Accelerate - REM album - March 31 2008

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I've only listened all the way through once, and my first impressions were:

- I liked a lot of it

- a lot of the songs could stand to be a minute or so longer, because dudes - you're not The Ramones

- while I don't dislike the last album as much as some other folks, it's nice to hear them rocking out again

- I have a sneaking suspicion the album might not be as good as it seemed to be on first listen; that its energy is masking something ... lack of light? or heart? lacking something, maybe.

But I intend on spending a lot more quality time with it when it's officially out and I have the CD.
 
corianderstem said:
- I have a sneaking suspicion the album might not be as good as it seemed to be on first listen; that its energy is masking something ... lack of light? or heart? lacking something, maybe.

That something is depth. They reach for it on Until and fail miserably, and only hit it on Submarine.

It's a very listenable album, and is better than it's closest relative, which would be Reckoning. But I don't know how anyone could even be thinking something like "is this the album of the year??" its just very slight.
 
lazarus said:

It's a very listenable album, and is better than it's closest relative, which would be Reckoning.

What? :eeklaugh: The two don't sound much like each other at all (plus, the Reckoning bashing is just :tsk: ). Accelerate doesn't sound like 80's REM. It sounds like 00's REM trying to be 80's REM. More modern, but not as catchy. I think it's more similar to Document or Green, actually.
 
Zootlesque said:
I'm. Not. Buckling. to all this talk of the new album! :grumpy: Must. Wait. till April 1. :crack: :scream:

Well they're streaming it legally through facebook/ilike/itunes from tomorow on.
 
with all the press that the new album is getting it seems like their new album will be for REM what ATYCLB was for U2.
 
david said:
with all the press that the new album is getting it seems like their new album will be for REM what ATYCLB was for U2.

Except it lacks a single like Beautiful Day.

I think it'll be more like Chaos And Creation In The Backyard was to Paul McCartney. It'll get them critical respect again, and maybe sell a few more copies than most of their recent albums have.
 
LemonMelon said:


What? :eeklaugh: The two don't sound much like each other at all (plus, the Reckoning bashing is just :tsk: ). Accelerate doesn't sound like 80's REM. It sounds like 00's REM trying to be 80's REM. More modern, but not as catchy. I think it's more similar to Document or Green, actually.


I don't think it SOUNDS particularly like Reckoning (I agree with your sonic description), but I'm pretty sure that's their next shortest album (just under 40 min). And it's also another one that come off a bit slight, despite having a handful of some VERY good songs. It also has a lot of shorter, more up-tempo tracks, which is true of Reckoning. They both go down very easy due to the lack of density, for better or worse.

Document has such a massive imprint, and there's no way in hell Accelerate competes with the wealth of standout tracks on Lifes. Both also have a lot more variety of approach than the new album.
 
There's a very good interview on Pitchfork that went up today. Pretty insightful.

And more explanation of why Around the Sun sucks donkey balls.
 
I've listened to it twice.

I don't really think much of it, to be honest. :shrug:

It's just okay.
 
U2inUtah said:


So they play the EXACT same setlist as SXSW, except adding Losing My Religion.

C'mon R.E.M.! switch things up a little bit. You only have 15 albums worth of back catalogue to choose from

:lol:

At least U2 fans wait till the 3rd show to bitch about setlists. So REM have done 2 similar setlists and they weren't even back to back? Yeah they suck.:|
 
lazarus said:



I don't think it SOUNDS particularly like Reckoning (I agree with your sonic description), but I'm pretty sure that's their next shortest album (just under 40 min).

Actually...

43:48 Murmur
38:47 Reckoning
39:40 Fables Of The Reconstruction
38:16 Lifes Rich Pageant
39:46 Document

:)
 
there's a good article on stipe in the new spin.. if it hasn't already been mentioned in this thread.. but probably has..

anyway.. it's interesting to read about how he felt about the last album.
 
david said:
there's a good article on stipe in the new spin.. if it hasn't already been mentioned in this thread.. but probably has..

anyway.. it's interesting to read about how he felt about the last album.

well... how did he feel about the last album??
 
COLBERT REPORT GUEST APPEARANCE NEXT WEEK!
The band may or may not get the chance to go mano-a-mano with Stephen Colbert, after all, it wouldn't be fair since they outnumber him 3 to 1, but R.E.M. will most certainly be on the CR next Wednesday, April 2nd, the day after the domestic release of ACCELERATE. The Colbert Report airs M-F, 11:30PM ET. Visit The Colbert Report for more information about the show.
 
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