Music : Accelerate

Rating: - Thin and Noisy
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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Rating: - REM is Back! ACCELERATING FULL THROTTLE
What a resounding jaunt back to relevance for my absolute favorite band on the planet... I own all of their albums, and DID like even their recent albums (albeit Around the Sun was definitely stretching my "love" thin) but this album goes right up with the greats of the 80's... Most importantly the VITALITY is back. After years of straying from that core energy playing "eloqeuntly" arranged studio works this album ROCKS out like yesteryear tracks of FOTR or LRP... I saw them at UC Berkeley's Greek theater last month and that was the best show i've ever seen. Way better than when I saw them at Anaheim >10yrs ago... as they write on the album-- "you cannot resist, you cannot resist"

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Rating: - The sidewinder stopped sleeping...
As a fan since they played dives in Athens, GA, I'll argue there are three distinct rems. The first incarnation put out three hauntingly good albums (chronic town, murmur and reckoning) that reshaped alternative music. The next incarnation discovered the power of the studio and put out well crafted pop albums with a social conscience. Then, the third incarnation put out intelligent experiments in sound that, oddly, lacked any soul and lacked a lot of listeners as well. This latest album moves back into the realm of relevance by moving back in time to rem's second incarnation - mid to up tempo rock tunes with Peter Buck's confident guitar leading the way.

It's good stuff. Not great stuff, but good stuff that's worth a listen. It might help them convert a new legion of fans. As for me, I'll still crave those rough around the edges albums where the lyrics were buried beneath a jangly guitar played as fast as possible. Sure, this is good, but can anything here touch the exuberance of wolves, lower or the beauty of camera. Not in my book.

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Rating: - Worth the Time
I had just about given up hope that REM had one more good CD in them. Then I heard this. If you enjoyed early REM run out and get this tomorrow. I realize this didn't get much radio airplay, but then again what good music does these days???

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Rating: - Shockingly Bad
I absolutely love the entire REM catalogue. For me, even Around The Sun had it's moments. I'm sad to say that REM finally sold out. How could such a creative band have enlisted the same person behind U2's How To Dismantle An Atom Bomb to work on this effort? Don't believe the critical acclaim...It's all hype!