Accelerate Reviews

• The improbable but triumphant return of REM

  
  By A14GK0E64J0WAS on 2008-04-01
  After the last album, 2004's "Around the Sun", I have to admit I had given up on REM as that album marked the lowest and most disappointing point yet in their rich and illustrious career yet. When word came out last year that REM was yet again prepping a new album to be released in 2008, I kinda rolled my eyes. Then a funny thing happened: I heard the first single "Supernatural Superserious" and boy that song just rocked! Now comes the new album.
  
  On "Accelerate" (11 tracks; 35 min.) REM attacks with a vigor not heard since "Monster" and "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" (the last album with original drummer Bill Berry). From the opening sounds of "Living Well's the Best Revenge", REM sounds completely reinvigorated and rejuvenated, and what a joy it is to hear. The album goes from one highlight to the next. The songs are short and to the point, they make their point and move on. Track 4 "Hollow Man" is when you think you'll catch your breath, and you do for about 15 seconds, before that songs also crashes in to your speakers. "Houston" follows and is the only weak track on the album, in my opinion. The second half kicks off with the rousing title track, and we're off to the races again: "Until the Day Is Done" and "Mr Richards" are superb. "Horse to Water" is one of my favorites with an irresistible sing-along chorus of "I'm not that easy/I am not your horse to water/I hold my breath I come around") sing-along, and "I'm Gonna DJ" is a killer track to close this set (with such choice lines of "Death is pretty final/I'm collecting vinyl/I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world"). It truly is remarkable that some how REM has rediscovered its musical focus and muse. Peter Buck's guitar work is among the best he's ever done, Stipe sounds like he's actually enjoying the songs, and Mills' harmonizing back vocals are really great (check out "Living Well", for example, but surely some credit of this resurgence must go to producer Jacknife Lee.
  
  I can't emphasize enough how pleasantly surprised I am by this album, even shocked. I truly didn't think that REM had another great album in them, but I am more than happy to say that I was flat wrong and in my book "Accelerate" brings REM back to relevance, after so many disappointing years. I had the opportunity to see REM headline the Langerado Music Festival in early March in South Florida, and they play a bunch of songs from "Accelerate", and it all sounded fantastic. Welcome back REM, we've missed ya! "Accelerate" is one of the early favorites for top album of the year. Highly recommended!
  
  

• "I've got to fall in another direction..."

  
  By AL277B4AQCWBG on 2008-04-01
  This is it. This really is the one: the killer comeback R.E.M.'s long-suffering original fans have been hoping for since the band detoured into electronic introspection in 1998. Peter Buck's guitars are front and centre, driving the tracks rather than decorating their edges. Mike Mills can finally be heard again on bass and backups. Stipe's vocals are as rich and complex and scathing as ever, but for the first time in a decade he sounds like he believes every word. And finally, at long last, it feels like a human being is manning the drums again. It's exuberant, angry, joyous, wild - everything the last three albums, for all their deep and subtle rewards, were not. Superficially, this feels like the true successor to "New Adventures in Hi-Fi", or what that album itself might have been had the band bunkered down in the studio for a month rather than putting down tracks on the road. But in reality it's better. Ten years of studio-based experimentation and tweaking a new line-up have paid off. Tight, rich and consummately professional, the immediate loose-and-live feel of "Accelerate" is deceptive. This really is an exquisitely crafted album that repays close listening, just as the last three did for those of us who bothered. The crucial difference is that it ultimately feels less studied, less worried-over, less cautious - because it doesn't need to be. The band sound present, engaged, completely confident in their direction and abilities. Best of all, they sound like they're enjoying themselves again. And that joy is irresistible. No matter what your view of the last three albums (I liked them all), you've got nothing to complain about here. This kind of music really is what R.E.M. do best, and they deliver it in spades.
  
  (P.S. Make sure you grab the non-album track "Redhead Walking" from iTunes: a great novelty song and surely destined for a Tarantino film soundtrack.)
  
  

• An Audiophile's Nightmare

  
  By A2FW4TUIR92FUM on 2008-04-08
  I'm not going to comment on the music, save to say that I like it, but I like almost everything that REM performs.
  
  What I DON'T like is the absolutely horrible recording quality of this CD.
  
  Are the people who run the record companies stone deaf ?? Can't they hear the horribly shrill highs ? The distortion ? The CLIPPING ?? Why have they allowed themselves to be sold a bogus bill of goods in order to participate in "The Loudness Wars" ?.
  
  While Springsteen's Magic set the new standard for HORRIBLE audio, ACCELLERATE lags by only a nose.
  
  You're better off taking your ten bucks and flush it straight down the toilet. You might find the gurgling noise much more enjoyable.
  
