Listening to an R.E.M. CD for the first time is serious business around here. I actually gave up reading a Kafka biography to listen to this uninterrupted. My favorite tracks so far: "Leaving New York" (a shoo-in), "Wanderlust," "The Ascent of Man," and the title track. I found myself wanting this record to be louder; the general tone is sedate in a familiarly "Reveal"-ish sense. Of course, it's clever, intelligent and engagingly listenable, but I would have welcomed something more along the lines of "Document" or "Life's Rich Pageant" -- if for no other reason than I'm angry and I think R.E.M. should be angry too. Or angrier than they sound. But you can't fault their maturity for not retreading past successes (something they're uncannily good at). After all, if I want anger I've got Morrissey's "You Are the Quarry."
Monday, October 11, 2004
Ever since "Automatic for the People," I've purchased R.E.M.'s albums on release day. Today I broke my streak; I picked up "Around the Sun," the group's latest, a few days late. But better late than never.
Listening to an R.E.M. CD for the first time is serious business around here. I actually gave up reading a Kafka biography to listen to this uninterrupted. My favorite tracks so far: "Leaving New York" (a shoo-in), "Wanderlust," "The Ascent of Man," and the title track. I found myself wanting this record to be louder; the general tone is sedate in a familiarly "Reveal"-ish sense. Of course, it's clever, intelligent and engagingly listenable, but I would have welcomed something more along the lines of "Document" or "Life's Rich Pageant" -- if for no other reason than I'm angry and I think R.E.M. should be angry too. Or angrier than they sound. But you can't fault their maturity for not retreading past successes (something they're uncannily good at). After all, if I want anger I've got Morrissey's "You Are the Quarry."
Listening to an R.E.M. CD for the first time is serious business around here. I actually gave up reading a Kafka biography to listen to this uninterrupted. My favorite tracks so far: "Leaving New York" (a shoo-in), "Wanderlust," "The Ascent of Man," and the title track. I found myself wanting this record to be louder; the general tone is sedate in a familiarly "Reveal"-ish sense. Of course, it's clever, intelligent and engagingly listenable, but I would have welcomed something more along the lines of "Document" or "Life's Rich Pageant" -- if for no other reason than I'm angry and I think R.E.M. should be angry too. Or angrier than they sound. But you can't fault their maturity for not retreading past successes (something they're uncannily good at). After all, if I want anger I've got Morrissey's "You Are the Quarry."
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