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The End
of R.E.M.
As We Know It?
R.E.M.
Around the Sun (Warner)
by Joe O'Brien
Despite
soundtracking myriad comings-of-age since the mid-80's,
R.E.M. has, over the past several years, grown pervious
to backlash from even the most devoted of fans.
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So much so that the comment board on the
MySpace.com page where the band was kind enough to preview Around
the Sun displays, among scores of "You guys rock!"s,
traces of constructive criticism, ranging from "Make the
next album a rock n' roll album! Play some fast songs!" (-
"Tim") to "R.E.M. is unquestionably my favorite
band of all time...but quit it, guys. Your existence now is as
inexplicable, and yet sadly as understandable as the fact that
Bush will get a second term. Say no to Bush. Say goodbye to R.E.M."
(-"Wade").
Demanding, perhaps harsh words, but
humble opinion be told, the 13th R.E.M. album, or the first Michael
Stipe solo record (Peter Buck and Mike Mills are virtual non-entities
here)- take your pick- is soporific even by post-Bill Berry standards.
It begins strongly enough with "Leaving New York," but
most of the rest trudges through the same heartbreak mixtape territory
with far less memorable results ("Make It All Okay,"
"I Wanted to be Wrong," "High Speed Train").
Only on a handful of tracks do they show additional signs of life:
"Wanderlust" isn't Greatest Hits material, but it'll
keep your foot from falling asleep; "The Ascent of Man"
features a soulful "yeah yeah yeah" refrain; and on
"Final Straw," where personal and political frustrations
entwine ("as I raise my head to broadcast my objection/as
your latest triumph draws the final straw/who died and lifted
you up to perfection?/and what silenced me is written into law"
), the band's quiet anger chills to the bone. But sporadic moments
of inspiration do not a flatlining career resuscitate. While I
wouldn't be so bold as the legacy protectors who wish to bid R.E.M.
farewell, how eagerly I anticipate album 14, should Buck and Mills
feel up to it, remains to be seen.
R.E.M.'s
Rich Pageant
- Discography
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Chronic
Town
(IRS, 1982) |
Murmur
(IRS, 1983) |
Reckoning
(IRS, 1984) |
Fables
of the Reconstruction
(IRS, 1985) |
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Lifes
Rich Pageant
(IRS, 1986) |
Document
(IRS, 1987) |
Green
(Warner, 1988) |
Out
of Time
(Warner, 1991) |
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Automatic
for the People
(Warner, 1992) |
Monster
(Warner, 1994) |
New
Adventures in Hi-Fi
(Warner, 1996) |
Up
(Warner, 1998) |
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Reveal
(Warner, 2001) |
from
Amazon.com |
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