How simple it all seems with time. Collapse Into Now, R.E.M.'s final album on contract with Warner Brothers, was declared by many as a return to form and the band's most listenable effort in more than a decade and a half. What a bittersweet affair, then, that this record has turned out to be now that they've announced their retirement, effective immediately. Using Collapse as their exit strategy, they knowingly crafted a love letter of an album. It's a fond farewell to each other, to their legacy as a band and more than anything, to their (some would say long-suffering) fans. And in the process, they reminded us why we all loved them so much to begin with and why, ultimately, we'll miss them so much down the road.
And all they had to do was sound like R.E.M.
All facets of R.E.M. are on display here: the elegiac beauty of Automatic for the People, the up-tempo strumminess of Out of Time, the anarchic fuzzbox glee of Monster. Stipe's vocals are worth the price of admission alone as he veers from personality to personality with ease. He goes from mournful crooning to ecstatic wordplay (word vomit as he's called it in past interviews) to defiant pronouncements as if he's covering the whole of his career in just one disc.
Unlike a lot of bands, R.E.M. has never successfully recouped on tensions within the group. At their best, they defined themselves with a cohesive artistic vision- whether it was the acoustic Out of Time or the 90's glam Monster. And while past efforts may have seemed chronically laborious for both the band and listeners, this album feels more like a joyuous rediscovery of all the best that the band has always had to offer. They sound at ease with themselves, as though they're unburdened of the baggage of being R.E.M. and finally able to just enjoy it for what it is.
It's almost as if they're finally throwing themselves that apocalyptic party they've always wanted to.
essential listening:
Uberlin
All the Best
Mine Smell Like Honey
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