Review Summary: Wildly inconsistent and boring.
I assume that anybody who's looking into this album already knows the story of R.E.M. So, to jump past boring biographies: this is probably the best "R.E.M = trio" album (even if it's not saying a lot). First of all, I must say the album suffers from consistently overwrought, overthought production thanks to Pat McCarthy and the band, who are trying to be Nigel Godrich and/or Phil Spector (and failing). That, and a sharp drop in songwriting quality.
Airportman is the most confusing opening track for a R.E.M. album this side of "Drive", with some basic synths and an endless drum loop, augmented by crawling feedback noise. Michael Stipe barely hovers on the edge of hearable (not to mention comprehensible) throughout. Surprisingly the track works well enough, not sounding dull or boring (especially when paying attention to all the ambient touches piled on it) and dying off imperceptibly around the 3:30 mark.
Asleep yet? Tough, 'cause
Lotus barges in like the loudest alarm in the universe. It's as if they placed it at no. 2 just to make sure people won't end up thinking they've accidentally purchased a New Age album (debatable). "Lotus" is basically the strongest track on the whole record, full of energy and catchy hooks at every step, all piled on a simply monstrous groove. Dammit, it's even
fun, something which R.E.M. rarely achieve (other example: "Crush with Eyeliner"). Hell, it's one of the few tracks where everything falls into place and the overproduction hampering most of
Up actually becomes a strong point. As if the boys actually learned how to make proper glam-inspired stuff (four years after
Monster...) A definite high point.
Suspicion doesn't try to live up to "Lotus"' glam craziness, instead working in a more low-key register. It boasts the best bass riff heard on the whole album, and again the production manages to not sound laboured (despite presence of strings, drum machines, vibraphone, rhodes, synths, meticulous vocal harmonies etc). To sum up, the song is simultaneously... er, sensous and creepy. That sounds about right. It's a pleasant if way too soft-ish and low-key song.
The opening triptych is over, so the rest of the album will now be a seriously bumpy ride.
Hope abuses the melody of a Leonard Cohen song (apparently), but the song isn't much in any case. The limp drum machine used on it manages to sap the energy, and the repetitive distorted-synth hook gets boring quick. Oh, and yes, the overproduction re-asserts itself. The song sounds like
U2 trying to make an
Air record. And that's not covering how it plods for an interminable 5 minutes. Pass.
At My Most Beautiful. Or, more accurately, At My Most Beach Boys Ripping-off. The track is maudlin and trite musically, even if the lyrics are... rather okay. And the sleigh bells scattered throughout sound like an attempt at "Airbag" gone wrong. This track's stupidity is beyond words. And, to repeat: it's overproduced. Count: piano, shakers, sleigh bells, organ, violins,
Beach Boys harmonies, horns. All clinical, no feeling. It's worse than "Everybody Hurts", which at least transcends its potential for triteness and becomes something else.
With
The Apologist, the album finally seems to be picking up pace. It begins with some driving, tribal percussion and menacing strummed guitar. Sadly, the lyrics send it straight down the cr
apper. Sample refrain:
"I'm sorry/So sorry/So sorry/So sorry/So sorry". Irreversibly compromised, the song proceeds to go nowhere and waste a pretty cool drum track. Skip.
Lo and behold,
Sad Professor, a track that actually manages to be good. It is another drowsy mid-tempo sludge, but the distorted guitars added occasionally (recalling
The Bends, specifically "Fake Plastic Trees".) manage to keep it going. And luckily, the band rein in the production somewhat. Only somewhat. At some points in the song, Michael actually punches through the murk and delivers strong vocals, considering how he's generally falling in the back of the mix for most of the album.
You're In The Air crams in a lot of things from the first notes, but it still comes off as okay. As a song it possesses a rather good guitar hook, and again the added strings come off as forced and hokey. At 2:00 something that sounds like a sitar is actually added, and the song takes flight. Sadly between this bit and its next repetition there's a two-minute gap with the song wandering aimlessly. Score one for the album in this case then, YITA beats a lot of other filler here.
Walk Unafraid seems like an experiment in trying to be more lively while still being midtempo. And don't be mistaken, most of
Up is given to boring, way too self-conscious midtempo boredom. More of the same. In fact the song is horrifyingly listless and generic, to the point that even the distorted drum loops sound basically passé and limp. No, this song doesn't require any further words. It's sleep-inducing.
Why Not Smile's nice, ethereal marimba intro manages to go to waste as well, quickly adding a harpsichord, guitar and organ. The drum machines on the song come off as pointless. This might have been a good track if somebody else did it. On
Up, it just sinks to the bottom and ends up another brick in the wall. And now, those blasts of processed guitar noise/feedback are officially pissing me off. Okay gimmick the first song, too bad it's so overused on just about every track.
Hooray!
Daysleeper! Sadly it's the last good track on the album. But what the hell, this is as good as it gets by now. The electronics-heavy production and spacy arrangement echo Mr. Stipe's ruminations on lack of sleep well without being sterile and canned. The middle ambient breakdown part is particularly effective. But by the time you wake up, it's over. And the record continues its spiral into increasingly sleepy, trippy arrangements...
Diminished is basically more electronicky mood music, with generic, unmemorable riffs but okay usage of slide guitar. Nothing particularly good, and it drones on for 6 minutes. The pain. This track is, again, to be avoided.
Parakeet is the same: sleepy droning arrangements overloaded with instruments and boring melodies, with an even larger predominance for synths.
Falls to Climb, thank God, is the last track on this damn album. More of the same, synth-driven ambient soundscape shenanigans. And like almost every other track before it, it manages the spectacular feat of evaporating into thin air while still playing. Though I won't fault its melodies, they're actually a bit of a step up from Diminished.
Conclusion? This album is bad. Way too self-conscious, way too overproduced, way too sleepy (even
Automatic for the People is less sleepy than this), way too meandering. A noble experiment, yes, but still a failure. Get the first three tracks, the 8th one and the 11th one, and then you can safely trash it.
'guess you're lucky, you get something out of it.