  I wish I could tell this to Messrs. Buck, Stipe and Mills personally. I know that they've paid much more attention to the sonics in the past. I can't understand how a group of artistic geniuses can release a work that is so obviously sonically inferior.
  
  

• Sample Tracks First

  
  By A2MVI40BB7MGNM on 2008-04-06
  I realize that the reviews for this are mostly quite favorable. Being a big REM fan for many years and seeing the reviews, I purchased Accelerate without hearing a single note. Big mistake. Sample the tracks first. Maybe you'll like it, maybe not - but I may save a few people from the same mistake I made.
  
  Maybe on a big old stereo system (if anyone still has one) this might sound better but on an iPod, where I presume most of you will listen to it, it's just a lot of noise. The sound quality is not good, the songs (if you can call them that) are forgettable. If I could get my money back, I would. One good thing - listening to the CD turned me off from buying concert tickets to REM's current tour. So the $10 I 'wasted' on the CD saved me many times that in the price of the tickets that I didn't buy.
  
  An anxiously awaited CD and one very disappointed fan. FINAL WARNING: SAMPLE THE TRACKS ONLINE BEFORE BUYING THIS CD!
  
  

• Pedal to the Metal! R.E.M. Returns to Form

  
  By A3EE0H0NWQ9QVL on 2008-04-02
  (4.5 *'s) `Accelerate' is R.E.M.'s best effort in ages. Surely meant to put them back in the limelight, the C.D. puts the pedal to the metal and seldom stops to look back. Reminiscent of some of the evocative folk of 'Automatic for the People,' the new songs, draw more from the power of 'Monster (CD + DVD+ A) (Dig)' and the most progressive songs from 'New Adventures in Hi-Fi'. Especially in comparison to 'Monster,' these selections are more fluid and fast-forward than their aforementioned predecessors. The best comparison is to say these songs are their most engaging power pop since `Life's Rich Pageant'.
  
  As usual some of their lyrics are as elusive as their band name suggests, but you don't have to have to go through the printed words with a fine-toothed come, either. For the finger-wagers, they jump-start the album with the worthy "Living Well Is the Best Revenge". Turning the tables on the judgers, Michael Stipe sonorously sings:
  
  "Don't turn your talking points on me./ History will set me free./ The future is ours/ And you don't even rate a footnote."
  
  On "Man-Sized Wreath"* Peter Buck continues his admirable guitar snarl for a song about the tug-of-war between repression and attainment of "carpe diem". (At least that's what I think it means.) Unless the song resonates about believing what is true beyond popular deception--in which case there are plenty of images recalling "Begin the Begin," a theme that resonates often for their post 9/11 R.E.M. observations on the entire C.D.
  
  The best song is the one that debuted early, "Supernatural Superserious," where they find their best groove (and probably their best single) in at least a decade. It is an infectious tune that invites teens (and everyone else) to have the courage to be oneself despite the temptation to be on stage and perform for others. (And speaking of stages, their drummer seems to fit the bill, giving the songs the thrust they've been lacking since the departure of Bill Berry.)
  
  In the slower gears, they still have perfectionist layers with the Tex-Mex folkie-flavored "Houston," a call to hope, and the truly beautiful "Until the Day Is Done," which scotches the pensive beauty of "I Wanted to Be Wrong" from their middle-of-the-road predecessor, 'Around the Sun'.
  
  Not content to simply commiserate about today's crisis, they look to hope in "Sing for the Submarine," probably their most idiosyncratic cut. Using the R.E.M. trademark of dreaming, they resolve to "pick it all up and start again" after fighting against despair ("...This is where you give into the machine/ Lift up your voice, feel gravity's pull,/ And drown out the sirens' ring.) Echoing this theme of enlightened nonconformity is "Mr. Richards," a portrait of populist leader (and a flashback to "World Leader Pretend" from 'Green') who is all bluster and no substance ("Mr. Richard you're forgiven/ For a narrow lack of vision/ But the fires are still raging on.")
  
  R.E.M. has never shied away from social and political commentary, but in a few short songs, they find recourse in love and music. In one of their best propulsive songs since "Departure," "Horse to Water" expresses regrets when desire is tainted by harm. ("You lead a horse to water, and you watch him drown.") No less revealing is "Hollow Man," a confessional about those "loose lips" situations that flatten the spirits in lovers' lives.
  
  Ending the album ably, "I'm Gonna DJ" is another progressive gem that jubilantly speaks of music laying down heaven on earth. Taking some of the vintage ideas and musical motifs in their past, R.E.M. goes "back to the future" and fast-forwards with some of their most accessible music in years. Indeed if 'Accelerate' doesn't take this band back to the top, it is hard to imagine anything else will.
  
