R.E.M. "COLLAPSE INTO NOW"

I love R.E.M. I want to love this album.  I'm not one of those guys who doesn't like anything they've done in decades - in fact, I really dug their last album, Accelerate.

I don't have much to say about it, though. It's a bit disappointing, coming after Accelerate. Lots of it reminds me of classic R.E.M., but I don't feel that any of it is actually classic.

I read an interview with Peter Buck where he said it was as good of an album as they could make right now. He's a long time fan of music, and the guy has no tolerance for bullshit. He's saying it's a good album for middle aged guys with lots of money and nothing to prove.

The problem for me is, Accelerate was a great album for middle aged guys with lots of money and nothing to prove.

It actually pains me to write this. I rarely go negative on my blog, and I don't really ever do it with my favorite artists. But I don't really recommend this one, unless you're a completist.  That said, I've read lots of very positive reviews of it, and I'm glad that other people like it.