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Rating: R.E.M. are finally back.
After “Reveal,” the splendid album created in 2001, the Georgia band has made possible the creation of another great work: “Around The Sun.” This LP, characterized by ballads, is distinguished by the band's typical sound and the usual soothing voice of the frontman, which presents great musicality.
It is a slow and harmonious album, in which one can find a subtle vein of hope, that hope which, after the horrors of September 11th, has taken hold of the American national spirit. There is a deep desire for reconstruction on this record, the renewal that the band hopes for with the possible leadership of the Kerry government.
Undoubtedly, the political element is present, but this does not mean the album should be labeled as a political album; R.E.M. is a musical band that is affected by the international situation, being strongly influenced by it. Tracks like “I Wanted To Be Strong” are direct songs written in a totally spontaneous and natural way, they are songs that reflect the activism of the Georgia group, which, in a few days, will embark on the “Vote For Change” tour with Bruce Springsteen.
“Around The Sun” is a spontaneous, inspired, and heartfelt record, a homogeneous record as the Athens band asserts without any prevarication; an album that can rely on songs that retrace the tradition of R.E.M., such as: “Leaving New York” born from the deep love for the “big apple”, “Boy In The Well”, “The Worst Joke Ever” in which Stipe sings: “Now I am floating, I feel released. The moonrings have been dropped, the weights unleashed. Everything is crystalline, simple and free.”.
Experimental songs are not lacking such as “Electrolite Blue”, or “The Outsiders” in which Stipe has enlisted the presence of Q-TIP singer from A Tribe Called Quest.
“Around The Sun,” while not being one of the band's best albums, is a work in which Stipe's voice emerges once again, that voice that continues to deliver emotions, that continues to accompany the listener on a mental journey towards the world of hidden dreams.
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Other reviews
By francis
"'Leaving New York' is the best song of the year and would alone be worth the price of the CD."
"Around The Sun presents R.E.M. as melancholic minstrels in a world moving too fast, forgetting life's true meaning."
By NickGhostDrake
R.E.M. have been everything to me. They’ve been my youth, my lost innocence, and my anger that still remains.
Around the sun opens up to you so slowly that it seems stationary.
By mantaray
Listening is always pleasant, but it lacks the depth that allowed other R.E.M. works to endure over time.
The melodies are often a bit predictable, and the presence of 'Leaving New York' as the first track gives the unpleasant sensation that the best course is served first.
By STIPE
R.E.M. is now like a three-legged dog, but still a dog that manages to walk.
Not the best R.E.M. album but not a bad one either.
By Starblazer
From the first note to the last I was simply Mesmerized. Hypnotized. Fascinated.
I bow and take my hat off to the ugliest and least inspired album by R.E.M., the lowest point in their career, a true misstep.
