:: Record Review

R.E.M.

Around The Sun
(Warner Bros.; 2004)

Rating: 53%
Combined Rating: 47%

It can be argued that 2004 has been especially kind to the geezers. Several artists whose recording careers began in the early '80s (and even earlier) have managed to put out records that far from being embarrassing, actually stand shoulder to shoulder with their finest work. Morrissey, Mission of Burma, and The Cure have all released comeback bids that were far better than anyone had a right to expect, and while Sonic Youth never really went away, most fifty-year olds don’t make records as excellent as Sonic Nurse, either. And need the public be reminded that Brian Wilson will vie for the top spot on nearly every year end list?

With an exception being made for Smile (read CMG review here), none of the recent records by the aforementioned artists could be described as groundbreaking or original. On the contrary, both the Moz and Robert Smith have openly embraced the concept of ‘knocking themselves off’; which is to say recycling past glories in search of a ‘classic’ sounding album that longtime fans should be able to embrace. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Any of the Head on the Door-influenced songs off the recent Cure record beat the hell out of the supposed innovation of 1996’s ugly Wild Mood Swings. Bands that have subsisted in the better part of three decades have earned the right (should be encouraged?) to shun invention in favor of giving the people what they want (see also: U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind).

Everything leading up to Around the Sun suggested that R.E.M. had finally decided to ease gracefully into the ‘knock off’ portion of their decorated career. In 2003 they toured behind a Greatest Hits album while readily unearthing classics onstage that hadn’t been played since the mid-'80s. Furthermore, the bait tracks on said Hits record, “Bad Day” and “Animal,” were arguably the best pair of new R.E.M. songs in ten years. They could hardly be called original; the former was an unfinished outtake from Life’s Rich Pageant (1986) and the latter was essentially Monster’s (1994) “I Don’t Sleep I Dream” with a new chorus. But both songs were unique among R.E.M.’s recent output in that they had hooks, and with their Peter Buck jangle and fully audible Mike Mills backing vocals, actually sounded like, god forbid, classic R.E.M.!

If Around the Sun had consisted of 13 remixes of “Animal,” nobody would have complained. In fact, expectations for this band, post-Bill Berry, have been so low that it would have been hailed as a return to form. But Around the Sun sounds absolutely nothing like 2003’s new songs, opting instead to take the crystalline overproduction of Reveal (2001) to frightening new extremes. Sounding less like the work of an actual band than a sterile concoction created by scientists in white lab coats, my girl summed it up succinctly when she noted that Around the Sun merely sounds like “the voice of Michael Stipe singing over faceless backing musicians.”

And yet I’m still finding it impossible to outright hate this record because, when stripped of the suffocating production, the songwriting is often excellent. The lyrics on “Make it All Okay” and “High Speed Train” are among Michael Stipe’s most personal in years, and the anti-Dubya tirade “Final Straw” burns with a quiet intensity that not even the horrendous production can mask. There are hooks, too; the goofy pop of “Wanderlust” manages to stick, and if someone had the bright idea to punch up the guitar and provide something resembling a decent drum riff (wasn’t hiring a permanent drummer supposed to fix this?), the title track could have stood very nicely on Green (1988).

I’d be lying if I said that Around the Sun hasn’t grown on me significantly since my first listen. Outright disgust was replaced by simple confusion, and its rating jumped by at least 20 percentage points. Then again, such willingness to forgive might stem from the unconditional love characteristic of a die hard fan; I will never cease to root for the New York Mets despite the recent indefensible decision on the part of their ownership to trade away their best pitching prospect since Dwight Gooden for an underachiever with a bum elbow.

The production values on Around the Sun are equally indefensible; I find it hard to believe that R.E.M. legitimately set out to make a record designed to rock the wine and cheese party alongside Parachutes (2000) and The Best of Sting (1994). Every single track sounds like it could have been written on a laptop, and much needed qualities such as “passion” and “drive” are completely non-existent. There’s less Mike Mills on Around the Sun than there was Kim Deal on Trompe Le Monde (1991), and Peter Buck’s prominent jangle has been reduced to a sterile afterthought. Have they completely forgotten about their fanbase? Has Michael Stipe ever listened to the finished product without being drugged? Scenes from part II of the Lord of the Rings trilogy immediately come to mind with producer Pat McCarthy playing the wicked yes man to Stipe’s hopelessly cursed King Theoden, waiting in vain to be rescued by Vigo Mortensen’s Aragorn.

McCarthy was behind the boards on 2001’s Reveal as well, but while that album had a heavy production job, it at the least sounded somewhat organic---benefiting from a Brian Wilson influence and a summery sheen. Such humanity is in minimal abundance on Around the Sun, which I can’t categorize as a complete failure if only because the songwriting often holds up. R.E.M. has left us with a big ‘What if?’ record that’s screaming for a remix. I would like to think that Around the Sun doesn’t prove to be their swan song, but hopefully their next record won’t take as long to release because they are getting on in years. A return to the basics would be most welcome, because few geezer bands in recent memory have lost the plot as completely as R.E.M. have with Around the Sun.

David M. Goldstein :: 13 October 2004 |