GrantNicholas

For me, it's not an "MTV album" (come on, do songs like "Some Kind Of Monster" seem like high rotation material to you?), it's simply not great. The review is a bit too sparse.

With the crap in the genre that's going around now, I miss them. At least in heavy rotation, there were them and not Good Charlotte.

Welcome. However, the review is a bit too fan-like.

MASKED POP MUSIC WRITER? Well... the review is good, but I don’t agree on With Teeth, which to me is as radio-friendly as Fantomas. I’m downloading the new album, I’ll give it a listen.

Listen, New Adv will follow trends, but the influences are reworked with personality and greater conviction by the band, and the quality of the tracks is several notches above Monster. Monster, on the other hand, is a copy and paste of the sounds of that period. I’ll give you that the sounds of Monster are more catchy and less gloomy, but that doesn’t mean better quality.

Read my comment above. I labeled New Adventures as a masterpiece. I repeat: this is the only R.E.M. album that I don't like. I won't discuss the others.

So, let's clarify: all this hostility towards Around is unjustified, in my opinion. Find me another band that after 20 years of career releases a pop-rock album of that caliber; Stipe in monstrous form at nearly 50 years old, a perfect overall sound, at least 2 songs that deserve the status of REM classics (Final Straw, Leaving New York), deeply moving lyrics that perfectly express the band's state of mind regarding the then-current situation in the United States. But the most ridiculous accusation is that it's a cold album, that it doesn't come from the heart; that's nonsense. A band that just wants to cash in doesn't write an album with 12 ballads (admittedly, it's a bit dull), with lyrics so harsh that they put many Americans off (indeed, REM's sales in the USA are plummeting while in Europe they are among the most followed). The media backlash from the public and fans that that album faced is shameful. That's how I see it. Monster, on the other hand, has always given me the impression of being cold and calculated. Don't get me wrong, it can be liked, I don't doubt it, the sound is catchy, but the songs, in terms of lyrics and quality, seemed to me to be the worst ever from REM.

Well, to each their own. Around The Sun might be worse as you say, but at least it wasn’t an attempt to follow trends like Monster. That's how I see it, what can I do...

Great wrecking. Here’s your 5 of (dis)trust. Regards.

Hi Cptgaio. I love REM, in fact, I really appreciated AROUND THE SUN as well. But for me, this isn't them; they've forced their way into a territory where they don't truly belong. Taken on its own, it might even be a decent album, but I repeat, I consider it an insincere record. What do you think?