  (*At the Sasquatch Festival in George, WA, Michael Stipe introduced the song, telling the audience that the lyric was about his indignation toward President Bush during a recent tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King where he lay a wreath at the grave site of the late civil rights leader. "Begin the Begin" states "tiger run around the tree/Run, turn, and then follow," a line in reference to blind followers of authority (allegedly the late Jerry Falwell), a closer interpretation of "Man-sized Wreath" than "carpe diem".)
  
  
• Not even close to Automatic for the People
  By APY7OCOTH2NCN on 2008-04-05
  Almost all songs on this CD are totally lacking a melody line. Listen to the lyrics - they are mostly mono-tonal. With the exception of Supernatural Superserious, the CD lacks the catchy R.E.M. sound that I was hoping would be recaptured on Accelerate. Also, the recording is not crisp, again, with the exception of Supernatural Superserious. Interesting how it almost sounds like that song was recorded intentionally cleaner, to make for better radio play in anticipation of the debut of the CD, so we would all expect (I did) that this would be the sound and song quality of Accerelerate. Much to my dissapointment, it wasn't.
  
  
• REM Needs a Reconstruction for this Fable.
  By A2AP8ASV1SBGU9 on 2008-04-09
  [...] This is the second cd I bought this week that sounds like the recording mastering was done by monkeys. The other was the Breeders Mountain Battles. Why must good songs be ruined by sound that is unbearable? I find myself listening to this cd very quietly after MUCH EQ fiddling. Its like the cd is daring me to jam out to the amazing songs but when I do I get punished with eardrum shattering distortion. How can some bands let the record companies turn their art into 35 minute sonic crap sandwiches? Man I thought REM would know better. Shame on all the bands and labels lately trying to swindle us with these cost cutting 35 minute recordings and LOUDER is better mastering. REM needs to add a few tracks to this cd and remaster it!
  
  
• PEEE-EW!
  By AULHD4ZW09BM1 on 2008-04-08
  Who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind later, but right now this one stinks like old feet. I typically hate their politics with a burning passion, but like their music. Sorry guys. Not this time.
  
  
• THE ALBUM COVER IS THE ONLY GOOD THING
  By A2CFBGFMU3NMUU on 2008-04-01
  I HEARD THIS ALBUM AND I WAS VERY DISSAPOINTED WITH IT NOTHING NEW AND TO ME IT SOUNDED VERY WEAK, BUT THE ALBUM COVER IS AMAZING
  
  
• Yes Yes Yes!!!
  By AH2798GCYJ4DI on 2008-04-09
  I have been a fan of R.E.M. from their inception and I can't express how happy I am to see them return to their roots. After ending up in the limbo state of Up, Reval, and Around The Sun, they have finally shaken off their introspective experimental chains and returned to what they do best. Every track on thsi album seems to blow back to Monster, one of their best works. But there is no need to compare it to their past works, this is just an amazing album. Welcome back R.E.M.!
  
  
• R.E.M. Reborn Revitalized and totally Relevant(4.5 Stars)
  By ALVU878FV3H7Q on 2008-04-02
  Being counted out is possibly the best thing that could have happened to this band, as 28 years into their illustrious career, when R.E.M. had been relegated to being called a 'great band' in the past tense, the band have come out swinging on Accelerate. NEVER has a band this long in the tooth made such an angry, vital, and totally contemporary and relevant record. This is album is indeed a complete 180 turn from Around the Sun. It clocks in at half the time of the previous record; the drums are FINALLY back and in full force, Peter's guitar is fully plugged in, and Mike Mills' is finally harmonizing again. And lest I forget, Michael Stipe's voice sounds utterly fantastic. Just listen to him 'wow' and 'ow' on Man Sized Wreath and yoyu can tell, Michael's playful sarcasm is in full swing, and he sounds absolutely energized, whereas he sounded tired on the last record.
  
  The songs are short and hit like a ton of bricks. If anyone remembers the anger on The Final Straw from the last record, well this album is like a full album's worth of that song with the amps turned way up and the songs at full speed. Living Well Is The Best Revenge is the best and loudest opener since Whats the Frequency Kenneth or maybe even Finest Worksong. Man-Sized Wreath is an unconventional but totally catchy rocker and Michael sounds absolutely fantastic and pissed off and Mike Mills backing vocals are terrific! 'Supernatural Superserious' sounds like the closest thing to a classic R.E.M single on this record. It may not be the best song here, but it is definitely the most conventionally catchy song to be found here. Hollow Man follows and sounds like a total piano ballad until suddenly, the guitars come in. What a great fake out on the band's part and it sounds like it would be a great single. 'Houston' sounds like it would fit perfectly on Automatic for the people; very folksy...reminds me a lot of Try Not to Breathe musically. "Until The Day Is Done' is another folksy ballad that sounds like it would have been perfect on Automatic...it also sounds a lot like Swan Swan H from Lifes Rich Pageant. Its one of my favorites on the record and if it weren't so openly political, it would make for a great single. 'Horse To Water' is just pure adrenaline and definitely one of the best full on rockers the band has made in a long time. I know it sounds like repetition but its very angry, and definitely a bruiser. Im Gonna DJ is a full on glam stomper that the band played on the last tour. Its a really fun post apocalyptic that not quite as Its the End of the World, but almost as fun and inspired nonetheless and its a perfect closer to the record.
  
