Subury Star Reviews Accelerate

The Sudbury Star* gives Accelerate a shiney happy four starsout of five.

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By John Law

R.E.M. has promised plenty of comebacks these past 10 years. "Accelerate" may be the first one that sticks.

Let's be clear - this isn't an essential R.E.M. record. They just don't have another "Murmur" or "Automatic For the People" in them. But after a dreadful decade, it's the record they needed to make to convince fans they still matter.

"Accelerate" starts with a rugged rocker called "Living Well is the Best Revenge," and in three minutes they reclaim everything they threw away on the last three records (so that's what Peter Buck's guitar sounds like again). The good times continue into "Man-Sized Wreath," a buoyant pop song plucked from the band's "Document" days. But then comes the blissful "Supernatural Superserious" - the best R.E.M. song in, God, forever - and it'll hit you how much you've missed them. It's all here: Michael Stipe's typically weird lyrics (what does "humiliation of your teenage station" mean, anyway?), some neat touches by Buck that recall the band's jangle pop roots, and a rock hook that'll send chills. Where have these guys been?

On one hand, they could be accused of dwelling on the past - not one song here sounds like it was made past 1995 - but R.E.M. has ignored its own legacy for so long, nostalgia is a relief at this point.

If it's not classic R.E.M., "Accelerate" is at least classic-sounding R.E.M.

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* Yeah, I'd never heard of it either.

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