R.E.M. - Around The Sun

[ForeverAutumn]

Picked this up yesterday.

On first spin...blah. One stand-out track, Electron Blue. Otherwise, BLAH.

On second spin...Hmmm. Okay, maybe I judged to harshly. It's not bad. Some decent stuff here. Another stand-out track, Final Straw. Although, I'd really like to hear that one sung by Tom Russell.

On third spin...Hey, this disk is actually really good! I'm totally digging it. Just needed some time for it to grow on me. I'm looking forward to the fourth spin.

It's not an instant grabber. More like a slowwwww creep. But in a good way.

Rating:

Three and a half Smilies that could grow to four.

[3-LockBox]

I was wondering about this one. Did you hear Reveal? I liked a few off of that one.

BTW: funny quote...is it yours?

[Mr MidFi]

It does, indeed, grow on you (like virtually all REM albums must). Having now seen many of these songs performed live, I like them even more. But I'm going to stick with my original overall assessment: it's tasteful and tuneful, but not exciting. Which is not a bad thing, really. It's damn near perfect for 10 a.m. on a Sunday, for example.

Reveal grew on me much more.

Of course, being the resident REM fanboy around here (or at least one of them), I'm expected to love them unconditionally. And yeah, I still do. But I wouldn't rank this one in the top half of their collected efforts.

I would, however, rank it among my favorite releases of this year. So there.

[ForeverAutumn]

I was wondering about this one. Did you hear Reveal? I liked a few off of that one.

BTW: funny quote...is it yours?

I have Reveal. But I haven't listened to it much. I'm gonna pull it out for the weekend and give it a spin.

I like Mr. Midfi's assessment of the new one. Really good tunes but lacking excitement. Definately good Sunday morning fare. Its worth the money if you're a fan, but I don't think it's gonna earn them any new fans. Heck, they can sell out concerts here in minutes (that's why I've never been able to see them live) so maybe they don't need new fans.

I found that quote in a pub, written on a dart board, in a tiny little town in northern Ontario, called Burk's Falls. Blink and you'll miss it. And watch out for the radar traps, it's a popular "sting" zone.

[Finch Platte]

I've got a comp I'm sending you w/ a remix of Final Straw (MoveOn mix) on it, along w/ the Finger 11 disc.

It's (Final Straw) an interesting song. I rather enjoy it. I'm not a big REM fan, but this doesn't really sound like them.

fp