R.E.M.
Accelerate

REM is one of those bands that tried throughout their career but only made it across the finish line just before their breakup. Mind you, I'm not talking about records sold, which were numerous, and that alone should prompt a couple of reflections on the actual artistic value of the three from Athens - but there it is. So, let's pretend we don't know that REM is richer than the devil and focus on the music. Well, really, nothing against them, but you know... there it is.

REM start in the early 80s with "Murmur" and then remake the same album 73 times. The recipe? The Byrds, the vibrant power-pop chords, improvised lyrics so that anyone can find what they want, occasionally some rather uncomfortable socio-political diatribe, and above all Michael Stipe's emotional baritone, who might seem like a janitor from a technical school (ITIS), but guess what, he's a billionaire pop star. In 1987, "Document" is released, probably their worst album, because it's the embodiment of their normality, with its ups and downs. The guitars are kind of straight and kind of off, wobbling not by choice but from a lack of inspiration, obviously the voice can't keep up so the melodies stink. Except for "Exhuming McCarthy," there's nothing worthwhile. It is here that the balance of REM as artists begins to falter: outside the college-radio myth, they simply reveal themselves as an alt-rock band that the world is okay with but doesn't really want, tired before they even start - then, if it takes you seven years to write your first love song ("The One I Love") and it turns out like that, well, maybe pop music isn't your forte.

I know one might not agree with all this because when "Losing My Religion" arrives and someone decides to put a man on the Moon, REM breaks the box office, however, for a band that gambled everything on goosebumps, on the heartfelt emotional connection with its audience, messing things up badly was not exactly the best. Thankfully, there's "Accelerate," their least inconclusive and ultimately the most beautiful album: finally the guitars roar, no longer like the plastic of the 80s, but finally in a thunderous and sparkling way, like never before. Get two good headphones, start "Supernatural Superserious" and feel the sound come in from both sides, echo in your chest, and mess up your soul. Finally, REM.