Word: songe
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...with Michael Stipe's cross-gendered tendencies accentuated. But to my surprise, a very melodic track with an intricate acoustic feel rose from the ashes of R.E.M.'s past two albums, and captured me as "Everybody Hurts" had all the way back in 1992. This is a good song--a really good song. Even more surprising is that Up is a really, maybe even really, really good album...
...overbearing power chords grizzly feedback and odd dissonance are gone, and the listener is left with more R.E.M. tunes to put on his "R.E.M.'s Greatest Hits" tape. "Daysleeper" exhibits commercial potential, but the music scene has changed so much that "Daysleeper" may be deemed just another good R.E.M. song by the listening public, rather than a big hit like it would've been...
...Daysleeper" proves the album's number one hit, but some songs come out of the woodwork after casual listening. The keyboard riff in "Lotus" gives the feel of a sixties song with the almost chanted lyrics of Stipe, with his lower voice dubbed over kind of like "Drive" from Automatic. The descending guitar gives a raw edge that shows the change over the course of the past two albums, but unlike their previous raw guitar pieces, "Lotus" blends the raw sound into the fabric of the song in a way that neither accents it nor leaves...
...become favorites within the cult of R.E.M. fanatics, but the true test will come with radio airplay. "Hope" has the most "hope," because its upbeat style gets the legs moving with the beat, but the lyrics are actually supposedly about an AIDS patient. The somber topics raised in the song seem to clash with the actual tune, but this proves to be one of Stipe's lasting characteristics which surfaced on the group's first hit "The One I Love...
...develop, butthe chorus engages the listener much like "Man onthe Moon" from Automatic For The People. The pianoand the ghostly rhythm of the backup vocals painta complete picture of deep thought with a catchychorus that may translate into popular success.The real victory of Up cannot be expressed in anyone song. The album speaks as a whole and tellsthe story that listeners have been waiting so longto hear...