Search - Rem :: Around the Sun (Spec)

Good Grief

Jack Thompson | Los Angeles, CA | 10/15/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"What marketing genius came up with this? Repackage the same boring songs and charge twice as much. I am embarrassed for Mike, Peter and Michael to use this type of marketing on their fans just to add a little cushion in their wallet. I'll save my money for the complete REM box set (from day 1) and hopefully it will include some behind the scenes pics and videos from the early days and not some lack-luster posters just so they can sell it as a "special edition" People please...be smart and do not encourage this type of marketing. Just buy the regular cd and enjoy."

R.E.M.'s Next Finest Hour...

S. Bowen | Freiburg, Germany | 10/07/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"R.E.M. fans are forced to wait a long time inbetween album releases, and for good reason. Perhaps the hallmark of a true creativity is the willingness and ability to wipe the slate clean, forget everything great and good that preceded the last best thing and dig deep to find, yet again, some new territory.



Around The Sun is stripped down, raw, beautiful song writing. Stipe's voice is ever searching for nuances and ways to haunt us in a way that only he can do.



Lyrically this is probably the richest and most complex of R.E.M.'s work to date. Stipe clearly wishes to say more and emerge from the shadows of his own enigma, and yet there is always the slippage, the question and the mystery of what he actually wants to say. It's still up to the listener to discern and to put the pieces together.



This isn't a perfect album. Sure, it doesn't rock (Green). It isn't pop ballad brilliance (Automatic For The People) or quite R.E.M. in the peak of their audaciousness (New Adventures in Hi-Fi). Around The Sun is crafted, thoughtful, poignant and has something to say. It may not rock you but it'll warm your heart and, in the way Stipe does so well, you won't know whether you want to cry or wiggle a strange happy dance.

"