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Accelerate | 
| Artist: R.e.m.
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $3.28
You Save: $15.70 (83%)
New (74) Used (19) from $3.28
Rating:  201 reviews
Sales Rank: 157
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.3
MPN: 418620
UPC: 093624988588
EAN: 0093624988588
ASIN: B0013BNY2Q
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: line drawn thru upc
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| Tracks:
| • | Living Well Is The Best Revenge | | • | Man-Sized Wreath | | • | Supernatural Superserious | | • | Hollow Man | | • | Houston | | • | Accelerate | | • | Until The Day Is Done | | • | Mr. Richards | | • | Sing For The Submarine | | • | Horse To Water | | • | I'm Gonna DJ |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
In the decade since the departure of drummer Bill Berry, R.E.M. could seem at times schizophrenic. Their albums of the era, which veered from the experimentalism of Up and reaffirmation of Reveal to 2004's more diffuse, reflective Around the Sun, often stood in stark contrast to the vibrancy of their live act. But here the alt-rock godfathers have resolved that dichotomy with their most focused and satisfying album in over a decade; a collection that doesn't so much revisit the bracing ethos of the band's '80s coming-of-age, as boil it down to its essence and supercharge it with the energy of their contemporary stage shows. That sensibility is evident from the opening track, "Living Well's the Best Revenge," where Peter Buck's aggressive, distortion-drenched riffs and Michael Stipe's gruff snarl set the tone for "Mansized Wreath," "Horse to Water," and "Supernatural Serious"; rockers that bristle with the abandonment and aggressive energy of a band half their tenure. Yet it's no mere blast-from-the-past. The inclusion of the band's recent touring musicians (Scott McCaughey on second guitar and drummer Bill Rieflin) into the session mix, as well as working out much of the material live onstage in Dublin, has yielded something more sonically akin to R.E.M. 2.2. Stipe's penchant for the lyrically opaque has been largely supplanted by an edgy, articulate passion that variously explores "Houston'"s displaced Katrina refugees, the bluegrass-tinged "Until the Day is Done," and the more typical, quiet self-examination of "Hollow Man," before exploding in the album's unlikely, upbeat elegy "I'm Gonna DJ," where singer and band find renewed hope in not only music, but themselves. --Jerry McCulley
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| Customer Reviews: Read 196 more reviews...
Stepping On The Gas.... August 12, 2008
Brian Kious (Saint Charles, Missouri United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
So when we last left the boys they had just given us AROUND THE SUN, a somber, lackluster, lackadaisical trudge through synthesizer/overproduction hedes. Welcome the polar opposite, or shall we say, classic mode of R.E.M.. Don't have your volume up too high, as the mastering of this album is LOUD! Rightly so, as it's 90% electric! While the lyrics that Michael and the gang recite aren't the greatest in their catalogue, they also aren't their worst and are pretty good. "Supernatural Superserious" is a great song and a rightful tune for pop radio overplay. "Houston" flaunts a bit of high-powered organ that only comes up to breathe every few beats, but it adds to the humidity of the song. "Mr. Richards" is destined to become a forgotten classic. The downside on ACCELERATE is "Until The Day Is Done." It's a protest song, and it's unfortunate because you can tell 10 seconds in that it's a protest song. Aside from "...day is done", this is a mighty fine highway listen (or a workout soundtrack). Welcome back to the late 80s, R.E.M..
 Very disappointing bid to return to the band's roots August 11, 2008
David Ljunggren (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's sad to see REM trying to return to their roots to produce a good album and then turning out a work that's significantly worse than their early works. This is nowhere near as good as Murmur, which came out almost 20 years ago. "Around the Sun" was disappointing but this is worse. Perhaps Mr Stipe and pals should concede that they've already achieved all they could in the world of music and retire. If they issue many more albums like this they're going to start seriously tarnishing their heritage.
R.E.M. - Accelerate 8/10 August 10, 2008
Rudy Klapper (Los Angeles / Orlando)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Accelerate is just what its name implies: the sound of a band approaching middle age, a band whom many critics and fans had written off as past its prime, reaching back to their early records and restoring their music with a sense of fire and vigor that had been missing for well over a decade.
Singer Michael Stipe has said in an interview with Spin that the band "spent less time making this record than we have in twenty years," and it shows. Accelerate charges out of the gate with "Living Well is the Best Revenge," an up-tempo, guitar-and-bass-driven rock number that recalls the band in their `80s heyday.
The music turns away from the studio experiments that many considered R.E.M.'s downfall in the new millennium to what made them famous: guitar, bass, drums, and Stipe's distinctive wail. His lyrics are just as sharp as ever, and with the Iraq War still going strong after five years, he has no shortage of targets, bemoaning the "vacuum between his ears" of our outgoing president on "Man-Sized Wreath" and political deceit on "Mr. Richards."
After so many years, R.E.M. has finally rediscovered what made them great in the first place: simple, angry, and impassioned rock `n roll.
Pint-sized album packs a nice punch August 8, 2008
Sal Nudo (Champaign, Illinois)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This little fireplug of a CD hits the ground running with "Living Well is the Best Revenge" and doesn't come up often for air. It's good to hear Michael Stipe fired up on rockers like the aforementioned tune and "Man-Sized Wreath," where he rails against political pundits, the vapidness of TV and "pomp" and "odious conceit." It's great stuff, and amid Stipe's aggressive vocals and Peter Buck's equally in-your-face guitar work, there seems to be a sense of liberation and joy within the band which I can't recall since the mighty Monster back in 1994.
The mellow and short "Houston," a beautiful song about the Hurricane Katrina refugees, fully displays Stipe's penchant for climbing inside the body of another human being, similar to the morose but sublime "Daysleeper" on the underrated Up. In the song, he boldly attempts to extract some brightness amid a horrible situation. "Until the Day is Done" is similarly quiet compared to the rest of "Accelerate," and its despondent lyrics tell of a dying America, one that the lyricist is far from proud of. Whether you agree with the sentiment or not, the stately sound and sincerity of the song hearkens back to the greatness of Automatic for the People, no small feat. Truly, I didn't grasp the songs's specialness until I really gave it a solid listen.
Mostly, though, "Accelerate" is one punchy rocker after another. I can't help but wonder if the popish "Mr. Richards" is a friendly ode to President Bush, but more important, "Horse to Water" contains a march-to-your own-drummer message, fed-up lyrics and an irresistible chorus that ranks as my favorite on the CD. And not since "It's the End of the World as We Know it" has there been such a stadium-like, fun vibe from R.E.M. as heard on the pumped-up, free-flowing, let-it-all-hang-out "I'm Gonna DJ."
Stipe's voice may be a tad roughened up from natural aging and cigarettes, but it matches up well with the fiery guitars and is ably backed up by Mike Mills' formidable pipes that never seem to go out of style. Come to think of it, after releasing some questionable fluff preceding this album, R.E.M., as a unit, seem to have mastered the art of never going out of style.
R.E.M. - Accelerate August 7, 2008
Accelerate (2008, Warner Bros.) R.E.M.'s fourteenth studio album. ***1/2
The fourteenth album of these veterans isn't exactly a revival, but it is nice to listen to. R.E.M. have their cheesy moments on Accelerate, the fastest album they've made to date, not to mention a very short, but very wise, running time. The album starts off with a bang and doesn't lose momentum until we enter into the second half. Once the title track rolls around, the ears of everyone except the fan becomes tired. But they still got it, as the opening track and the excellent "Supernatural Superserious" demonstrate. A very welcome update from an old friend.
-Stephen
www.politicianrock.blogspot.com
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