  Anyone accusing the band of making this record to satisfy record company execs, would be absolutely wrong. On the contrary, the majority of the songs are so openly political, that Top 40 will not likely touch them at all (if U2 cant get on the radio, R.E.M. wont either). R.E.M. seems to be reaching back into the ire and anger of their indie IRS days, as this sounds more like an updated 'Lifes Rich Pageant' and 'Document' than it does any of their Warner Brothers records (with Monster being the exception) as it rocks aplenty, and it is a very righteously angry album except now the anger is placed in the Bush administration and not the Reagan administration as it was in their indie days. But, rest assured, this is not a nostalgic record. It is definitely firmly placed in the here and now. Also like Lifes Rich Pageant, this album is a solidly good album all the way through, without there necessarily huge singles waiting to be plucked out. There is nary a bad track on here. It is not QUITE classic album in the vein of Murmur or Automatic...but it is indeed a necessary and much needed addition to their discography and their best album since at least New Adventures in Hi Fi. R.E.M. are back and they're coming out swinging!
  
  
  
• All Hail The Return Of Peter Buck!!
  By A3W3YK5Y65E85I on 2008-04-02
  I can't review this album in too much detail as I've only heard it four times all the way through but I agree with most that the album is a return to glory for REM. They recorded great songs on UP and Reveal but neither of those albums felt consistently great. And as for Around The Sun, well, lets just say I honestly felt it was a Michael Stipe solo record. Accelerate is definitely their most energetic album since Green in my opinion. They spent too many years with synths and strings and although I loves me some Automatic For The People, they stayed in that vein for far too long.
  
  What really sets this album apart, though, is the return of Peter Buck and his guitar. I don't know if he forgot he knew how to play one or what but since his over-indulgent use of them on Monster it has been largely absent. This was a sad turn of events as his guitar work always defined pre-Out Of Time REM. Let's hope his guitar stays front and center from this point on because the results are always fantastic.
  
  Favorite tracks so far:
  
  Supernatural Superserious
  Hollow Man
  Until The Day Is Done
  I'm Gonna DJ
  
  
• Much Betterer
  By AKUJAXHLNOX1U on 2008-04-08
  This sounds like an R.E.M. IRS record. Fast and happy instead of that slow and sappy junk they've been putting out over the past 10 years(?) We don't want no "Everybody Hurts" crap. We want "Hollow Man" type stuff. The world needs more happy sounding music and that's what has returned. Lyrics are not necessarily happy like the Springsteen "Magic" CD but the music is clever like Bruce's CD. Last few R.E.M. cd's MUSIC has been lame to me. Their lyrics are never lacking. Pilgrimage to your store and buy this for both the words and the melodies. It's very good.
  
  
• Monstermurmerreckoninggreentimepeoplepageant.
  By A3AL8GQ69QE7WN on 2008-04-19
  I want to make my review of R.E.M.'s new cd "Accelerate" objective. I read the reviews positive and negative here and I agree with all of it. I will be upfront about my views of R.E.M.'s back catalog.
  
  Favorite R.E.M. albums: Murmur, Reckoning, Life's Rich Pageant, Green, Out Of Time, Automatic For The People, Monster.
  
  Least Favorite: New Adventures In Hi-Fi, Up, Fables Of The Reconstruction, Reveal, Around The Sun, Document.
  
  "Accelerate" pro's: It's back to rock and roll and up-tempo songs for the most part. It's mercifully short after the bloated "Around The Sun", "Reveal", "Up" and "New Adventures In Hi-Fi". There are memorable tracks like "Supernatural Superserious", "Houston", "Horse To Water" and "I'm Gonna DJ". "Accelerate" might be seen as the best thing R.E.M. has done since "Monster". Or not.
  
  "Accelerate" con's: The lyrics are not memorable. When you listen to the cd all the way through repeatedly, it becomes noticeably flat and repetitive. There are boring songs here like "Until The Day Is Done", "Mr. Richards" and the worst track on the cd "Sing For The Submarine". And yes, I'm going to say it, the cd packaging sucks. I've never been a big fan of R.E.M.'s album covers, and the artwork on "Accelerate" is awful.
  
