In the mid-1990s, R.E.M. were arguably the biggest pop sensation on the planet, and this album, their tenth, was the fourth in a run of consecutive no 1 UK albums. I hadn't really noticed them until Out Of Time, their UK breakthrough and the first in that no 1 run, and remember being somewhat ambivalent about them. I liked a lot of the songs, but found Michael Stipe rather too earnest and annoying for my liking.
Twenty seven years on, I find this album in a box just unpacked, part of the couple of hundred which don't make the main downstairs case - the rationale for which seems more random every day! I've no recollection of buying it, but it's one which sold millions and a couple of decades later had flooded charity shops.
There are no great surprises here. It's a collection of very listenable and well crafted songs, a mixture of slow ballads, powerful rock songs, and even a guest appearance by the very wonderful Patti Smith on E-Bow The Letter. And it's a really enjoyable background listen, without too much there making me sit up and say "Wow!", and if anything, the nice songs start to drag by the end. Still, How The West Was Won, Wake Up Bomb, Departure and final track Electrolite stand out.
Are R.E.M. sounding tired and 'going through the motions' by now? Possibly, but they were still producing worthwhile listening, without breaking any new ground.
3* - a decent enough album, even if there's nothing particularly new or exciting
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