"The story is a sad one, told many times." Michael Stipe sang that line in 1996, and though he seemed to be referring to the decline of a nation into corruption, the line could just as easily refer to a sad story told many times in the music biz. Band records some great songs. Songs catch on like wild fire. Band attracts legions of fans. Band refuses to follow reliable formula on next release. Fans are downright anal, outraged that the band would dare try something risky or experimental.
Of course, in the case of Stipe and his REM cohorts, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills, the band had little choice but to venture into uncharted waters. When drummer Bill Berry exited the band shortly after the release of New Adventures in Hi-Fi and reduced the acclaimed quartet to a trio, REM did the one thing they knew to do: they pursued a brand new sound, worlds apart from the arena rock that had made them superstars.
That's where our sad story begins. REM loses their drummer, who was never the most impressive of musicians to begin with. REM decides not to disband. Fans rejoice. REM releases Up, an adventurous foray into electronica-influenced sounds. Fans ain't so happy. Fans miss the REM of Automatic for the People and Out of Time. REM, already multibillionaires, probably couldn't care less.
Still, it's a shame that many fans were turned off by Up, because it's actually a lovely record. In fact, the disc contains four real gems that justify the price of the CD on their own merit. "Daysleeper," a dreamy acoustic pop tune, celebrates the lives of hard-working, graveyard-shift employees in grand REM fashion; "Lotus," the only song on the record that recalls the arena rock sounds of REM's past, boasts a sly grin of a lyric, delivered by Stipe in a distorted, froggy voice; "At My Most Beautiful," a smiling nod to Brian Wilson, is a deceptively simple love song, one of the best the band has ever recorded; and the unabashedly optimistic "Walk Unafraid" finds Stipe confidently vowing to "trip, fall, pick myself up, and walk unafraid," bringing to mind U2's uplifting anthems of hope.
The other songs ain't bad, either, though some admittedly fare better than others. Not all of them work as highly-listenable pop ditties, but every track is an interesting experiment. "Airportman" is little more than a spoken-word poem, mumbled over a placid sea of electronic noises. "Why Not Smile" sounds like a gentle lullaby, and "Suspicion" and "Hope" are both free-flowing rivers of synthetic beats and chords. If Out of Time proved that REM is one of the world's most melodic rock bands, then Up solidified them as one of the most resourceful.
If there's one downside to Up (how's that for an oxymoron?), it's that the band rendered most of these songs obsolete on Reveal, the masterful follow-up to this album. But that's not really a valid complaint. Also worth noting is that, like Radiohead's Amnesiac, Up is a collection of good songs that sometimes don't gel together as an album quite as well as REM collections usually do. But that's relatively trivial; this album is something of a triumph. It marked the end of REM as we knew them, but, if the Berry-less trio continues to make music as beautiful as this album and Reveal, then I feel fine about it. The new REM material isn't the band at their most rocking, but it is the band at their most beautiful.
Review Summary
1. What does the album sound like?
Dreamy, electronica-influenced pop. But not the dark techno that characterized Radiohead's Kid A or U2's Pop; this is more cheerful, sunny stuff, melodic, experimental, and beautiful.
2. Is the album well made?
Yes. The group makes up for their lack of a drummer with all kinds of exciting sounds that they've never played with before, and Michael Stipe seems to mature as a lyricist on every new release.
3. Will you enjoy the album?
Perhaps. It's not as accessible as Reveal or as rocking as Automatic for the People, but patient listeners who don't mind synthetic sounds should dig it.
4. Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
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