Top 10 Albums of 2008: #10 - Accelerate by R.E.M.

I know it's a tad late to be just starting my Top 10 list for the year, but I've been a little extra busy at work lately (retail + Christmas = awful), shopping, trying to fill in a few extra shifts at the station, and working on a few extra projects. Blogging has been on the back burner for a bit.

Now, however, it is time without further ado to lay out my Top 10 favorite albums of 2008. We start at the end of the list with #10...

Accelerate from R.E.M.

This album is a bit of a nostalgia pick as R.E.M. has always been my favorite band. On their last couple of records, however, I didn't feel the same sort of connection to the music that I did with their earlier albums. With this one, the connection is back. I've already listened to this album more than any R.E.M. effort since 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

Sometime early this year, I first heard the debut single from this record, "Supernatural Superserious," and knew immediately that Accelerate would be different. For the first time since original drummer Bill Berry left the band, the group's energy was back. The sense of fun was back in the music. Most importantly, the supporting vocals of bass player Mike Mills' were back. Mills' harmony vocals were always one of my favorite parts of the R.E.M. sound, and they've been severely lacking over the last decade. I am more than happy to have them back.

Mills' biggest contribution comes on the track "Man Sized Wreath." That song actually features a bit of the old school R.E.M. staple that I like to call the "call and answer" chorus in which Mills echoes the vocals of lead singer Michael Stipe instead of just providing harmony. On this track, just like the old days, I can often be found singing along with Mills' vocals instead of Stipe's. This is also the song that provides the most unlikely of R.E.M. lyrics... "Kick it out on the dance floor like you just don't care." Somehow, it seems to work.

Other standout tracks include the politically charged "Hollow Man" and the album closer "I'm Gonna DJ." Both tracks provide a workout for lead guitarist Peter Buck (as do most songs on the raucous album), and the latter recalls the band's 1987 hit "It's the End of the World as We Know it (And I Feel Fine)" with visions of a party at the apocalypse.

It seems the primary focus of this record was to strip away some of the sheen and polish and experimentation of their other post-millennial work, and just create a gritty rock and roll record echoing back to the early days when R.E.M. was little more than a punk influenced rock band playing clubs and frat parties back in Athens. In that effort, they largely succeed by keeping the songs short (five of the albums eleven tracks clock in at less than three minutes in length) and raw (Buck's guitars have a fire that hasn't been heard since 1994's Monster).

In short, this is easily my favorite R.E.M. album in over a decade. That alone is enough to merit inclusion on this list. When I saw the group perform in Atlanta this summer (my wife bought me tickets for my birthday), my opinion of the album was only strengthened. The band (all in or near their 50's) filled the stage with as much energy and passion for the music as I had seen in quite some time. That let me know that the initial feeling I got from the album wasn't just an act... R.E.M. was having fun again, and it showed.

R.E.M.: Supernatural Superserious (Buy Album)
R.E.M.: Man Sized Wreath (Buy Album)