Accelerate (digipack)

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
At this stage in a band's career a Mojo front cover would seem more likely than actually 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

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Description
This fourteenth studio album from the veteran indie rockersis the follow-up to 2004's 'Around The Sun' and comes just six months after their 'Live' CD/DVD stopgap. The brusquest,most amped-up and aggressive album they have made in decades, the eleven songs on 'Accelerate' flash by in a scant 34 minutes and mark a return to the harder post-punk sounds of their pre-major label days, whilst not disregarding the infectious melodies that have made their name. Includes the single 'Supernatural Superserious'.

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-08-26 rating:
Excellent!!! Up there with their best!
Absolutely brilliant! In my opinion, the best REM album since Automatic For The People. Highly recommended.

It starts with a mighty blast - the first three tracks are on a par with REM's best work. The middle section slows down but the standard barely diminishes, before the album concludes with the rocking Horse to Water and I'm Gonna DJ. Not a dud amongst the 11 tracks.

Buy without reservations - this really is a return to form!

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review by: date: 2008-08-25 rating:
Not their best by a long way
There are a few tracks on this album I'd rate highly.. but the quality of the recording is awfull. The dynamics are so compressed that the meters on my McIntosh amp just don't move with the beat.

I'd enjoy this album much more if the sound quality was better.

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review by: degsybunnyrabbit date: 2008-08-09 rating:
don't believe the hype
I have never written a review of an REM album before even though I have loved them for years and am even in the fan club. Like a lot of others I was misled by all the reviews that said this was a return to form. It is not. This is the worst album REM have ever made. It has two decent songs on it. Horse to water and Living well. All the other's are rubbish and would not have even made a b side a few years ago. Listening to this made me realise just how good New Adventures in Hi Fi was. The last great REM album.

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review by: Kev 71 date: 2008-06-21 rating:
Their best in 10 years ......
This is the album REM had to make following the dull mid-tempo sludge of Around The Sun. It's a return to better form, and despite not being up there with the great earlier albums it's still an enjoyable 35 minute rush of classic REM. The opening 3 songs in particular pack a punch, and it's good to hear Peter Buck let loose again on uptempo stonkers like Living Well Is The Best Revenge and Horse To Water. Slower songs like Houston and Until The Day Is Done have an Automatic FTP feel to them (which is a good thing) and the closing glam thrash of I'm Gonna DJ sounds like Stipe was singing it after drinking too much Babycham (which is not such a good thing).

Fans expecting another Lifes Rich Pageant or Murmur will be disappointed, but this is still the strongest set of tunes the band have recorded in the 10 years since Bill Berry left.


review by: date: 2008-06-19 rating:
REM have nothing left to say
I own every REM record and each time I buy in hope.. Let's face it fellow fans, its over! This record opens up with a fabulous track that grabbed me but it faded quickly and although for some moments it sounded like a return to 80's glory, it sort of limps to a dull finish. It sounds ok in places but if I want the glory days, I slip in 'Life's rich pageant' or 'Fables of the reconstruction'. Aside from the first song which is outstanding, and the next 3 (above average), the album struggles to convince me that REM will ever be the same without the much missed Bill Berry. They need new ideas and all I heard here was the same old ground. I will probably continue to buy their records as a die hard fan, hoping for a real revival, but it will probably be in vain.

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