Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0093624988588
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
Number Of Discs: 1
Packaged Height: 54 hundredths-inches
Packaged Length: 555 hundredths-inches
Packaged Weight: 18 hundredths-pounds
Packaged Width: 497 hundredths-inches
Publisher: Warner Bros / Wea
Release Date: 2008-04-01
Studio: Warner Bros / Wea
Product Description:
In the decade since the departure of drummer Bill Berry, R.E.M. could seem at times schizophrenic. Their albums of the era, which veered from the experimentalism of Up and reaffirmation of Reveal to 2004's more diffuse, reflective Around the Sun, often stood in stark contrast to the vibrancy of their live act. But here the alt-rock godfathers have resolved that dichotomy with their most focused and satisfying album in over a decade; a collection that doesn't so much revisit the bracing ethos of the band's '80s coming-of-age, as boil it down to its essence and supercharge it with the energy of their contemporary stage shows. That sensibility is evident from the opening track, "Living Well's the Best Revenge," where Peter Buck's aggressive, distortion-drenched riffs and Michael Stipe's gruff snarl set the tone for "Mansized Wreath," "Horse to Water," and "Supernatural Serious"; rockers that bristle with the abandonment and aggressive energy of a band half their tenure. Yet it's no mere blast-from-the-past. The inclusion of the band's recent touring musicians (Scott McCaughey on second guitar and drummer Bill Rieflin) into the session mix, as well as working out much of the material live onstage in Dublin, has yielded something more sonically akin to R.E.M. 2.2. Stipe's penchant for the lyrically opaque has been largely supplanted by an edgy, articulate passion that variously explores "Houston'"s displaced Katrina refugees, the bluegrass-tinged "Until the Day is Done," and the more typical, quiet self-examination of "Hollow Man," before exploding in the album's unlikely, upbeat elegy "I'm Gonna DJ," where singer and band find renewed hope in not only music, but themselves. --Jerry McCulley
Customer Reviews:
3 of 9 customers found the following review helpful:
 Thin and Noisy, 2008-06-29
There is certainly a lot of clamor being made over this clamorous wreck of a record. R.E.M may very well be the best American band thus far but not by the merits of Accelerate. This album has no texture and no depth. If, as touted, it is a return to roots it went too far, i.e. back to the formative Athen's basement years too far. But that does not even seem to be the case because though the earliest albums might have been unintelligible they were not unintelligent. And this one is as dumb as a bag of hammers. So all the claims of "back to form" are nonsense. Accelerate is simply the new millennium's "Monster" and simply an obstreperous and cantankerous dud.
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