Accelerate: The New R.E.M. Album
Review of the 2008 Release from Michael Stipe and Co.
After the relative disappointment of R.E.M.'s last release, 2004's 'Around The Sun', the American trio have hit a fantastic return to form with 2008's 'Accelerate'.
The album bursts to life with "Living Well is the Best Revenge," a thunderous opener to a storming album. From the off, the clang of Peter Buck's guitar is met by a vociferous Michael Stipe. The trio seem to have a point to prove, and waste no time in doing so. This tone is carried on with "Man-Sized Wreath" and the radio-friendly "Supernatural Serious," the latter being the first single to be taken from the album.
Return to Form
The placing of these three tracks at the beginning of Accelerate cleverly ensures listeners that this is an album quintessentially R.E.M., everything that Around The Sun failed to be. The difference here, that has been so severely lacking, is that R.E.M. sound as though they mean business, for perhaps the first time in the post-Berry years. Indeed, it is the most "rock" we have heard the American band since 1994's Monster.
The album takes a more mellow turn with "Until the Day is Done" and on "Hollow Man", where Stipe remorsefully contemplates, "I took the prize last night for complicatedness, for saying things I didn't mean and don't believe". The title track, the breakneck "Accelerate" illuminates perhaps better than the rest of the album, the inspired individuality that R.E.M. are capable of bringing to their music. Whereas the album closer, "I'm Gonna Dj" is reminiscent of their hit "It's the End of the World As We Know It", with a contemporary kick. The cryptic lyrics we can now expect from R.E.M. are ever-present.
A Modern R.E.M., While Retaining Their Signature Sound
The record offers up a collection of tracks fused with ringing guitar riffs and brash undertones of bass. Michael Stipe sounds better than he has done in years. There is a renewed vigour in the lead singer's vocal, complemented by the unmistakable harmonizing of Mike Mills. Their 14th studio album, Accelerate is R.E.M.'s strongest record since their melancholic masterpiece, 1992's Automatic for the People. It is a reminder of why they were considered to be one of the most talented alternative rock bands on the scene in the post-punk era, talent which even die-hard fans might have been forgiven for thinking was firmly rooted in the past..
As reported on 13 March 2008 by Claudine Beaumont for Telegraph.co.uk, Michael Stipe has said of the album, "We wanted to do something super-fast and super-real. Accelerate is our turbo-charged response to the times we live in." And they have succeeded. While not quite breaking new ground in the genre, everything about Accelerate is current, new, whilst avoiding cliche. It is sure to be one of this year's best releases; the most ambitious, relevant rock album since the White Stripes' Elephant.
