SOUNDTRACK: REM-Accelerate (2008).
I was thinking about the parallel careers of R.E.M. and U2 the other day. The both started at around the same time: R.E.M. on an indie label and U2 on a major. R.E.M. was a college band loved by critics but not really a big seller. U2 had some huge hits in their early days and slowly grew to be college darlings too. Then in 1987, they both hit it big time: R.E.M.’s Document had “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” and “One I Love” and of course, U2’s The Joshua Tree was the hugest album in the world.
R.E.M. and U2 became the hugest bands of the 1990s, selling millions of copies of records, becoming the biggest most famous people in the world (well, the singers did anyhow). And then in the 2000’s, something happened. U2 became even bigger and R.E.M. sort of drifted. And their records got critically panned. Even if they had a hit or two, overall the records received very bad reviews.
I didn’t even bother picking up R.E.M.’s previous record (and I guess no one else did either…its their ONLY record not to go at least gold (and that includes their early IRS label stuff). So, who held out any hope for a new R.E.M. album?
Well, the good news came when I put on Accelerate. After the initial guitar lick, the bass kicked in and Sarah said “Is that R.E.M.?” Now THAT’s a good sign. And it is. This album is the closest they’ve come to classic R.E.M. in a long time. I’ve concluded that the defining characteristic of R.E.M. is not Michael Stipe, it is Mike Mills. It’s his basslines and his glorious backing vocals that make a song stand up and say R.E.M. And, they’re usually the most interesting parts of the songs. (His “It’s time I had some time alone” is such a great counterpoint to “It’s the End of the World…” that the song wouldn’t be half as good without it.) This is not to say that Mike Mills should be the lead singer or be placed more prominently, (he shouldn’t, he’s like a great supporting actor who would be too much if he was the lead), but his contributions make them even better.
And Accelerate is full of Mills, in ways that I feel have been absent in recent years. His high bass notes, his great backing vocals, it’s like the R.E.M. of old. Except that it isn’t. The difference here is that Peter Buck has not returned to the reverby, picked-guitar of old. He’s got more of the aggressive style of playing that he’s used on Monster and New Adventures… so what you get is a classic R.E.M. updated for the 21st century.
Another thing that is great about this record is its length. At just over 30 minutes, it’s one of R.E.M.’s shortest releases. And, after some of the bloated discs they put out lately, it’s a great change of pace–because really nothing overstays its welcome like too much R.E.M. I mean Reveal has some good songs on it, but after six or seven tracks you can’t believe there are still six more to go. But on Accelerate, none of the songs overstay its welcome; many of them could go on even longer (always the sign of a good song)–5 of them are under three minutes long!
But enough bashing R.E.M. Accelerate is a short blast of rocking pop. In fact, the first 3 songs are the best songs I’ve heard from R.E.M. in years. (more…)
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