  Verdict: I don't see "Accelerate" as better or worse than the much maligned "Around The Sun". You have two different sounds and speeds, but it's a matter of substitution. I am not fooled. "Around The Sun" was more adventurous musically, but it could be argued that it was boring. "Accelerate" is up-tempo and rocking, but I would hardly say it's musically adventurous. Like so many fans have already said, "Accelerate" is nothing new.
  
  I like R.E.M. (I didn't as a kid), and I will probably always buy their cds and like them for what they are. Do I think they should quit? No. Do I think they will surprise us all and try something artistically daring? I don't think so. So I say, just sit back and be glad that Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers R.E.M. are still around because they're still better than most of the junk we have to listen these days.
  
  
• R.E.M. rocks it old school
  By AUZT6RLE3HAXA on 2008-04-01
  R.E.M. rocks it old school
  
  When I first listened to this album, it was like a visit from an old friend. You know how some old friends go away...and you lose touch? Maybe they join a cult, weird church, earth liberation front, political party or whatever. You are not into that stuff, so when they drop by, it is just awkward. You remember the old times, and how cool they used to be...and you feel just a bit sad that your paths diverged so much.
  
  Anyway, that's how I've felt about the last few R.E.M. albums. That is not a comment on the quality of their work - they have always made music from their heart, just like it should be. It is just that it was wildly different from the R.E.M. albums that grabbed me by the ears, shook my booty and screamed "THIS IS WHAT HONEST, HEARTFELT POP-ROCK WITH ETHICS SOUNDS LIKE".
  
  I also remember Peter Buck and Mike Mills visiting me in a dream to suggest that anyone with a guitar and a willingness to play from the heart could make it. And they could do it on their terms - record company execs be damned!! Man I love those guys. Michael and Bill too.
  
  Ok, back the new album. Accelerate.
  
  From the opening riff of the first song, I knew I was going to love it. Each additional song confirmed it. There were no re-hash, pseudo cover versions of old R.E.M. songs. This is new stuff. The magic here is that the songs on Accelerate manage to recall the sound that built R.E.M.'s empire, and yet stand on their own as current, original works.
  
  I can't tell you the specifics of how they did what they did. All I can tell you is that if you followed R.E.M. back in the day, you are going to like this album.
  
  Enjoy.
  
  
• Lifelong REM fan says, "Yeah!"
  By A3S3XWVCO7WT9Y on 2008-04-06
  First of all I need to say that I am not a hater of the late period REM. Though the recent albums haven't been classics, they have featured some of the best songs REM has made. Accelerate reminds me of Lifes Rich Pageant and Fables with a little bit of Automatic mixed in. My favs are Hollow Man, Until the Day is Done and Houston. Great rocking album. Keep it coming guys, you are on a roll.
  
  
• Rapid Guitar Movement
  By AM7VYMZ1UD736 on 2008-04-01
  This has to be the strongest REM album since their drummer quit. They weren't a bad band most of the 90s and early 00s, but they weren't a great one either. It's as if Peter Buck has rejoined the band. Peter getting front and center on the opening track sets the tone and this continues on through this entire exuberant, downright celebratory album.
  
  Stipes got pretty pretentious with his lyrics the last few albums too and his sometimes borderline inane attempts are more tolerable on this one. (I even forgive him another reference to Electron Blue. Enough, Mike...)
  
  I'm sure many fans will see this as a return to greatness of some sort.
  
  This is may be true, but there just doesn't seem, to me, after you get over the shock of them being a rock band again, that many stand out tracks. Hopefully, like their stuff in days gone by, it will grow on me and I will change my mind.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mike & Co step on the gas...
  By A24N1BAS3CU27H on 2008-04-10
  I've followed the music of REM since their first US top 10 single "The one I love", but I really became a fan after the release of their 1994 "Monster" album (with great songs like "Tongue", "What's the frequency Kenneth" and "Crush with eyeliner"). That was about the time I was also getting into The Cranberries, 10,000 Maniacs, and The Smiths, opening my musical palette to include indie music but I digress.
  
  Accelerate (their fourteenth album) is a return of sorts to their earlier sound and like its name, is a full throttle ride of jaggedly energetic songs. The album is produced by Garret Lee, who has also produced albums for a pair of my favourite British indie bands; Editors and Bloc Party.
  
