By
Andy Frisk
March 6, 2011 - 12:29
In the 1980s and early 1990s R.E.M. and U2 often vied with each other for the title of “Biggest Band in the World,” and although R.E.M. will most likely never see the incredible commercial success that they garnered during those years, they definitely stake a valid claim to remaining one of the Best Bands in the World with the release of their best album since…well...at least the 1980s and early 1990s. Their critically and commercially successful trio of albums comprised of Out of Time (1991), Automatic for The People (1992), and Monster (1994), which really should be a quartet including the much underrated New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996), launched them into stratospheric acclaim and adulation, but after the departure of founding drummer Bill Berry the trio of Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills soldiered on into unknown and, often times, much more subdued and experimental sonic territory. While albums like Up, Reveal, and Around the Sun definitely had some rocking and rollicking moments, they really didn’t have the literary, metaphorical, and rock ‘n roll punch their earlier offerings did. With Accelerate (2008) though, the makers of college rock for English Majors began to return to the more upbeat and lyrical tone that they sort of abandoned for a while. Collapse into Now (2011) delivers on the promise of Accelerate and is the defining type of alt rock/college rock album that R.E.M. is renown for. It's also the type of album that will rank with their aforementioned big four albums in stature, if not commerical sucess.
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Collapse Into Now opens with the driving rock track “Discoverer” which sets the tone for the whole album musically and thematically. Stipe, his gravelly and slightly mumbled voice sounding strong as ever (albeit a big more aged), states, “that just the slightest bit of finesse/might have made a little less mess.” He hasn’t lost his knack for being a poetic lyricist and demonstrates his talent as a wordsmith throughout the album. “All the Best,” the album’s second track, places us firmly in classic R.E.M. territory while showcasing guitarist Peter Buck’s minimalist playing that sounds like so much more in the listening. “Uberlin,” Collapse Into Now’s third track, is where the first acoustic guitar shows up. Buck overlays his rhythmic playing with some more great minimalism, this time in the form of the album’s first real guitar solo. “Oh My Heart” opens with some blasts from a New Orleans inspired horn section before slipping into one of Buck’s signature acoustic riffs that would be at home on Automatic for The People. The New Orleans reference is fitting since "Oh My Heart" is Stipe's tribute to post Katrina New Orleans (where much of the album was recorded). It's not an overly inspiring track, but its stirring melancholy dovetails nicely into the album's next track that perhaps thematically references New Orleans' rebirth as a metaphor for rebirth in general. “It Happened Today,” the album’s first single (at least according to iTunes), is a wonderfully transcendent track that opens with a reverse recording of some electric guitar riffing that explodes into the type of song that borders on the hymn-like type of rapture that only U2 does better and that Pearl Jam has gotten steadily better at over the years. Ironically, or perhaps not so ironically, “It Happened Today” features the first of the album’s three guest stars with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder lending his uniquely powerful brand of transcendent wail to the backing vocals. “Everyday is Yours to Win” opens with a long rhyming stream of consciousness of the type that Stipe has virtually trademarked in the rock world as much as Joyce has in the world of literature. It’s a track laden with echo and ambience that is grounded when Buck’s fuzzy but discernable guitar line hits about two minutes into it. “Mine Smell Like Honey” revives the driving rock aesthetic of the album and clears the pallet for the albums second half. “Walk It Back” is perhaps the album’s weakest offering, yet it is another track that would feel at home on Automatic for The People so it’s not a poor track by any sense of the imagination. It’s another acoustic guitar driven song that touches on regret. Nothing groundbreaking here, but it is R.E.M doing one of the things they continue to do best, which is deliver great acoustic ballads. “Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter” is an alliterative, rhyming egoistic jaunt peppered with some self effacing self slapping. “I have got, have got a lot to learn,” Stipe refrains. It also features the album’s second set of guest vocals, this time by Peaches. The track also is home to Buck’s most interesting guitar soloing on the entire album. “That Someone Is You” is, yet again (and thankfully), another signature R.E.M. driving rock track that sonically bursts into existence with an almost grungy/garage-like guitar intro. The fact that they guys peppered the album with so many of these types of tracks helps hold the album together as a real rock album and makes the quieter moments all the more poignant. “Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando, And I” begins the album’s slow descent towards its powerful ending. It muses on the nature of our modern heroes, fictional or otherwise, and the ambiguity inherent in their character, and our own, through the metaphor of Marlon Brando, the actor famous for portraying such characters. The album’s final track “Blue” is the album’s most complex track musically and lyrically. Buck weaves together three separate guitar riffs beautifully. An acoustic guitar lays down the basic rhythm which is augmented by some electric guitar strumming. Both are overlaid by some haunting ambient electric guitar riffs. The mixture is as much sonic bliss as Stipe’s complex and staccato delivered poetry is lyric bliss. Before the track ends with a reprise of “Discoverer,” thusly bringing the album full circle, the album’s third guest vocalist Patti Smith chimes in for a few verses.
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All in all, Collapse Into Now is perhaps R.E.M.’s most consistent album lyrically and sonically. This is the sound of three guys who have lived through obscurity, cult-like status devotion, mega stardom, a seeming twilight of their careers, personal upheaval and change, and have grown into the position of being sage elder statesmen of alt rock (much like the Red Hot Chili Peppers have been describes as—I borrow the phrase and apply it to R.E.M. just as justifiably). Through it all they haven’t lost their ability to craft intelligent, touching, transcendent, and powerful rock music. Here's to a hope for more. If Collapse Into Now is any indication, they’re far from finishing to enlighten us.
Rating: 10 / 10
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