then that the three new songs are also a mixed bag. A Month Of Saturdays is as lazy and unproductive as the title suggests. Hallelujah is comparatively enjoyable. Nicer still is We All Go Back To Where We Belong, which shines like the sun on a warm summer day. It’s a pleasant song; the kind of melodic dream music this band should’ve focused more on during their twenty-nine years.

my rating : 3 of 5

2011

audio review : Collapse Into Now ( album ) … REM

audio review : Collapse Into Now ( album ) ... REM

There’s a song here entitled It Happened Today featuring Eddie Vedder. It’s a sing-a-long of sorts, though lyrics lead way to a wordless chant about a third of the way in. There are rock guitars, stomping drums and what sounds like rusty church tambourines. It’s a marvel that exudes the kind of folky party vibe you haven’t heard from REM in a long time and I wish the other melodies on this album were as uplifting.

This is their best album since Reveal; it’s peppier than Around The Sun and easier on the ears than Accelerate; but half of its songs fall short at the chorus, where melody counts the most. Oh My Heart, on which the band sound like old men having heart attacks, is a grower, but Michael Stipe yelling “Discoverer” over and over again sounds silly and Andre 3000 sang “Hey Ya”; Every Day Is Yours To Win; better years ago.

ÜBerlin flies high, thanks mostly to Mike Mills harmonizing Michael Stipe’s vocals in the background; a technique the band should make use of a lot more often. Blue, on which Stipe talks his poetry instead of singing it, is a cool showcase for Patti Smith, but, even with an escalator at her feet, Peaches can’t help lift Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter and Mine Smell Like Honey is more bitter than sweet.

There aren’t any major musical calamities. Nothing even comes close to countering It Happened Today on the low end of the spectrum. It’s just that, as is the case with REM’s last few albums, there are simply too many mediocre songs. I guess that gives some unintentional meaning to the Now bit. The band is merely another group of aging rock stars trying, only almost successfully, to revive their former glory.

my rating : 3 of 5

2011