  At just over thirty minutes, the disc cuts right to the chase, with the exception of the epic ballad "Sing for the submarine" which is almost 5 minutes long. There's the sweaty shouty opening rocker "Living well is the best revenge", the sunny yet melancholic lead-off single "Supernatural superserious", the bouncy "Horse to water" (with a rapid-fire vocal delivery and a great chorus), the brief "Houston" (which references what must be the most popular hurricane in music history; Katrina), and the brilliant groovy "I'm gonna DJ" (with great Woo hoos), my favourite!
  
  Title track "Accelerate" does just that, an urgent indie number, while taking inspiration from George Bush (no less) is "Man-sized wreath" (taking a dig at a clumsy stage-managed appearance by Bush at last year's Martin Luther King day celebrations - "A pageantry of empty gestures, all lined up for me" sings Stipe). "Until the day is done" is a jangly acoustic song that reminds me a bit of John Lennon's "Working class hero".
  
  The album has already topped the UK charts (their seventh #1 There) and given them (at #2) their highest charting US album in almost 12 years. A welcome return from Michael Stipe and the lads.
  
  
• Very Disappointing Release
  By A21ONV8QN6T23W on 2008-04-02
  I had high expectations with Accelerate after a four year R.E.M. drought and given the lackluster release "Around the Sun." Certainly, this is more raw than we've seen from the band since "Monster." But this time around, with a few notable exceptions, the material is just not that strong. Melody lines, except for the couple of ballads, are missing in favor of jamming the guitars and bass down our throats. The recording quality is horrible, sounding much like it was recorded in someone's garage using cobbled together equipment vs. state of the art equipment in a decent studio. Perhaps they were trying to go for that 90's grunge vibe with heavy, mushy sounding bass drowning just about everything else out. And clocking in at a paltry 35 minutes?? Not even giving the listener their money's worth to boot. C'mon guys, you can do much better than this.
  
  
• Solid return to what makes REM great
  By A3HWPUNLW214RQ on 2008-04-04
  I, like many, was so thrilled to hear that REM were getting back to making a more straight-ahead rock album featuring guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Stylistically Accelerate takes from Life's Rich Pageant, Document and to some degree Monster. To me nothing will beat the IRS records from Murmur to Document. But Accelerate just sounds so good given their recent 3 releases. REM became one of my all-time favorite bands playing straight ahead rock w/o the atmospheric fluff heard on recent albums. The songs here are played with a sense of urgency.
  
  I'm not going to sit here and write a dissertation on each song. What I will say is that this is the best REM album I've heard since Automatic. I do think it deserves a 5 star. I get excited when I listen to this album. Gives me the feeling I used to get when they put great albums out. I can assure you one thing. Accelerate will win back the fans they've lost since New Adventures In Hi-Fi. Like many great albums it gets better with subsequent listens. I don't think this disc will sit in the dust bins of one's CD collection.
  
  It's great to have REM back making great music again. Thanks to the boys from Athens, GEE AYY.
  
  
• Best REM since Hi-Fi, or maybe Automatic
  By A10ZMA5TT5W67A on 2008-04-07
  If you like early 90's and 80's REM, this CD is the one for you.
  
  I have listened to Accelerate three times in as many days.... each time I listen to it, I like it more.
  Sounds from New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Automatic FTP, and even Fables of The Reconstrucion run through this album. This is a true follow-up to the New Adventures CD.
  Listen to the samples - if you like them, and appreciate REM from the 80's and 90's, you will not be disapointed in purchasing Accelerate.
  
  Interesting is that I can't find a true "single" on this album... no "Stand", or "Man On The Moon" or "End of the World....". Frankly, I like it that way. Hit singles are overrated (though hit singles get downloaded more on I-Tunes...)
  
  
• It's Better Than Good, It's Great
  By A3MYCT48QTO2PW on 2008-04-01
  I woke up extra early this morning just to get this and I was not disapointed it's everything an R.E.M. cd should be. 10 long years I've waited for this. You guys did a great job putting this together. Not that the last three albums weren't good. We've just missed this. Welcome back and best wishes for the future.
  
  
• My new third-favorite R.E.M. album
  By A261RCUL8OTNI3 on 2008-04-01
  Musically, it is very similar to "Monster," which I love. Lyrically, it is much better than "Monster." Michael is FINALLY railing against the U.S. government, as opposed to "Monster" when he was playing characters.
  
  They needed this renaissance because "Around the Sun" is just an unspeakable piece of filth. I listened to it once then I was tempted to throw it away. I will listen to this album in its entirety at least five times TODAY.
  
  Maybe the guys should remember the advice that Bill Berry gave to them when they made "Monster": R.E.M. IS A ROCK BAND-- DON'T BE AFRAID TO MAKE ROCK ALBUMS.
  
