They're turning a 34-minute album into a double LP? Ugh.

A double 180G album - the Humvee of vinyl.

Not exactly what I call being eco-friendly, Mr. Stipe.

So is this the last album they owe Warner Bros. on that $80 million contract?

They signed a five album deal in 1996. So what is that, record wise? NAIHF, Up, Reveal, GH, ATS, Live, this? They must have re-upped or the "five album" part meant studio records did not include the live and best-ofs. Either way, that contract has to be over.

unless the contract didn't include Hi-Fi, i think this is #5, usually live & best ofs albums are seperate

I'm not sure if the deal was before or after "New Adventures." And I think it was for studio albums only. Unless their sales in Europe and Latin America are really that good, Warner would have dropped them already if the contract was over.


I wonder if the guys knew it was all over after Berry quit, but just forged on to fulfill the contract and collect their money.

Deal did not include Hi Fi or live albums. They have one more left.

If they break up after the next one, we'll know they were hanging around for the contract.

They'll probably get dropped by Warner and try the In Rainbows model for one album.

I found this nice article by Dero from back in 1996 - looking forward to his thoughts on the new one:
http://www.jimdero.com/OtherWritings/Other%20R.E.M..htm

34 Minutes of the "loud", "ripping", "juiced up"* Accelerate, broken down:

12+ Minutes (Houston, Until the Day is Done, Sing for the Submarine, half of Hollow Man) = Slow acoustic numbers easily slotted in and akin to the last two records.

5 Minutes (Man-Sized Wreath, I'm Gonna DJ) = silly, treated, make-you-feel-kinda-embarrassed-for-Stipe alt-rock easily slotted in and akin to Monster.

Obvious math: That's 1/2 of the record.

Actual "loud" and "ripping" songs: Living Well, Horse To Water. (5.5 minutes)

I call bullshit.



* To quote Rolling Stone, Mojo, Stereogum, etc.

You've cracked the code.

"Man Sized Wreath" is saved by Mills to a huge extent.

[quote name='54cermak' date='Mar 16 2008, 12:23 PM' post='607167']
Deal did not include Hi Fi or live albums. They have one more left.


This is correct. The deal started with Up.

I agree with Brent D that this not a Monster-style rock album--I'm glad its not. The reaction (and I admit my own reaction when I heard six songs three days ago) is partly due to Accelerate being more energetic and less keyboard- and acoustic-based than many songs in the last 10 years. For instance, even though "Hollow Man" is only partly a rock song, it rocks more than most anything on the last three studio releases.

After hearing the whole album, I think that, while it doesn't rank with their best stuff, it's still a good addition to their catalog.

three tracks in and I already want to talk about it.

"Living Well" is almost good enough to fit in comfortably on Pageant. Definitely a "These Days"/"Just a Touch" style rock song, and Stipe kills it.

like I said, "Man Sized Wreath" isn't that fantastic on its own but it's the best bassline Mills has come up with in a long time.

"SS" still sucks.

so much apologizing going on in this thread already.

doesn't bode well for this album long-term.

Its a shame the SOMB wasnt around in 85.
We'd have a record of everyone complaining about what a letdown Fables was.

[quote name='Sickpup' date='Mar 16 2008, 02:09 PM' post='607208']
so much apologizing going on in this thread already.



By who?

You're joking ...




k

everyone.

"well, what do you all really expect?"

"it's a solid little rock album."

"a worthy entry in their catalog."

these are not encouraging statements. they're all basically euphemisms for a letdown.

The response to Accelerate on this board has been pretty positive, I would say. Does everyone love it? No, but who expected that? And when has ever happened? Most who have chimed in have said they like it.

So how many people would give this record a score above 7.3 say?

Because I can listen to at least five records better than that came out this week or an old, good album by R.E.M.

Not everyone has loved it, as I said, but here are a few of the many positive responses I saw over the past few pages:


Registered Bitch: "It's a damn good album."
Sid Hartha: "I like it."
Pookie: "Their best since Hi-Fi."
Sam: "really good"
Chrono: "why is this so out-of-left-field unexpectedly awesome?"
54cermak: "really solid"
Dark Heat: "this is just a pretty damn good record"
Elia Isquire: "really like it"

I'm the one who said it was a good addition to their catalog and I was in no way letdown. It was actually better than I expected. I, like many, believe R.E.M. hit the skids over the past few years. Accelerate is a solid album, I think, by a band some of us probably never thought would make a good album again.

Edit: to answer Mitchell: I'd give it an 8/10.

