sorry, I should be posting something about U2!
But check out the review for the New REM album!.
REM, Around the Sun
(Warner)
Dorian Lynskey
Friday October 1, 2004
The Guardian
two out of five
Talk about false dawns. The warm reviews and huge sales that greeted last year's greatest hits album suggested that REM were due a triumphant comeback, as did the strong singles Bad Day and Animal and their bold return to the political fray. But it's impossible to square those good omens with Around the Sun's subdued AOR. The CD cover, portraying a blurry, indistinct Stipe, Buck and Mills, turns out to be an all-too-accurate reflection of the music. The best songs are those you may have already heard: the stately swell and longing harmonies of the single, Leaving New York, and the cold, polemical fury of the internet-previewed Final Straw ("Who died and lifted you up to perfection?").
The rest is merely lifeless, as if the air had been sucked from the band's lungs. The creative torpor even infects guest star Q-Tip, who has never performed a worse rap than the one that limps through the closing bars of The Outsiders. At least commercial failures like New Adventures in Hi-Fi took intriguing risks, but Around the Sun is REM's first truly redundant album.
But check out the review for the New REM album!.
REM, Around the Sun
(Warner)
Dorian Lynskey
Friday October 1, 2004
The Guardian
two out of five
Talk about false dawns. The warm reviews and huge sales that greeted last year's greatest hits album suggested that REM were due a triumphant comeback, as did the strong singles Bad Day and Animal and their bold return to the political fray. But it's impossible to square those good omens with Around the Sun's subdued AOR. The CD cover, portraying a blurry, indistinct Stipe, Buck and Mills, turns out to be an all-too-accurate reflection of the music. The best songs are those you may have already heard: the stately swell and longing harmonies of the single, Leaving New York, and the cold, polemical fury of the internet-previewed Final Straw ("Who died and lifted you up to perfection?").
The rest is merely lifeless, as if the air had been sucked from the band's lungs. The creative torpor even infects guest star Q-Tip, who has never performed a worse rap than the one that limps through the closing bars of The Outsiders. At least commercial failures like New Adventures in Hi-Fi took intriguing risks, but Around the Sun is REM's first truly redundant album.
