There was a time when a new R.E.M. album was highly anticipated and greeted eagerly, but that was twenty years ago. Now, the announcement of a new release from Georgia's favorite sons is more likely greeted with a shrug than a cheer. Why? Well, what does R.E.M. have to offer us today?
As confrontational as that may sound, the good news is that Collapse into Now contains everything we have loved about R.E.M. in the past. The bad news is everything we will love about Collapse Into Now is something we have heard before.
It is all here. “Uberlin” offers catchy pop which will glue itself into your mind, just like “Losing My Religion” did all those years ago. “Every Day is Yours to Win” fills the uplifting ballad role exemplified by “Everyone Hurts.” “Deliverer” and “All the Best,” which open the album, are crunchy rockers reminiscent of the whole of Monster. There is even a rapid-fire tongue twister a la “It’’s the End of the World” in “Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter.” And the whole thing ends with “Blue,” a spoken word piece which hearkens back to “Drive,” as well as “Low” and “Belong” off of Out of Time. That's all great, that's all fine and that's all good, but there's also clearly nothing new about any of it.
R.E.M. does acknowledge its' status as aging rock stars with repeated references to “the kids” repeatedly throughout this album's run-time but, unlike when Michael Stipe did something similar on "Drive" from Automatic For The People and it seemed ironic, it just seems like a sure sign they are feeling old here. In “All the Best,” Michael Stipe sings “Let’s show the kids how to do it” (shortly after he sings “It’s just like me to overstay my welcome”), but I’m not sure they show the kids much at all on this CD – at least not anything they haven’t already shown them on several occasions before. Or maybe they’re assuming today’s kids haven’t heard their old albums; in which case the line should be, “Let’s show the kids how we used to do it.”
The band does spice things up a bit with some guest star appearances. Peaches sings back-up and adds a little rap to “A_A_A_A” and Eddie Vedder offers some barely audible vocals on “It Happened Today.” The best guest turn comes from Patti Smith and her guitarist Lenny Kaye though, who appropriately liven up the closing track “Blue” which was co-written by Smith.
Despite, or more likely because of, these nods to the past, Collapse Into Now is a very enjoyable album. Those who miss mid-career R.E.M. will find this a pleasant listen. However, those fans hoping the band might do something new in their old age will have to keep waiting. Maybe next time….
Artist:
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Album:
Collapse Into Now is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
