Up

Today's Music of the Day is Up, by R.E.M. I gave some thought to writing about another R.E.M. album, such as the superb Reckoning, but Up seems like an album that has more mixed opinions than most R.E.M. albums. Plus, it has some sentimental value to it.

Up, for those of you non-R.E.M. fans, is the first album that the band made after Bill Berry left to go farm somewhere in Georgia. It's very much not an R.E.M. album in either mood or sound, even with all the distinctive Stipe vocals. This album is decidedly withdrawn and rooted in despair, with nary a friendly rock song to be found. It's strangely electronic in many places, not quite a shoegaze album (do people still use that term?). This album, more than any other, doesn't fit with the rest of R.E.M.'s catalog; I suppose only time will tell if it's a welcome departure or just an anomaly.

(Someone made the point that this album had some interesting parallels to Radiohead's Kid A; both albums were radical changes from the band's traditional sound, going more electronic and sparse, but the reception for each couldn't have been more different. Up was viewed as something of an abberation, whereas Kid A was viewed as a bold statement.)

Having said all that, I do enjoy this album for what it is, even if I would have preferred something more along the lines of New Adventures in Hi-Fi. As it is, the album had some high points, a fair amount of meandering, and some songs that were fair but just not affecting. I don't think it's one of R.E.M.'s better albums, but it's not bad, just far different than what anyone would have expected. In hindsight, it looks much better; at the time, some long-time R.E.M. fans really thought we were seeing the band put one foot in the grave.

Well, enough depressing historical perspective. This album does have some songs that I like - the Leonard Cohen-inspired "Hope" is pretty good, and everyone should enjoy "Lotus". "Falls to Climb" is too somber to really be enjoyable but it's a nice song. If this album had carried the sneer of "Lotus" all the way through, with a couple semi-anthems like "Daysleeper", it would have been a more natural progression.

So, to summarize: Not the best R.E.M. album, but an interesting listen and a historical curiosity.

In Other News:
I'll be damned if Ben Folds' "Mess" isn't the song of the day for me.
"and i don't believe in god
so i can't be saved
all alone as i've learned to be
in this mess i have made..."

HOLY CRAP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_Ballet