Word: albums
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Reinventing R.E.M. I enjoyed Josh Tyrangiel's recent article about R.E.M., and I generally agreed with his assessment of the band's last three albums before Accelerate [April 7]. However, I completely disagree with the chart that deems Monster below respectable. Following Automatic for the People, R.E.M. ran the risk of falling into a rut. After two similar-sounding albums, what would its members do next? Their willingness to completely change their sound from mandolins to gutsy electric guitar helped establish R.E.M. as a group not afraid to challenge expectations. It is good to see in their new album that...
...have the kind of status and resume that those bands do, you can do shit like that because your fans already love you and are already going to buy your album,” he said...
...their adopted monikers—plus they have a song title featuring no fewer than three of them (“You! Me! Dancing!”). Bearing this in mind, it’s not surprising that every moment of the Welsh band’s debut album, “Hold on Now, Youngster,” feels like it’s punctuated with extra emphasis. The band has been building to this album through a series of impressive EPs and singles. Fans of these early releases may initially be disappointed by the LP?...
...Accelerate” is what its title suggests: a return to speed for R.E.M., the godfathers of alternative rock. Given the lukewarm responses to their last three decidedly-subdued albums, the band should be commended for cranking up the volume, letting loose, and creating their shortest album ever. But the results, though promising, aren’t immune to R.E.M.’s recent strains of mediocrity. The single greatest aspect of this album is the triumphant return of Mike Mills’ musicianship. As R.E.M.’s trusty bassist, Mills has been criminally overlooked for decades...
...alchemy that gave birth to Akron blues-rock duo the Black Keys’ fifth album, “Attack & Release,” may seem unlikely. Since their 2002 debut, “The Big Come Up,” the Keys have been the standard-bearers of self-produced, self-recorded, basement-tape rebellion. Their high-water marks, 2003’s “Thickfreakness” and 2004’s “Rubber Factory,” distilled their blues formalism and lo-fi aesthetic into a highly evolved and deeply primal sound...