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Nyls Nyman · 06-07-2011, 09:13 PM

Up is a claustrophobic record. The uncertainty surrounding the band actually pushes them in new directions and for the most part the experimentation works. Michael Stipe was at his peak as a lyricist on this one.

Reveal has some really good songs (Imitation of Life, Reno, Beat a Drum), half-baked ideas (Saturn Return, Beachball) and a Pro-Tools disaster (Summer Turns To High).

Around The Sun just seems tentative and cold. The lack of communication within the band was paralyzing. That being said, The Outsiders. Electron Blue and I Wanted To Be Wrong stand up strong.

Accelerate is a good album that suffers a bit from sameness of sound. Its real value was that the band found out how to work with each other again.

Collapse Into Now is the best post-Bill album since Up. There is a vibrancy here that has been missing since 1998. In the R.E.M. canon it sits just below the IRS years, Automatic and New Adventures at a level with Green and Monster.

06-07-2011, 09:13 PM	#125 (permalink)
Nyls Nyman Groupie Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 5	the post-Bill years, my take Up is a claustrophobic record. The uncertainty surrounding the band actually pushes them in new directions and for the most part the experimentation works. Michael Stipe was at his peak as a lyricist on this one. Reveal has some really good songs (Imitation of Life, Reno, Beat a Drum), half-baked ideas (Saturn Return, Beachball) and a Pro-Tools disaster (Summer Turns To High). Around The Sun just seems tentative and cold. The lack of communication within the band was paralyzing. That being said, The Outsiders. Electron Blue and I Wanted To Be Wrong stand up strong. Accelerate is a good album that suffers a bit from sameness of sound. Its real value was that the band found out how to work with each other again. Collapse Into Now is the best post-Bill album since Up. There is a vibrancy here that has been missing since 1998. In the R.E.M. canon it sits just below the IRS years, Automatic and New Adventures at a level with Green and Monster.