8/10

whatevs. only three tracks in here, too.

gotta say so far this is way more exciting than ATS. i wasn't even compelled at all in the first three songs there.

yes, Mills on "wreath" is fucking good, and nice to hear his background vox.

so weird how people make judgments like this, even half-joking

if you have any sort of desire to listen to this album, it's here, it's free, turn it off after 15 minutes if you want. It's not like you have to sacrifice listening to other albums to hear this one

yeah, overall i like this album a whole lot. more than i've initially liked any R.E.M. since Hi Fi, that's for sure.

the flow of this album is really great and no songs overstay their welcome, if that makes any sense.


whats the deal on the vinyl release of it?

Listened to the whole thing 3 times now and its not showing any wear and tear. If anything, a song like "Accelerate" is actually growing on me more.

"Living Well..." -- Great opener. Whoever compared it to "These Days" is pretty spot on. I'm going to reserve more judgement until I play it really loud on the way to work tomorrow morning.

"Man Sized Wreath" -- This one has been the most likely to get stuck in my head this weekend. Great melodies. Stipe's lyrics are pretty forgettable, but Mills sounds as good here as he has since Out of Time. I really like how at the end he keeps singing after the song is over. Nice touch.

"Supernatural" -- I've listened to this song so much in the last month, I'm inclined to skip it on the album now. Mills really saves this one too, but honestly this is in the bottom third of the album.

"Hollow Man" -- Strong pop song, with great dynamics and harmonies. Most singable chorus on the album. Rave up at the end sounds as loose as these guys have been since the IRS days.

"Houston" -- Great Hammond organ here, a nice AFTP style mood piece. Very short, seems almost unfinished, could have used another verse or a solo or something.

"Accelerate" -- Thought this was pretty weak on the Dublin shows and at SXSW, but its growing on me quite a bit. Buck proves his rhythm guitar chops throughout, and Rieflin's drumming is propulsive.

"Until the Day is Done" -- Not bad in the context of the record, though I doubt I'll be wanting to hear this on its own anytime soon. Every REM album has one song where it sounds like they are trying to write in the style of REM and this is the one on here.

"Mr Richards" -- I've already written about this elsewhere in the thread but this is my favorite tune on the album. Stands with their best work. I really love some of the production flourishes on here (toy? piano, backwards guitar). The chord progression is an odd one for Buck and it sounds awesome. Stipe has the same urgency in his voice that he did on LRP and Document. Rieflin really channels Bill Berry here; driving, taut percussion.

"Sing For the Submarine" -- Not really making a lasting impression with me yet. Alot was said about Buck's solo on this song being awesome, but I don't really see it yet.

"Horse to Water" -- I don't think there's anything in the catalog to compare this too. Have they ever sounded so pissed off? The compression of the production is bothersome on some songs, but really works here. Sounds like you're standing underneath a jet taking off.

"I'm Gonna DJ" -- Ah yes, the controversial number. Really does sound better in studio than live. Stipe's lyrics are awful, but Mills saves the day again with his "woo-hoos". If the album wasnt so short it wouldn't seem like such a disappointment for it to end here, but oh well. I applaud anyone taking a stand against the 78 minute album.


If I was at Pitchfork I'd give this about 7.7-8.1. Right now if I were ranking my favorite 2008 albums I'd probably have this around 3-4. If I were ranking REM albums, this is squarely in the lower middle. Better than ATS, Reveal, Monster, and Out of Time, maybe a few others depending on the day.

This album was considered a big letdown at the time. The band had disowned it for a long time.

Hey Montanna JR why don't you listen to the album instead of just trolling? Just an idea.

That's almost exactly what I would score it after a second listen (though I probably would've said 7.5, just because I'll allow half points, but anything after that...)

The first half in wonder (I like "SS", despite seemingly the overwhelming majority). I think it loses some points for kind of getting a little boring in the back end (though "Horse To Water" is pretty neat), and loses a lot of points for "I'm Gonna DJ", which is the worst song of their catalog.

So yeah, the vinyl is $30. Two discs that play at 45 RPM (which I thought was sposed to lower sound quality but whatev)
Already pre-ordered mine. The fucker better have some elaborate packaging for $30

If REM was cool, they'd put it out standard-issue - nothing fancy - for $12. I would buy that.

BTW: 45RPM > 33. Faster speed = higher velocity = higher resolution. It uses up more space per minute, naturally, which is why it's spanned over two disks. Still, it's a horrible waste of vinyl and money. I'm sick of being marketed to this way.

No! Faster=better sound quality! At least it is if they keep the side under 10 minutes or so. I have a bunch of 12" singles from the late 70's/early 80's that sound loud and throbbing and fantastic. Of course, being the post-punk fanatic that I was/am, a lot of it was loud and throbbing to start, regardless of the medium. You haven't lived until you've heard Joy Division's "Transmission"/"Novelty" on vinyl. So yeah, 12", 45 rpm vinyl is awesome.

