I have recently noticed a recurring pattern regarding the latest album of ageing band. Every time, in interviews, they say that the previous album (that, inevitably, had failed to sale properly) was poor, but that the new one is them back at the Top. Of course, it is never the case, and what is now the latest album will be trashed in two or three years. This year's R.E.M. does exactly that: Claiming that Around the Sun was very bad, but Accelerate is amongst their finest.One thing for sure is that the album uses full-on guitars, and is therefore closer to albums such as Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi than to their latest records. Yet, it nowhere near as good as these two masterpieces either. The only truly good song on it is the eponymous 'Accelerate', which past the quite ugly intro riff turns into an excellent, dark and fast song. The lyrics, with lines like "Uncertainty is suffocating" , perfectly reflect that mood. In addition, the harmonies brought by Mills vocals during the chorus have an eerie feeling makes the song really standing out (It reminds me of the suffocating siren sound of 'Leave', one of their masterpieces).
Other than that, the vocals of 'Man-sized Wreath' clearly calls back to the I.R.S albums, and Houston starts as a nice acoustic ballad, but quickly turns in an almost-religious sermon against Bush and the like ("If the storm doesn't kill me the government will" is the opening line), with a broken rhythm brought by the organ. Also worth noting the new single, 'Supernatural Superserious', very radio-friendly with its typycal (and slightly over-used) four-chord riff.
However, Stipe's lyrics are not exactly his best: 'Sing for the Submarine' would be a very good song bar the poor title and chorus lines. And frankly, what is 'I'm gonna DJ' about? It probably is a very fun song to sing live, but it's atrocious to listen to.
To conclude, a decent album, but no better nor worse than the two previous albums really. And probably about as good as the next one.
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