R.E.M - Accelerate (Warner)
3/5
By: Michael Cragg
It's a story of a band in supposed creative decline that must be overly familiar by now. U2 alone have been written off enough times to make any new album 'their best in years', and so it is with R.E.M. But how did we get here?
Following the departure of drummer and founder-member Bill Berry in 1997, R.E.M were faced with the decision of whether to continue as a three-piece or go their separate ways, safe in the knowledge that they'd crafted some of the best albums of the eighties and early nineties. In 1998, the three remaining members released Up, a difficult, tetchy album of experimental songs obsessed with sleep and dreams. It was an experiment that saw them shed millions of casual listeners and signalled their slow decline. Yet there are moments on Up and even on its successor, 2001's Reveal, that stand up alongside their best work, most notably the gorgeous 'Daysleeper', the Beach Boys-esque 'At My Most Beautiful' and the lush 'Beat A Drum'.
When Around The Sun came out in 2004, however, the signs were clear that the band were in a creative slump, and rumours circulated that the general public's inertia towards the album was matched by that of the band themselves. Unlike the previous two albums there were no redeeming features; musically the songs were flaccid and limp, whilst the political lyrics came across as obvious and trite.
And so, as with U2 and the rejuvenating (and somewhat retrogressive) All That You Can't Leave Behind, R.E.M have returned to what they know with Accelerate. The most obvious change you notice as 'Living Well Is The Best Revenge' kicks in is that they've rediscovered guitars, with Peter Buck's crunching riffs high in the mix. In fact, for all the talk of a rediscovering of their early eighties pomp (albums like Murmur and Lifes Rich Pageant), Accelerate most resembles 1994's Monster, all rattling bass, big riffs and oblique lyrics.
Unlike Monster, however, it lacks any real moments of beauty. There's nothing to rival that album's 'Strange Currencies' or 'Tongue', for example, and though 'Houston' is suitably maudlin and 'Sing For The Submarine' is a brilliant slow-burner, there is the sense that they've been too eager to erase the experimentation altogether. Each song speeds along with the vigour and energy of a band half their age but you can't help feel that it's all for show, like 'look at us, we can still rock with the best of them'. And to be fair to them, they definitely have their moments; 'Man-Sized Wreath' is a brilliant storm of guitars with Stipe spouting lyrics like "Nature abhors a vacuum/ But what's between your ears", whilst 'Hollow Man' could have fit nicely onto 1991's peak Automatic For The People.
Elsewhere, they seem to play it safe with songs like the politically minded 'Mr Richards' and the ambling title track, whilst 'Horse To Water' is as close to punk as they may ever get (it sounded fun to record at least). However, this being R.E.M they sabotage things with the closing 'I'm Gonna DJ', the kind of track that you hope is some kind of in-joke, because if not, then things have gotten really bad. It's a horrible mix of glam, stadium rock and McFly that is only helped by the fact that it's only two minutes long. It's a shame to end proceedings in this way, especially as Accelerate is a very serviceable if unspectacular R.E.M album up to that point. In looking back to what made them great in the past they seem to have simply created one of those paint-by-numbers books, the gaps have all been filled in nicely, but it feels a bit forced.
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