{grate 4} There was a time when R.E.M. was the biggest band in the
world. Like so many beloved acts, though, their greatness has since faded,
leaving behind only fond memories and a few choice singles. The band’s latest
effort, however, defies any expectations born from this fall from grace,
offering a compelling, no-frills artistic renewal that harkens to the group’s
early days of Reagan-era college-rock stardom.

With Accelerate, R.E.M. makes a graceful return to the raw,
guitar-driven, unfailingly poetic rock that inspired a young Thom Yorke and
drove the world’s shoe-gazing emo forbearers to start thinking about politics.
Whereas the band’s disappointing 2004 release Around the Sun settled for uninspired
synth-nothingness and exceedingly overlaid instrumentals, Accelerate represents
a reinvented, bare-boned approach to song writing that revels in relentlessly
paced guitar riffs and down-to-earth folk melodies. Everything between Monster
and now may as well have never existed, so seamlessly does the band re-engage
with the post-punk alt-hero ghosts of its past.

From the moment the distorted guitar chords on “Living Well
is the Best Revenge” first burst forth and Michael Stipe launches into his
signature rapid fire lyric-belting, all memory of the band’s last commercially
and artistically failed attempt is forgiven and forgotten. The album further
gains momentum with “Supernatural Superserious,” a purposeful quasi-anthem that
features thick, overarching guitar chords and deadpan vocals complemented by
bassist Mike Mills’ soaring background wail.

Accelerate continues to impress with the mesmerizing folk
ballad “Until the Day is Done,” and the lyrically driven “Hollow Man,” a
two-toned number that juxtaposes Stipe’s quiet reflection on the loneliness of
monotony with an ironically upbeat chorus. The album’s only low point may be “Houston,”
a tedious, melancholy drive that alludes to the likes of “Half a World Away”
but lacks the coherence and purity that fueled that single.

This album affirms that R.E.M. has far from lost the ability
to produce amazing music. Guitarist Peter Buck still interweaves solid,
full-bodied riffs with intensely frenetic chord strumming, and Stipe’s lyrics
are as cryptic and prose-like as ever as he channels the young idealist who
made apocalypse seem like an awesome prospect. Accelerate truly marks the
band’s rebirth, and is well worth a listen.