R.E.M. - Accelerate

In 2003 R.E.M. released In Time: the Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003. Then in 2006, another “best of” CD was released based their pre-major label work. So how strange it must be as a close to thirty-year-old band who has released two greatest hits albums to release a new CD. It’s like each album after has to challenge the title of best of. It directly challenges a band to show that the best is not behind them and that they are still relevant to today’s scene. Unfortunately for R.E.M., the very next year after releasing their major label “best of” CD found them releasing Around the Sun which was an album met with poor critical and commercial reception. So have one of the pioneers of alternative rock burned themselves once again?

The band’s fourteenth studio album sees an R.E.M. that is decidedly more engaged and fresh than the R.E.M. that released Around the Sun. The album opens with the fast paced “Living Well Is the Best Revenge” which sets the brisk tone of the rest of the CD. The title of the album alone seems to suggest its breezy tempo as Acceleration clocks in just under the thirty-five minute mark. Mostly the album prods along with songs that are empirically good, but seem to lack that extra something to make them stand out in my mind. The only track on the album that I’ve made sure to uncheck on my itunes playlist is the track that stands out for the wrong reasons. “I’m Gonna DJ” is a track that sounds absurd enough to almost hint at being ironic with its half-rapping vocals and “woohoo” harmonies.

The album does seem to grow on me with each listen. However, its quick pace could be the culprit for each track’s lack of instant stand-out status. With so many tracks coming in at under the 3 minute mark there isn’t much there to catch my ear before moving on to the next song. Which isn’t to say that short songs can’t be catchy, but more that short songs need that extra oomph to make their presence known.

Tracks that have started to almost stick out are the slick, pop single “Supernatural Superserious”, the darker title track “Accelerate”, the folk-influenced “Until the Day Is Done”, and the jangly, mellow “Mr. Richards”. For the most part though, if you asked me off the top of my head what each song’s chorus sounded like I probably couldn’t recall it. The only song that has really gotten stuck in my head lately has been the aforementioned oddball, “I’m Gonna DJ” which is not something that I’ve been all that happy with to say the least. With most of the tracks coming off as largely forgettable (with a last track that is regrettably unforgettable) I can’t say that I would’ve listened to this album more than once if I hadn’t taken this assignment. I think I’ll have to stick to my copy of In Time to get my R.E.M. fix. Accelerate is surely a step in the right direction coming off of the failure of their last album, but it certainly isn’t much of a leap forward.