R.E.M. Accelerate: The Live Blog
Posted on March 31st, 2008 by Josh Hathaway
One of the pitfalls of liveblogging is that the beginning stuff gets pushed further down the page and you have to read everything in reverse. There might be some of you who didn’t know what the hell I was doing because you saw the end before you saw the beginning, so here’s a chronological breakdown of it all.
I got an advance copy of R.E.M.’s Accelerate album, due in stores tomorrow morning. Because the album is so short (11 songs, 34 minutes) I thought it would be fun to live blog my real-time, first impressions of the record as I listened to it.
- Living Well Is The Best Revenge
- Mansized Wreath
- Supernatural Superserious
- Hollow Man
- Houston
- Accelerate
- Until The Day is Done
- Mr. Richards
- Sing For the Submarine
- Horse to Water
- I’m Gonna DJ
So, have you heard it? What do you think about Accelerate?
Filed under: Tags: R.E.M.
not surprisingly, i have a completely opposite view on most of these songs.
but…i’m just too freaking tired to write it up.
Haven’t heard it yet, probably won’t until . . . let me see . . . it looks like Thursday (damn you Amazon!) At the moment, however, I’ve got the new Joe Satriani in my ears. Not a groundbreaking album for him either, but I already have a feeling I know which of these two albums will be getting the most attention this year. (Not so subtle hint: it’s this one.) One thing Joe seems to know that REM does not: if you’re “past yer prime,” why not spend your time having a hell of a lot of fun rather than trying to strike newer, more intriguing political poses?
Two things to keep in mind, Mark:
1. This was written on the fly the first time through the record. Not only do I reserve the right to change my mind, it’s almost a certainty I will.
2. You’re wrong; just wrong.
Tom, my R.E.M. shows up early, my Satriani will show up late (Thursday-ish). The album that will show up first (as far as Amazon orders go)? The one I ordered last: The Stones’ Shine a Light.
Fuckin’ Amazon. They task me.
I’m enjoying the album. Do I think it’s the best album of their career, as some critics (I believe Rolling Stone) has proclaimed? No. But it’s damn wonderful.