While the principle of three records may have seemed like a good idea, and indeed it hooked me with the idea. The rule holds here however, never do in two (or in this case three) albums that which could have been done in one.
Rating = Uranus Record
Sincerely;
T.R.Z. Oswald
Monday, November 16, 2009
REM / Accelerate (2008)
So where to begin, I guess some sort of praise should be offered to the trio that is REM. It seems that after a serious case of “Decade Comatosis” (1997-2008) following the departure of Bill Berry they have finally woken up and decided that perhaps it is time to serenade the world with a return to the music that made them great. The album which was released in 2008 begins with the track "Living Well is the Best Revenge". I’ll admit that my expectation for this album was very low, and who could blame me after such a period of creative drought from REM. That bar of expectation I had set was blown away, I was amazed to say the least and when "Supernatural Superserious" came along I had difficulty composing sentences. The first side plays out extremely well, though the fourth song could have remained slow rather then starting so and then taking off. Side 2 begins with the slow song I had been searching for on Side 1, nice to see it found a place somewhere other than the cutting room floor. Then the album gets a serious case of "Long Album Blues" which is odd for an album so short. Still it is a good album when you factor
in the crap they produced in the last decade, but they have a far way to come to return to Lifes Rich Pageant.
Rating = Neptune Record
Sincerely;
T.R.Z. Oswald
in the crap they produced in the last decade, but they have a far way to come to return to Lifes Rich Pageant.
Rating = Neptune Record
Sincerely;
T.R.Z. Oswald
A Note on Time
I know it has been a while, but seeing as there is no one following this then I feel that my time was better spent in other avenues. With that out of the way I can move on to review. As it was mentioned in the previous review I feel as though I should review it and give some context to the comparison that was made. So if you are still not aware it is REM's latest studio album; Accelerate.
Terms 1
This is a quick note on all of the various terms that I feel I have coined over the years, many of them will be used in the discussion of albums. So that readers are not lost when one shows up I will reveal a few of them here.
Long Album Blues: Frequently modern artists who are no longer constrained by the 45 minutes of a vinyl record feel the need to replace quality in their work with quantity, leading albums to drag on far longer then they should. Albums with this problem will have listeners questioning whether "this song really needs to be here"
Song Déjà-vu: Where artists (for whatever reason) feel the need to repeat their previous successes musically by releasing new music which sounds remarkably like their old music.
"Let's Be Rock stars!": A term often used to describe a band or artist who departs from their early mentality where they released records at a recent rate (every 2-3 years) and they were of prime quality, and then realizing they had gathered a devoted fan base they decided that they can take as long as they want between albums and when they do come around to
getting one out it is of quality far below that of earlier records.
Decade Comatosis: Used to describe a band or artist who falls into a state of comatose activity for a number of years, sometimes more than a decade. During this period the produce very little in terms of good quality music. When they finally wake up they usually appear to be revitalized and decided it is time to produce good music again.
Long Album Blues: Frequently modern artists who are no longer constrained by the 45 minutes of a vinyl record feel the need to replace quality in their work with quantity, leading albums to drag on far longer then they should. Albums with this problem will have listeners questioning whether "this song really needs to be here"
Song Déjà-vu: Where artists (for whatever reason) feel the need to repeat their previous successes musically by releasing new music which sounds remarkably like their old music.
"Let's Be Rock stars!": A term often used to describe a band or artist who departs from their early mentality where they released records at a recent rate (every 2-3 years) and they were of prime quality, and then realizing they had gathered a devoted fan base they decided that they can take as long as they want between albums and when they do come around to
getting one out it is of quality far below that of earlier records.
Decade Comatosis: Used to describe a band or artist who falls into a state of comatose activity for a number of years, sometimes more than a decade. During this period the produce very little in terms of good quality music. When they finally wake up they usually appear to be revitalized and decided it is time to produce good music again.
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