Something 4 The Weekend # 62

From about 1983 to 1994 R.E.M. were absolutely my favorite band, and to this day I always say that they will always remain my all-time sentimental favorite. But I don't really have a favorite band anymore. The idea seems kinda silly nowadays, and I don't think I could narrow it down to just one band anyways...The Kinks? Minutemen? Pere Ubu? Super Furry Animals? Zappa? Nah, fuck that...

REM remains my sentimental favorite simply because I have sooooo many memories, really great memories, attached to the band and their songs...In particular, I listened to tons of REM on cassette while travelling pretty extensively around the States in the late '80's and early '90's...All the classic IRS Records stuff as the soundtrack of my misadventures, and most of my really good romances had plenty of REM in the air as well...

So here we are in 2008 and REM released their 14th studio album, Accelerate, this Tuesday, and yes, I went to Best Buy at my lunch break and picked up my copy because they still mean that much to me...

And yeah, I've been listening to the album, and trying to wrap my mind around it...I mean, I can't decide if they're brilliantly referencing their own music and imagery, or merely ripping themselves off...Nearly every song on this album contains at least one "riff" or melody that already exists somewhere in their musty catalog...Alot of critics and fans are calling Accelerate a "return to form", but isn't that just saying the same thing - the band isn't breaking any new ground?

R.E.M.: Accelerate: "Until The Day Is Done": 192k mp3

Take this song, for example...That very first riff you hear on guitar/mandolin is pretty much "King Of Birds" from 1987's Document LP (not to mention shades of "Try Not To Breathe" as well)...It's close enough to be a distraction for me, and that's a problem I've encountered with pretty much every song on this album...I keep hearing riffs and arpeggios and chord progressions and melodies and sometimes even lyrics, that I've heard before, and it makes me wonder if it's all quite calculated, or if it's simply true that most artists have a limited palette...

Yeah, REM are playing to their "classic" strengths on this album, but they're still doing it without Bill Berry, and if you don't believe that makes a difference, you're probably not a big fan to begin with...He locked in brilliantly with bassist Mike Mills - two guys who hated each other at first and for awhile, until they realized just exactly how great they played together...Yeah, Bill Berry's loss is pretty much the real reason why REM went from being my absolute favorite band to merely my sentimental favorite...

Of course, none of this matters...I guess a world with one more REM album is better than one without...And as always, Mike Mills remains perhaps the single most underrated/unregarded talent in the whole of the rock world...

Hotcha! Hank