Sound Check

Killer comeback

R.E.M. are back on form

R.E.M.
Accelerate
Warner Music

Accelerate is the follow-up to 2004�s Around the Sun and the 14th studio album from veteran alternative rockers R.E.M.

R.E.M. have changed their style over the last few years � from the folky gloom of Out of Time and Automatic for the People in the �90s to their recent overproduced and rather sappy efforts.

Now they�ve finally decided to rock again with Accelerate, and it�s the first time in years that R.E.M. actually sound like a proper band.

With 11 songs clocking in at less than 35 minutes, Accelerate is the opposite of Around the Sun in every way. The music has a raw, solid, stripped-down sound, and every song is straight to the point.

This album marks a return to the harder college-rock sound of their pre-major-label days, a sound that�s guitar driven and edgy. Even the acoustic songs rock.

The first three tracks on the record are some of the best songs that R.E.M. have ever come up with. �Man-Sized Wreath� and the first single, �Supernatural Superserious,� are first class.

�Hollow Man� and the title track sound like some of their best �80s rock songs, while the catchy �Mr Richards� is one of the finest moments on the album.

R.E.M. have made a killer comeback with Accelerate. It�s definitely one of best albums they�ve ever put out, and one of the best records you�re likely to hear this year. � TB

	gloom (n): a feeling of being sad and without hope sappy (adj): silly and sentimental; full of unnecessary emotion solid (adj): strong and made well