By Amanda Liang • UrbanWire
• email reporter • email story • printer friendly

Refuting critics who were expecting R.E.M. to quit the music business after the departure of their former drummer, Bill Berry, the 24-year-old band finally rejoins the adult alternative pop rock scene with Around the Sun.

Around the Sun actually marks the Georgian band’s 3rd album since Berry left in 1997. But Up and Reveal, which were released in 1998 and 2001 respectively, had been disappointingly mediocre albums, although both had their share of hit singles (with short-lived success).

A listen to this album brings to mind R.E.M.’s hugely popular LP from 1992, Automatic For The People. Around The Sun sees the band taking a softer and more mellow approach to songwriting, and like the earlier album, is heavy on ballads. Fans must remember Automatic… as the album that some of R.E.M.’s best songs ever were on (‘Everybody Hurts’, ‘Man on the Moon’). However, where emotions were raw and tunes instantly catchy on Automatic…, this latest album fails to get its listeners emotionally charged.

The album opens with the upbeat ‘Leaving New York’, and there couldn’t have been a better opening track. This dark love song features the classic jangly guitar riffs R.E.M. became famous and loved for.

‘High Speed Train’ is another of the better songs on the album, together with ‘Make It All Okay’, which has the feel of ‘Everybody Hurts’. And it’s all’s well that ends well too, since ‘Around The Sun’ is probably the most beautiful song in the whole album.

Lyrically, this is not the best that Michael Stipe could offer. Granted, the songs on Around The Sun were majorly influenced by events happening in the world today, hence the strong political inclination in ‘Final Straw’, for instance, where Stipe sings openly about politicians and the unrighteous policies they come up with to silence any form of opposition. However, the other lyrics fail to hook the listeners, unlike past R.E.M. hits like ‘Losing My Religion’ and ‘What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?’, where Stipe’s song writing ability was widely acknowledged.

With 13 tracks, this album is of substantial running time (playing it from end to end lasts nearly an hour). But even if there were fewer songs, music critics and fans alike will be forgiving, if there were more memorable tracks to rekindle the glory days of R.E.M.

The Verdict

It takes more than one listen for this album to grow on you. Long-time fans of R.E.M. who have the tendency to compare it to past albums may be somewhat disappointed. It lacks the energy of Monster and the endearing emotions that Automatic For The People brought. It may seem like there’s nothing exciting this album offers, but listening to it as a stand-alone album will do it justice.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars