{"id":25715,"date":"2023-07-26T05:30:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T09:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25715"},"modified":"2023-07-25T14:02:37","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T18:02:37","slug":"album-review-r-e-m-collapse-into-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/26\/album-review-r-e-m-collapse-into-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: R.E.M. — Collapse Into Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"After the mixed reception that greeted 2004\u2019s Around the Sun<\/i><\/a>, R.E.M. seemed to rally with its studio followup, Accelerate<\/i>, released four years later. Both critical response and sales figures seemed to acknowledge that album\u2019s improvement over its predecessor. The group toured briefly in support of Accelerate<\/i>, but with the benefit of hindsight it now seems clear that the alternarock heroes were winding things down.<\/p>\n

It would be three more years until another R.E.M. studio album appeared. The three remaining members \u2013 vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills \u2013 had made the decision even before sessions began that Collapse Into Now<\/i> would be their final record. While they didn\u2019t make public their intention to disband, all three made it clear in interviews that there would be no live dates in support of the album. Six months after Collapse Into Now<\/i>\u2019s March 2011 release, R.E.M. made it official and announced the end of the group.<\/p>\n

The end wasn\u2019t acrimonious; in retrospect, it was merely the next \u2013 okay, final<\/i> \u2013 step in the group’s 31 year run. And while Collapse Into Now<\/i> is not exactly Abbey Road<\/i>, it does represent the group wrapping things up on its terms, not someone else\u2019s. Certainly not the greatest entry in R.E.M.\u2019s catalog, their last record is certainly not least among the band\u2019s releases. In fact it holds up well against prime-era (i.e. I.R.S. releases and Out of Time<\/i>) albums. And as with the recent vinyl reissue of Around the Sun<\/i>, a new LP release of Collapse Into Now<\/i> presents a fineopportunity to give this overlooked album another listen.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more than bit jarring to spin Collapse Into Now<\/i> immediately after listening to R.E.M.\u2019s debut single \u201cRadio Free Europe.\u201d But then what bunch of guys in their 50s resembles that same crowd when they were 20? Especially in light of the journey that the group embarked upon in those intervening 31 years, Collapse Into Now<\/i> is best measured on its own merits, setting aside (as much as is possible) such larger contexts.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not practical,<\/i> so my exploration of the record will be peppered with references to the band\u2019s past work.<\/p>\n

The record opens with \u201cDiscoverer,\u201d a tidy reconciliation of the textures that made early R.E.M. special alongside the big sound of the band\u2019s later Warner Brothers releases. The song dewlivers a kind of post-jangle vibe, hinting at the Rickebacker sound of I.R.S. record but with the heft and punch of Mosnter-and-beyond releases. And Stipe\u2019s wonderfully inscrutable vocalisms return; they seem more suited for the music than the more straightforward singing of later albums.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the Best\u201d is another strong tune; in places Buck\u2019s guitar work is reminiscent of Hindu Love Gods\u2019 cover of Prince\u2019s \u201cRaspberry Beret.\u201d Two songs in and the band is rocking harder than it did anywhere on Around the Sun<\/i>. And the hook is sharp. Mills\u2019 top-notch basswork had long served as a kind of countermelodic device, and it does so skillfully here. His (or someone\u2019s) keyboards enhance, not overwhelm, the tune. And after just under three minutes of hard charging, the song stops o na dime, much like the R.E.M. of old. Splendid.<\/p>\n

One could be forgive for thinking of \u201c\u00dcberlin\u201d as a kid of \u201cLosing My Religion\u201d rewrite; from Stipe\u2019s vocal delivery to Buck\u2019s mandolin, it does indeed possess a character quite similar to that tune. Set that similarity aside and what\u2019s left is an ace tune with great harmonies and a yearning, melancholy character. \u201c\u00dcberlin\u201d may be the best late-period song from the group.<\/p>\n

Horns aren\u2019t something one might expect to find on an R.E.M. album, but here they are (briefly) on \u201cOh My Heart.\u201d Like its predecessor, the song feels oddly familiar: should we call this album Outtakes of Time<\/i>? Buck\u2019s lovely mandolin and Scott McCaughey\u2019s accordion come together to make something lovely.<\/p>\n

A thread connecting many of the Collapse Into Now<\/i> tracks is the band\u2019s predilection for a few seconds of red-herring sonics to open each track. \u201cIt Happened Today\u201d continues this theme. Once that\u2019s out of the way, the song unfolds into a widescreen arrangement long on vocalisms and fairly short on lyrics. And it works remarkably well. One can imagine the song working quite well live in concert, but of course that never happened.<\/p>\n

The contemplative \u201cEvery Day is Yours to Win\u201d is reminiscent of Automatic for the People<\/i>\u2019s dialed-down energy. Buck\u2019s squalling guitar lines are deftly placed at strategic points into the arrangement. Drummer Bill Rieflin holds way back for the song\u2019s first half, and when he comes in, it\u2019s tastefully done.<\/p>\n

Setting aside its uncharacteristically sophomoric title, \u201cMine Smell Like Honey\u201d should please fans of Green<\/i> and Monster<\/i>-era R.E.M. The song roars with spirit, energy and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll commitment. \u201cWalk it Back\u201d is the kind of piano-centric tune that predominated Around the sun, but its dolorous melody and spare vocal are effective in their own way. Buck\u2019s subtle guitar work here is evocative of Ziggy Stardust<\/i>-era Mick Ronson.<\/p>\n

R.E.M. has always had in this toolbox the ability to rock out; they do just that on the thrilling \u201cAlligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter.\u201d Guest guitarist Lenny Kaye helps out in that regard, and backing vocalist Peaches sounds in turn like Kate Pierson and Lita Ford. The guitar licks are as memorable and catchy as anything in the band\u2019s catalog.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Someone is You\u201d feels like a rewrite of parts of \u201cIn\u2019s the End of the World (And I Feel Fine),\u201d but 31 years into their run, R.E.M. has more than earned the right to chase its own tail once in a while. Considered on its own, it\u2019s a solid melodic rocker.<\/p>\n

Idiosyncratic titles crop up throughout the R.E.M. catalog. And \u201cMe, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I\u201d is another entry in that category. Rieflin\u2019s cymbal-less percussion and the arrangement\u2019s subtle string work combine to create a haunting feel. For listeners who appreciate the downtempo, thoughtful side of the band, this is an overlooked gem.<\/p>\n

The last track on the last R.E.M. album is a cowrite with Patti Smith. Everything about feel like a farewell. The heavily reverbed guitar squeals, Stipe\u2019s near-manic spoken recitation and Smith\u2019s haunting vocal add up to a mysterious yet somehow fitting final bow from the group. There\u2019s something heartbreaking about the song. And the fact that it\u2019s the only song on the LP for which lyrics aren\u2019t printed only adds to its mystery. The extended, shoegazey instrumental outro leads into a kind of reprise of the opening track, bringing thing full circle.<\/p>\n

And full circle is as good a description as any for the last word from R.E.M. The album reprises most all of the qualities that made the group special, wrapping everything up in a collection of solid songs \u2013no truly weak ones \u2013 that serves as a fitting goodbye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the mixed reception that greeted 2004\u2019s Around the Sun, R.E.M. seemed to rally with its studio followup, Accelerate, released four years later. Both critical response and sales figures seemed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,64,65,73],"tags":[1773,1817],"class_list":["post-25715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rawk","category-reissue","category-review","category-vinyl","tag-r-e-m","tag-rem","cat-62-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25715"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25718,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25715\/revisions\/25718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}