This is not a review I should write.<\/p>\n
I find the best album reviews are the ones written by those with fresh ears, and any time I take on an assignment to critique a new release, I try and make sure I don\u2019t know too much about the band or its music so as not to spend the review comparing it to what it\u2019s done before.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t do this with R.E.M., I\u2019m not sure anyone can.<\/p>\n
The long and varied life of R.E.M. is best summarized in three parts \u2014 80s R.E.M., 90s R.E.M., and Bill Berry-less R.E.M. For the past 13 years, the latter R.E.M. has held court, and every album the trio of Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Michael Stipe has produced in that time is invariably compared to what was created in the first two acts. When I listen to a new R.E.M. album now I don\u2019t hear songs as much as snippets of the past. I\u2019m not saying this is bad, since R.E.M.\u2019s past is so glorious, but it hardly seems a fair practice to do to a band trying to constantly forge new avenues of sound.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s release of Collapse Into Now is, of itself, a magnificent achievement. Many bands can\u2019t claim a career of 31 years and 15 studio albums, and the fact R.E.M. continues to produce pertinent work says plenty. And make no mistake, this is a solid piece of music, containing flourishes which made this one of the best bands in the world. But in its search to rediscover itself it becomes its own mimic, and as much as I like songs that sound like outtakes from New Adventures in Hi-Fi and Out of Time, my immediate thought after hearing them is drop what I\u2019m listening to and go listen to those albums.<\/p>\n
For the most part, Collapse Into Now is a visit through 90s R.E.M., that four-album set that starts with 1991\u2032s Out of Time and ends with New Adventures (yes, I know Up was in 1998, but remains Bill Berry-less). The guitar-infused Discoverer opens the record, and the ties to 1994\u2032s Monster is inescapable. Stipe opens up with the words \u201cThis is not a challenge\/Just means I love you\u201d in perhaps a nod to this trip through nostalgia. Peter Buck is certainly loving this guitar crunching, which Monster was well-known for. It\u2019s an interesting choice to open (and as you soon find out close) the album.<\/p>\n
New Adventures gets its due on All the Best, as well as Every Day is Yours to Win (a song where I had a double-take, I thought for a second my iPod was on random and skipped to New Adventures). Good songs for sure, but again this throwback spirit is almost acknowledged by Stipe when he sings \u201cIt\u2019s just like me to overstay my welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
The true teeth of the album rests in Uberlin, Oh My Heart and It Happened Today, three songs in Collapse\u2018s media res (mandolin, thank you Peter) which group the best of R.E.M. \u2014 lovely guitar arrangements, touching melodies, and the magnificent pairing of Stipe\u2019s and Mills\u2019 voices. It Happened Today is the album\u2019s best song \u2014 it simply soars despite its relative simplicity. I could listen to the last half of that song over and over again because it\u2019s a reminder of why this band is so vital, it\u2019s a sound it trademarked and brought to the world. Stunning.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure what to make of the album\u2019s remainder. The single Mine Smell Like Honey is quite one-off, there\u2019s not much here that\u2019s too memorable. Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter is a fun song, with Peaches singing background vocals and playful guitar work by Patti Smith collaborator Lenny Kaye. I think the only reason I like That Someone Is You is that Stipe rhymes Casino with Al Pacino and \u201974 Torino, but sometimes that\u2019s enough.<\/p>\n
The album-ending Blue, has me going back and forth. It opens with the haunting guitar reminiscent of Out of Time\u2018s Country Feedback (the best song on that album), and Stipe\u2019s stream of conscious lyrics layered over Patti Smith\u2019s voice is an inventive turn. But it\u2019s such a reminder of Country Feedback it comes across as its weaker brother (think Fredo to his brother Michael). It gives me pause. And why the song goes back to Discoverer is a mystery \u2013 maybe in some way the band is attempting to tie the work together.<\/p>\n
And therein rests the problem.<\/p>\n
As opposed to other albums in its R.E.M.\u2019s catalog, Collapse Into Now doesn\u2019t have a unified feel. Buck is on record saying he likes every song, and there\u2019s much to like here. But together the album doesn\u2019t gel, it\u2019s more a collection of songs tied to other eras than a consolidated effort.<\/p>\n
It must be difficult to break new barriers when you\u2019ve broken so many before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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