Almost every album released by a veteran band gets hailed as "a return to form." Well on Accelerate, R.E.M. lives up to the hype.The album kicks off with a fuzzy, Peter Buck guitar riff before Michael Stipe launches into assault style vocals. The intensity continues through the next two tracks. "Supernatural Superserious" is one of R.E.M.'s catchiest songs in years. It has a great verse riff, an infectious chorus melody and nice background vocals by Mike Mills.
"Houston" and "Until the Day Is Done" harken back to the acoustic sounds of R.E.M. on Automatic For the People.
"Accelerate" and "Sing For the Submarines" is a darker sound for the band. The guitar riffs are droney and more dissonant. "Accelerate" has an apocalyptic vibe. It could easily be used in a movie trailer for an "end of the world" type movie.
The album ends with two barn burners that are downright punkish. "Horse To Water" and "I'm Gonna DJ" rock from beginning to end and both clock-in at just over 2 minutes.
Accelerate is R.E.M. at their best. They've returned to their roots as a guitar driven band and regained the youthful energy that their early records had. After a few meandering records, R.E.M. is back.
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We finally have R.E.M. ticket info. The show at Walnut Creek with Modest Mouse and The National will go on sale this Friday (April 4) at 10AM. Tickets will range from $69 to $29.
1 comment:
I'm really loving this album. It reminds me a bit of Green and New Adventures in HiFi. I think this is their best album since Up. The last two albums(Reveal and Around the Sun) had some decent singles but didn't hold together well as albums.
So glad tickets are finally on sale!
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