  
• The day is not done
  By AL2SDQ24DTPHB on 2008-04-02
  All R.E.M. fans seem to have a phase that they like the most (many in fact, do not like the other stages very much at all). Some favor the band during their I.R.S. days, when they were the smallest big band in America. These people were smallish in number, but obsessive and loyal in nature. They wondered what a "Harborcoat" was and were shocked when the actual lyrics of the song "Fall on Me" were shown in the video.
  
  Then, on a major label and with a wah-wah pedal (or maybe a mandolin) R.E.M. became the rock superstars that everyone knew. The band, as Kurt Cobain said, handled their success like saints, turning down millions to not let their songs be used by Bill Gates, and refused to make the same album twice to cash in on their massive popularity.
  
  Yet, with any success comes a backlash, and with 1994's Monster, many fans of both eras began to drift away. By 1997, with the departure of Bill Berry, the band moved into another era. One that found the band trying to figure out a direction to go which could, somehow, tie everything together on a collective positive level.
  
  Accelerate is the music of a band who has found that path. It will not bring back the Murmur/Reckoning faithful. It will not sell like Out of Time. Perhaps, one day, more music fans will like the studio sounds of the last three records. It is not like those albums either.
  
  What Accelerate is, is R.E.M. phase four music. Alive and vital in 2008. A record that will have its fans and critics, but signifies the beginning of a new era in the bands history. One that by looking forward, also can reach back, where fans of all three groups might find key elements that represent why they became fans to begin with. It also deserves to make its fair share of new ones.
  
  
• Accelerate in reverse...
  By A14J6DZDQHFTLH on 2008-04-08
  In the early 90's, something special happened. For the first time, alternative music would no longer be the alternative. It would become the mainstream. R.E.M. was churning out catchy alternative pop long before anyone heard the names Cobain, Nirvana or Pearl Jam. When the rock world was finally turned upside down, R.E.M. would be noted for their influence on later alternative bands thanks in part to hit songs from their back catalogue and were noted for such recent era hits like Losing My Religion, Shiny Happy People, Man On The Moon and their biggest ballad Everybody Hurts. What's The Frequency, Kenneth? would show they could record songs just as loud and distorted as the bands influenced by them. By the way, Let Me In from 94's Monster was written about Cobain.
  
  It only seemed fitting that the band would slip back into the underground with the loss of Bill Berry retiring and the decline of alternative music after having its peak.
  
  Years later after albums gaining praise from mostly hardcore fans, the band has once again found its stride with their best album since Automatic For The People. The sticker on the shrinkwrap says so.
  
  But is this really true? Is this nothing more than prepaid marketing? The answer is no. R.E.M. has indeed recorded their best album in years. Songs like Mr. Richards, Hollow Man and the lead off single, Supernatural Superserious, are a return to electric with pure pop R.E.M. feel. These songs are a breath of fresh air in an era that has since forgotten what good old fashioned R.E.M. pop has sounded like. Not hard to believe considering the band had departed from their glory, struggling to find their sound without a cofounding member. Seems they finally learned to run without Berry.
  
  I'm Gonna' DJ might be experimental but it still retains that classic R.E.M. forumula that wasn't found on the previous album Around The Sun. This song could have been easily released on 87's break through album, Document (Best known for The One I Love and It's The End Of The World We Know It). Other songs like the title track and Sing For The Submarine revisit the eerie sounds of past albums such as Fables Of The Reconstruction but never lose their integrity with classic R.E.M. nature.
  
  "He's alive he's alive" shouts Stipe on the lead off single. As is the traditional sound of the band on this record. Welcome back, boys
  
  
• After a long hiatus, R.E.M. is back and rocking
  By A3T5ES5LR4DIVM on 2008-04-03
  Every artist needs a little time away from the spotlight so they can take a breath and prepare themselves to make a great and worthy comeback. This is what these three fine young men from Athens, GA did and the final product they delivered after a hiatus of four years couldn't be better. "Accelerate" is a subtle mix of old school R.E.M. from the IRS years to the mainstream appeal from Warner Bros. years. The CD-only version is relatively short (running 35 minutes or so only) and has great tunes. Michael's singing style is more passionate than ever. The band still plays consistently and vigorously. This is a top release for the Alternative Rock genre this year. Yes, they're mainstream for a while, but still makes alternative sound. Thanks God.
  
  
• Return to greatness
  By A24HL01HZEHEYE on 2008-04-01
  The sound of a band having fun and making an album from their gut and not their head. All the turgid, plodding chamber-pop of the past few albums has boiled off and given way to 35 minutes of greatness. Yes, you will hear the sounds of REM form 20 years ago in here, but that does not mean that this is a re-tread of the past -- it is the sound of a band older but wiser enough to know when to let it all go and trust in themselves to make a great album.
  
