R.E.M. - Up
First impressions
R.E.M. have done little wrong in my eyes ever (OK "Out of Time" was a bit dodgy) but "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" was a return to the R.E.M. of old in many ways. "Up", the first album by the three legged dog, definitely isn't a bad album. The approach is different, many of the songs are drenched in synths, but the song-writing is still there. It's rocky in places and very gentle in others - I haven't found a bad song on it. "At My Most Beautiful" sounds like it could be their biggest single in a number of years, (it was! - future ed.) but it hasn't been one of the first two - ah well. Just another great R.E.M. album then.
On Reflection
This album hasn't stayed with me nearly as long as I thought that it would - it slipped as a regular off the playlist quite quickly. Perhaps it's that the rockers aren't that convincing and therefore the whole LP lacks contrast as many of the tracks are mid-paced songs, or that there aren't any obvious singles (one or two are usually nice). Whatever. "Walk Unafraid" is great, so is "Sad Professor". And "Falls To Climb" is very stately. But picking songs out of this LP is difficult. Some people will give up on it and dismiss it because of this, but that would be unfair. Hard work but still worth investing the time.