I have some things to say about this here R.E.M. album. As soon as my body assimilates my dinnertime alcohol consumption, I hope to chime in.

Let's be real: They lowered the bar so low that anything remotely encouraging is going to get them more press than they deserve at this stage in their career. Berry leaving is when they should have packed it in.

Nice job!! "Mr Richards" is a really cool track and you're right: Rieflin sounds great on this song. The drumming sounds sooo much better on Accelerate than any of their last three. Overall, I'd give the album just above an eight, though I agree with you it's still in the middle to lower section in their catalog. It places 10th for me, though obviously it could go up or down with more listens.

Lifes Rich Pageant
Automatic for the People
Murmur
Reckoning
Chronic Town
New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Document
Fables of the Reconstruction
Green
Accelerate
Out of Time
Dead Letter Office
Up
Monster
Reveal
Around the Sun

I've probably said each of these things since yesterday, but at least coming from my personal stance, they're in no way euphamism for a let down. I can say very confidently that this is their best record in 12 years. Does that mean it ranks as a classic, up there with Murmur? No. But that doesn't mean I'm let down by it in any sense.

no, it just means you've lowered your expectations, which is even worse.

listening to REM in 2008 is like watching Michael Jordan play for the Washington Wizards.

I've listened to Accelerate five times and I'm very impressed. "Living Well is the Best Revenge" is great, so is "Mr. Richards" and "Horse to Water." Like "Hollow Man" a lot too. It's great that they're making good music again!

dl'ing this and the new counting crows.
my 1990's self is stoked.
my 2008 self is kinda scared.

So you're telling me that I should still expect a classic like Lifes Rich Pageant? Why? It isn't going to happen. R.E.M. can poop out turds like Around The Sun for the next 50 years, and it isn't going to change the fact that the 5 records they put out for IRS make up my favorite run by any band, ever. Not to mention Automatic For The People and Hi Fi. Their legacy is set in stone. They're old now. They lost the magic they had with Berry. But they haven't packed it in, and I'm happy that they've made a record that I've listened to 8 times in the past 36 hours, and enjoyed more with each spin. If that's not enough for you, I don't know.

Montana > Sickpup

;

What, I thought you were waiting for the proper release? Tempting me to cave.

Coming off Monster, probably not. At the time, Monster was clearly their worst record. The bar has been lowered to the point that it's now retroactively seen as a pleasure.

It's a little depressing to go from "the best album run of all time" to "I can listen to it, unforced, a handful of times upon release." There's too much music in the world to expect anyone but the most diehard to give that kind of time to a merely "enjoyable" album.

How many artists are really trying to win converts 30 years in?

How many great bands have packed it up before they even get to that point? Why not "try"? They're not trying to win converts? Isn't that the point?

It's obvious that they're at least trying to win back old fans that gave up on them.

I think you really miss the boat if you think that an R.E.M. album like Hi-Fi is going to be immediately accessible. It's the most definitive evidence I have in my lifetime of listening to music that many albums take multiple listens before revealing their magnificence. Was thoroughly unimpressed upon the first few listens of Hi-Fi but steadily started to notice a handful of standout tracks. More than 10 years later, I can say that my favorite tracks from that first few months of listening have been replaced and then gone back to many times, so that all but a few songs on the record have at various times been my favorite tracks. Nobody will ever convince me that the greatest albums of all time are ones that you knew were the greatest upon the first few listens.

Other than ATS, I don't think any of the post-Berry albums are so bad that they actually do much to tarnish the band's legacy particularly vis a vis other bands of their stature and vintage.

From Chronic Town to Hi Fi, 10 albums, 1 EP, 14 years and the only real clunker in the bunch was Monster (which still has at least 2 of their best songs on it) and maybe Out of Time, if you want to be hyper critical about it (though most of the bands celebrated on this board will be lucky to release an album as good as Out of Time in their careers). Who else had this kind of run?

Its not thay they aren't trying, but they've earned the right to explore different paths and fall flat on their face every once in a while and make music for themselves as opposed to trying to get bigger and bigger. Would you tell Neil Young to hang it up after Rust Never Sleeps?

Personally, this album is beyond merely "enjoyable" for me. I don't see how it doesn't end up in my top 10. But my history with this band goes back to when I was 10 years old, there's no way I can be objective about it and hear it with unbiased ears.

This album reminds me of the previous new ones by U2 and Bruce. It's quality music, well-played, well-produced, professional, smooth, and ultimately, boring and disposable. It's the sound of rich, older musicians who would like to remain relevant but have completely lost their hunger and sense of urgency. It's not a bad album, but it doesn't do anything new or interesting.

So great seeing people post ejaculatory reviews after listening to it for 15 minutes.