Accelerate: +DVD
At this stage in a band's career a Mojo front cover would seem more likely than actually
... more
getting their old mojo back. And at 14 albums young, REM's longevity had been taken as a byword for pale compliance--in spite of a melodic obedience, last album Ar...
Accelerate: +DVD - REM
At this stage in a band's career a Mojo front cover would seem more likely than actually
... more
getting their old mojo back. And at 14 albums young, REM's longevity had been taken as a byword for pale compliance--in spite of a melodic obedience, last album Ar...
1 out of 1 similar offers for Accelerate (+DVD) - R.E.M.
Accelerate - R.E.M.
At this stage in a band's career a Mojo front cover would seem more likely than actually
... more
getting their old mojo back. And at 14 albums young, REM's longevity had been taken as a byword for pale compliance--in spite of a melodic obedience, last album Around the Sun lacked the emotional vigour of their key works and was presumed by many to be no more than a footnote in their decline. Here then is where they break all the rules. Accelerate is exceptionally loyal to its title and marks a hefty return to their Document-era heyday, when their Byrdsian post-punk was beefed up to suit the arenas they were then beginning to fill. There's even a new "end of the world" song to back up that assertion--the excitable Stooges/B52s love-in "I'm Gonna DJ" ("Death is pretty final/I'm collecting vinyl/I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world!"). Michael Stipe's voice splinters scattered emotional punctuation, Mike Mills is as ever REM's secret weapon, drilling out bass-lines like rapid CPR and achieving more with a single backing vocal than many lead singers manage over a whole album, while Peter Buck deals out memorable guitar twists a-go-go evoking amongst others The Who, The Small Faces and Neil Young. To summon a cliché, this really does sound like a band--and a band half their age at that--playing live in a room, packed full of all the fire and nuances needed to feel at home in a club or the stadiums they now more regularly inhabit. --James Berry
Label / Distributor: Warner Bros. / Cinram Logistics
Producer: Jacknife Lee
Pieces in Set: 1
Studio / Live: Studio
Stereo: Stereo
Format: Performer
EAN: 93624987727
Catalogue Number: 9362498772
Additional notes
Album Notes: R.E.M.: Mike Mills (vocals, bass guitar); Michael Stipe (vocals); Peter Buck (guitars).
Album Reviews: Spin (p.95) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "ACCELERATE corrals 35 minutes of the fastest songs Stipe and Co. have written in decades, all performed with a sense of joyous purpose..."
Advantages: Brilliant comeback Disadvantages: Quite short at only 34 minutes
...Since the departure of drummer Bill Berry in 1996, R.E.M. have appeared to be on a downward spiral with their last album, Around the Sun, almost ruining their career, and there were few peole who believed that they could recover. Nearly four years later, they released Accelerate; an album that really goes back to the roots of R.E.M. and what they are really about. Gone are the soft, safe sounds of Up and Around the Sun, and the more alternative, distinctive sounds of Life's Rich Pageant and Green and the other early albums begin to show through. With the catchy chorus of Man-Sized Wreath and the haunting melody of Hollow Man, and songs as fast and furious as Living Well is the Best Revenge and I'm Gonna DJ, R.E.M. have definitely made a comeback to remember with Accelerate....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: R.E.M.'s best album since "New Adventures in Hi-Fi". Disadvantages: ...R.E.M. haven't had a good album since "New Adventures in Hi-Fi".
...R.E.M. "Accelerate" (Warner Bros., 2008) - More disappointing, disturbingly self-referential, placeholding.
One of the ironies of R.E.M.'s long career has been their fairly impressive inability to structure their own albums into both coherent and interesting masses, the irony rooted in three remarkable exceptions: the jangling and often menacing I.R.S.-period "Life's Rich Pageant", the nigh-perfect expression of the American plains in "Automatic for the People", and the fuzzy, brave, quasi future-rock "Monster". As an R.E.M. fan you accept that for every hit, there are the near-hits, and the awful experiments, as the band reel somewhat pretentiously from what their last album really cost in spirit, rebuilding their own character through our generous donations to the cause of their emotional stock, so far removed from their college...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Expected R.E.M quality shines through Disadvantages: Has been over shadowed by more recent R.E.M material
...The album "Document"is truly amazing!R.E.M have come up trumps with this offering of musical wizardrey as they have done so many times before. Such tracks as "Strange" & "It's the end of the world as we know it" are brilliant and some of the best I have heard in a long time from R.E.M. The album is made up of many typical R.E.M tunes but also some more original material.The lyrics are fabulous and make you want to go out and by R.E.M's other albums. I have listened to this album over and over again and I never get tired of it, infact, it seems to just get better and better! I would recommend this album to those who are already fans of R.E.M but also to those who may be sceptical as this is overall a really fine album.I take my hat off to R.E.M as they have really out done themselves, once again, with this musical offering....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
somewhat helpful 13.12.2000
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