Accelerate

The rumors are not exaggerated, REM is dead. There is absolutely nothing on "Accelerate" to get excited about. Despite the promise of acceleration we get plodding numbers whose acceleration is only towards the absurd and banal - check out "Sing For The Submarine" as a prime example.

Worse than all is "Until The Day is Done" which despite all good intentions sounds as if it was written by Richie Sambora with members of The Moody Blues (like a weird, ugly, unwanted child of "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Nights in White Satin").

To make matters worse, the production, by someone whose moniker is "Jacknife Lee", excites about as much as U2's "How To Disable An Atomic Bomb", The Hives' "Black and White Album" and that unimportant Snowpatrol album he worked on, which is to say not at all.

No band shaped my life more than R.E.M. One of the greatest American rock bands of all time. And there are no harsher critics than those who love. So . . .

My favorite R.E.M. albums are Murmur, Automatic, and New Adventures, which to this day remains mystifyingly underrated. I love Up. Reveal to me was a collection of solid songs that was absolutely ruined by over production. I think I side with Peter Buck in my opinion of that album. And Around the Sun took a full solar year to get through, it felt.

With Accelerate the are once again rocking, but as one reviewer put it, brevity isn't to be confused with intensity. Living Well is the Best Revenge and Horse to Water are the best tracks in my opinion, and I also love Mr. Richards. Houston sounded great the first three listens but got old quickly. Sing for the Submarine - sort of a low point on the album. But I'm still praying that R.E.M. will crank out a few more songs equal of my favorites, which always seem to be songs that the radio stations miss:

Half a World Away
Sweetness Follows
Let Me In
Leave
New Test Leper
Lotus
Hairshirt
Swan Swan H

...which is a return to great sounding songs! REM came to this project obviously prepared and proved themselves worthy of praise for this return to form CD. I don't understand the few negative reviews that I've read. I guess you can't please everyone. "Monster is better than this CD"... that comment doesn't hold water. This CD is definitely better than Monster in so many ways. From my ears it's better than any of their CDs since "Automatic for the People". It's a fine listen and totally pleasurable from the start of the opening chord to the last note of the last song. I've played this over and over since it came out and am proud to have it on top of my play list. Big time kudos to REM for such a great recording. Thanks guys!!!!

I have been watching these guys live for 27 years. Through the highs and lows, I always stuck with them. I knew they were among the best rock bands of all time, and I think they are the best live act PERIOD.
This album/tour proves me right. If you love R.E.M. buy this album and go see them if you can.
I bought it, then saw the 6/01 show in Berkeley.I haven't been able to get these songs out of my head!

First of all, I have to say that I love this band. Albums like Murmur, Reckoning, Life's Rich Pageant and Automatic for the People have to put REM in the top ten of late 20th century bands. They created the minor key driven genre that is alternative music today. No REM, no Wilco.

Having said that though, who knew that it all ended for REM with Automatic for the People? Everything these guys have put out since that album has struggled mightily to measure up to their earlier discography.

I do have to admit that Accelerate is a slight step in the right direction however. I'm not going to bother with a song-by-song description of this disc. Other reviewers have done a good job of that and doing so would be an even greater waste of time than listening to this album.