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R.E.M.
Around the Sun
(Warner
Bros.)
Need proof that R.E.M. were extraordinary? Lets say the fact
that they released some of the most significant indie releases
ever and have inspired everyone from Nirvana to Death Cab (We
all remember Kurt saying the follow-up to In Utero
was going to be “his REM record,” don’t we?)
just isn’t good enough for you. Well here’s your
proof: Pavement spend three and a half minutes of recorded time
gushing over them. That’s right, Pavement’s track
on the highly popular No Alternative compilation (a
great time capsule in the “alternative explosion”
of the mid 90s), “The Unseen Power of the Picket Fence”
is a song about how much cooler R.E.M. are than … well
… anyone else. They were loved not for musical talent
(always questionable), but instead for insightful borderline
poetic lyrics and songs that managed to be equal parts irreverent,
fun-loving, and yet full of conviction. C’mon, I’ll
repeat it again for all you kids who missed their original peak,
Pavement fucking loved these guys!
So when did R.E.M. become a caricature of itself? Or more importantly,
when did this become a bad thing? Was it after their 1994 halfassed
bid for radio-play (which they had already gotten several times)
with the far-too-grunge influenced album Monster? No,
I’d argue, because the group quickly distanced themselves
from this mistake and rarely plays any tracks from it at their
shows? Was it after their manic, solemn and unforgettable (I
wouldn’t dare say underrated because just about every
review I’ve read of R.E.M. since this album was released
called it a watermark) New Adventures in Hi-Fi released
in 1996? No, because despite loosing the normal freewheeling
ease that had accompanies all their albums up to that point,
and giving the band the pretentious label that had plagued it
to this day, it managed to be almost entirely an extraordinary
album. Was it after drummer Bill Berry left the group? C’mon,
folks. I’m a drummer myself, so I have sympathy, but the
clear answer in this case is no- Berry had very little influence
in the songwriting, and although a great drummer, he did little
that a good studio drummer couldn’t. Perhaps there is
no event that one can point to, but over the course of the past
three albums, R.E.M. have lost it all. It hasn’t been
a downward slope, because, to be honest, Around the Sun is just
as boring an album as Up which was just as bad as Reveal.
They all have a few tracks that bring you to tears because they
come close to being good enough for rejects for Reckoning
or Automatic for the People.
So Around the Sun is worse than being a new low for
the band. Instead, it’s a continued low. I have never
had an R.E.M. album opener pass by with so little notice as
“Leaving New York.” There is nothing interesting
about the melody, the tempo, or even Stipe’s increasingly
bored sounding delivery. Track two, a track that would make
Guster, Third Eye Blind, or Hoobastank proud for its utterly
generic sound, has Stipe declaring “…and who am
I? / I’m just a guy / I’ve got a story like everyone.”
I hate to keep harping on the past, but Mike, you didn’t
used to be just a guy- you were something more. I don’t
know if I want to buy that you’ve become the average dude
who throws football parties and spends Saturdays waxing his
car, but this song certainly helps your case. “The Outsiders”
features another fallen great, rapper Q-Tip formerly of A Tribe
Called Quest, and what could’ve been a great rap-rockkgfdgsfgd…oh
sorry, I dozed off there for a second, anyhoo, Q-Tip’s
cameo fades out almost as quickly as it begins, and you have
the feeling it wasn’t a production trick, but instead
him running out of the studio after hearing the song he was
adding his name to.
The closest the album comes to anything interesting is in a
brief track called “Wanderlust.” The track, propelled
by a fast (for this album at least) beat, has the band sounding
interested, for once, with Pete Buck’s guitar playing
a few dissonant chords, and Stipe actually sounding fierce during
the chorus. I had high hopes for “The Worst Joke Ever.”
Its title would suggest something deeper, a personal story,
a political polemic. No, not at all ... it’s a telling
of a joke followed by self-righteous rambling about how death
is wrong. But to steal from that song’s chorus; “Give
me a minute / and I’ll tell you the setup for the worst
joke ever.” I myself am working on one- I don’t
have anything but a punch line decided yet, but that goes “…and
after Around The Sun, R.E.M. went on to make four more
equally heartbreakingly half-assed albums before calling it
quits.”
C’mon, Led Zeppelin only had one In Through the Out
Door, Pink Floyd ended with The Final Cut, [and
The Wall, but that’s an entirely different debate],
The Stone Roses had Second Coming and The Clash had
Cut The Crap. You’re allowed one pre-breakup
debacle while still maintaining a glorious legacy. At this point,
guys, think long and hard before entering the studio again.
I’d say your muse left long ago, and I sure as hell don’t
want my memory of your guys to be soiled by any more stuff like
this.
Reviewed by
Gabe Kalmuss-Katz
October 29th, 2004 |
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