Strangely, I Don't Hate Around The Sun Nearly As Much As (Virtually) Everyone Else!

The Good: Some decent vocals, One or two lyrics, Generally competent instrumentals
The Bad: Boring, monotonous instrumentals, Some terrible rhymes, Vocally monotonous
The Basics: R.E.M. more or less strikes out with Around The Sun, a mostly-bland outing filled with singles that aren't actually bad on their own.


Back when I was reviewing for another site and I reviewed R.E.M. albums, I found myself happily dogged by another reviewer who didn't seem so happy by my take on some of the albums. Near the end of my reviewing other R.E.M. albums, there came a comment that was basically like "I see the direction you're headed and this is the last time I complain about you dissing R.E.M." Basically, the reviewer was pre-emptively backing off my review of Around The Sun. Well, it took a few weeks for me to get it in, but now that I have . . .

. . . I very much do not hate this album nearly as much as virtually every other fan of R.E.M.'s music. Since it their first major "Best Of" album predates Around The Sun, one of my thoughts was "what songs from this could possibly end up on a 'Best Of' album?" That's a tough call because so many of the songs sound alike. For those looking for a rocking R.E.M. album, Around The Sun will leave you looking. This is a mellow pop album and because I have no particular beef with light rock/pop, Around The Sun holds up better with me than with some reviewers. That said, if there was ever an "indistinct" R.E.M. album, this might well be it. The vocals blend together as pretty mellow white noise and outside of three songs on the album, I suspect if one were to keep listening to this on a continuous loop it would soon all jumble into one long, pointless song.

With thirteen tracks, clocking in at 55:23, is - as much as fans and the band might like to deny it - very much an R.E.M. album. Like the rest of their catalogue, this album was written by all three members of the band and they play their own instruments. As well, R.E.M. takes a co-producing credit on the album, so despite their desire to distance themselves from the material, Around The Sun is their work, their vision of music, at least where they thought it was in 2004 when it debuted.

And it is, essentially, a mellow, boring album notable for three songs: "Leaving New York," "Make It All Okay" and "I Wanted To Be Wrong." What separates them from the rest of the album? The lyrics, mostly. Outside that, they are very much like every other track on the album: mellow, vocally monotonous and fine on its own, but terrible in the context of the album. Honestly, a number of the songs sounds very much like the R.E.M. so many people know and love. Even "Electron Blue," one of the worst-written R.E.M. songs by the lyrics (terribly predictable rhymes) sounds like an R.E.M. track and contains murky poetry sung with Michael Stipe's mumbling mid-range vocals. But the problem is, they all sound like that; they each sound like a mellow R.E.M. song we've heard before and the net effect of the album is flat-out boredom.

The album begins well enough, though, with "Leaving New York." This is a very straightforward R.E.M. pop ballad about one of the subjects they tackle remarkably well: abandonment. R.E.M. reminds the listener that they can still write when they present the thoughts "It's easier to leave / Than to be left behind / Leaving was never my proud. / Leaving new york, never easy. / I saw the light fading out / Now life is sweet / And what it brings / I try to take / But loneliness / It wears me out / It lies in wait" ("Leaving New York"). And unlike every other track on the album, this single actually has a catchy refrain and it works to open the album big and melodically, much the way "How The West Was Won And What It Taught Us" opened "New Adventures In Hi-Fi." The problem is, virtually every other song sounds like it.

There are, however, lines that are too good not to sit up an notice each time the song comes up. On "Across The Sun" that happens with "Make It All Okay," another song about being lost. On that track, each time Stipe sings "Well Jesus loves me fine. / And your words fall flat this time. / Was it my imagination, or did I hear you say, / 'We don't have a prayer between us'" ("Make It All Okay") I sit up and hear the words again. The song adequately makes the listener feel like they have been cut adrift. Conversely, it has the sense of persecution to it, which the whole idea that Jesus loves everyone, including the singer, contradicts beautifully. But the song is equally as indistinct as the rest of the album until that defiant lyric is shouted out.

And Around The Sun, despite being musically and vocally monotonous does seem to have more of a message than some of R.E.M.'s later works. Yes, it returns to the political with songs like "The Outsiders," "Final Straw," and "I Wanted To Be Wrong." On that last track, the band is unabashedly singing against the current political climate in the United States with lines like "The rodeo is staged, gold circle goat-ropers and clowns. / A rumble in the third act, tie 'em up and burn 'em down. / We're armed to the teeth, born a little breech; / Blue-plate special analysts, cells and SUV's / We can't approach the Allies 'cause they seem a little peeved / And speak a language we don't understand. / I told you I wanted to be wrong / But everyone is humming a song / That I don't understand" ("I Wanted To Be Wrong"). It is refreshing to hear R.E.M. defiant and connected and "I Wanted To Be Wrong" has the tenor of their early politically-charged music. In that regard it works beautifully.

But the rest of the album lurches through boring, indistinct, mumbled lyrics that are barely comprehensible. Sure, the titles to "The Worst Joke Ever" and “Around The Sun” (the single) pop out but the rest of those songs, it's difficult to decipher what is being sung and it's even harder to care.

It is harder to care for a simple reason: the instrumentals and vocals are largely boring and limited. Michael Stipe's vocals, for example, are almost shocking for their consistency. If there were a contest for consistency on an album, Stipe would be in the running for the vocals on Around The Sun. Each track keeps him in his musical niche without challenging his range at all.

Instrumentally, the band does not have anything to be proud of either. In addition to being boring, the songs sound far too much like one another. The instrumentally upbeat pieces - "Electron Blue" and "Wanderlust" sound virtually identical as far as their melodies go. But more than that, on this album - more than most R.E.M. albums - this one sounds like what it is: a guitar, bass and drums band. They never really stretch beyond that on this album.

Sadly, though, most of the songs are not bad on their own. Around The Sun could have been good if about half of the tracks were put on other albums and the rest of the time was filled with songs that sounded dramatically different. As it is, it's a lackluster musical outing. If anyone ever needs R.E.M. elevator music, though . . .

The only tracks worth listening to are "Leaving New York," ""Make It All Okay," and "I Wanted To Be Wrong;" the rest of the album might as well be one, long, indistinguishable track.

For other R.E.M. albums, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Murmur
Document
Life’s Rich Pageant
Out Of Time
Automatic For The People
Monster
Up
Reveal
In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988 – 2000 (Deluxe)
. . . And I Feel Fine: The Best Of The I.R.S. Years

6/10

For other music reviews, please visit my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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