by Chris Hammond
SquareOne Entertainment
R.E.M – Accelerate (Warner Brothers)
Last century an R.E.M release would quite literally have signalled a collective orgasm for the music press and public. Smart, unique to the point of weird and sublimely listenable R.E.M were the intelligent mainstream band of choice. 'Were' being the key word here; because inevitably success bred expectation levels which could not easily be met.
Monster, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Up, Reveal, Around The Sun. . . hardly essential listening. I suspect for the first time ever R.E.M knew they had to deliver in order to remain reasonably relevant.
So it's with as sort of resigned inevitability I can confirm that Accelerate is better than their previous three efforts combined but only half as good as Out of Time. Make of that what you will.
Song for song it sounds typically R.E.M. The wickedly addictive Mr Richards harks back to the halcyon days of the mid 1980's when the group evolved into a quirky, grungy, indie behemoth whilst Supernatural Superserious is as breezy a summer pop song as you'll likely hear this year.
More of the same only better next time, thanks lads.
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