posted 05-15-2001 11:38 PM               

R.E.M. is not a band anymore. It's a music assembly organization, and a pretty good one at that. Most of the songs on Reveal make extensive use of samples, loops, and other electronic sounds, and other than on the first single ("Imitation of Life"), it rarely sounds like Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe were together in the studio with their backup musicians playing a song live or semi-live. The result is an "atmospheric" album with a lot of nice touches, but I think it lacks the heart and energy of R.E.M. classics like Automatic for the People and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. The album is on in the background as I write this review; this is my third go-round with Reveal today, and it is definitely growing on me, but for the most part this is an album I'll keep in the background. There, moody, understated songs like "Saturn Rising" or "I've Been High" have the maximum effect, and the loops and samples set a tone rather than lapse into repetitiveness.

That said, there are a few really, really good songs here. We've talked about "Imitation of Life" elsewhere, but it's a great song where the band's musicianship has the chance to shine. I really like the lyrics to "The Lifting," which include the refrain "You've said the air was singing/It's calling you you don't believe/these things you've never seen, never dreamed." It's one of the few very up-tempo songs on the album, and the combined effect feels like a prod to escape and move beyond your preconceptions. (No wonder I find such lyrics appealing, eh?) And there are some truly lovely songs here, like "Beat a Drum" and "I'll Take the Rain," which have a subdued, mellow emotional core that make them an ideal soundtrack for daydreaming. You can't listen to these songs too hard -- you have to let them carry you away. That Buck, Mills and Stipe can put together songs like this is why I still respect them as musicians and as a group, even if I do miss the band they used to be.

I think that people will have much the same response to this album that they did to Up . . . for the most part, the style and approach is similar, as are the strengths and weaknesses. Since I liked Up, I'm happy with Reveal -- but anyone looking for an echo of pre-1998 R.E.M. will probably be disappointed.

posted 07-11-2001 03:51 PM               

quote:

---

Wednesday and Sunday 7/11 & 7/15 at 8PM:
This week - A 90-minute special with REM, recorded live in New York.

KFOG's Big Rick Stuart hosts a national concert
broadcast with......REM! They've decided not to tour
behind the new album "Reveal", so this may be the only
way you'll hear live REM this year..

---

posted 07-01-2003 03:45 AM               

Criminy. R.E.M.'s been my favorite band for something like 13 years now. We're getting very close to half-my-life status there. I'm going to stop that thought right now before I feel any older.