  
• They sound young again
  By A2W7WUVO0JA6LL on 2008-04-01
  So Michael Stipe is 48 years old? Doesnt sound like it here. And Mike Mills and Peter Buck both sound excited to be in a ROCK band again. Being beaten over the head with guitars has rarely felt this good. Sure, Stipe still tends to get a little preachy about politics, but that is who he is and at least he is fervently honest. He doesnt pick up a cause just because its cool.
  The entire album spits anger and dismay about where we are and occasionally suggests where we need to be. The grinding and infectious rocker that opens the album, "Living well Is the Best Revenge" sounds better than anything off of Monster. "Until The Day is Done" is a brooding and pensive acoustic number that ranks up there with "Breathe" and "Drive" off of "Automatic for the People". "Hollow Man" alternates between a slow, keyboard driven pace and more anthemic, guitar driven choruses and features some of Stipe's best vocals.
  My only complaint is that many of the songs are short (5 are under 3 minutes). The last song...I'm Gonna DJ...features a sarcastic look at the end similar to "Its The End of the World As We Know It" only a tad more angry. This song is one of the shorter numbers that I wish was about a minute longer...but maybe thats the point.
  Overall, I think there a few REM cd's better than this one: Murmur, Automatic, Reckoning, Fables, and MAYBE Green. I also think New Adventures in HiFi had more good songs than people give it credit for. Accelerate is a very good CD but Im not sure if it will be considered an REM classic..we will need about a year to figure that out. But 2008 so far has given us a lot of great music releases from bands we still need to hear from, and this is no exception.
  
  
• Probably the most pleasant surprise of the year
  By AZKXH0J59TK11 on 2008-04-02
  Forgive me if, at first, I just didn't buy the hype surrounding R.E.M.'s latest studio album, "Accelerate", as a return to form. I remember when "Around the Sun" came out hearing pre-release murmurs that it was the rightful successor to their 1992 "Automatic for the People".
  Well, as I'm sure everyone remembers who heard it, "Around the Sun" was no "Automatic for the People", and was the record that made it look like R.E.M. was officially done as a new musical recording act. "Up" and "Reveal" were forced but featured a few nice moments, but "Around the Sun" was boring and listless, drifitng in and out of the speakers without much consequence. I figured that R.E.M. would continue to release lackluster records while playing fairly stellar shows of their older material and that would be that.
  Well, I was wrong. I can admit it. "Accelerate", the bands first studio LP since "Around the Sun", is, like many have claimed, the strongest R.E.M. album in over a decade, a raw, fun blast of guitar rock that the band perfected in the eighties.
  To find a record closest in the R.E.M. catalog to compare this record too I would have to go with "Monster", only conisistant. This record rocks harder and faster than the bands I.R.S. catalog, even if it sadly lacks the mystique that made those records so great.
  Both Peter Buck and Mike Mills, the groups guitarist and bassist respectivly, seem relieved to be back in rock territory, and the riffs and bass lines are all strong and melodic, a mix of sixties jangle pop played with the vigor of a punk band. Mills also offers many stong counter melody points vocally, which is nice to hear as those have been sadly lacking on the last few records.
  On songs like "Living Well Is The Best Revenge", "Supernatural Superserious", "Sing for the Submarines" and the records stand out track "I'm Gonna DJ", the band pulls out all the stops musically, and the extra heft provided by the groups live band, playing as the backing section on the record, gives the record an immediacy that is appealing and nice to hear.
  In fact, musically, the record only falters on "Houston", which feels like a better experiment from the last few records, but is the only song on the album that lacks a strong, consistant melody.
  Michael Stipe has now officially become a great singer (on the first few records he was a great mumbler, and it was fantastic!), but lyrically he continues to falter a little. Stipe was more interesting when he was being vague and less open, and though "Accelerate" is less lifeless than the last few records R.E.M. lyrically, I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the more oblique Michael Stipe.
  But that's more of a personal problem than a problem with the record. "Accelerate" is the best R.E.M. record since "New Adventures", and their most consistant since "Automatic". It reminds that R.E.M. where once a great rock and roll band.
  And, if this record is any indication, they will be again.
  
  
• Awesome tunes, easy download, NO DRM , I LIKE IT
  By A28HUBMSCXVQW0 on 2008-04-03
  WHAT A GREAT ALBUM, THANK YOU REM. I was about to give up on the recording industry. I thought that I would be stuck with my 80's music (which turns out is timeless and still great) but this is really fresh, powerful, and the best new stuff I've heard in a while. And, the DRM-free download from Amazon was a snap. Amazon is my new number one stop for music. 5 stars REM and Amazon. (NO, I don't work for Amazon)
  
  

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