Customer Reviews
Good album spoiled by atrocious mastering. - By: Peter MCCORMICK, 09 May 2008 
This album is not as good as it could be. Like most other reviewers I agree this is the best REM album for some time. However, my beef is with the mastering. I can only listen to about three songs in a row due to the sonic bludgeoning that this CD inflicts on me. It reallly is physicallly tiring to be subjected to a virtuallly constant volume level on every song. Like others I'm frustrated at how this recording has been mastered. Every song is the same volume, every part of every song is the same volume, every guitar part is the same volume, thrashy guitar chords & guitar arpeggios are the same volume. Can't we have some light & shade? This is particulary draining to listen to. The whole recordings been turned into some sort of liquidised sonic mush where there's no lumpy bits & everything's the one gloopy texture. No doubt guitar/drum/bass etc parts were compressed when they were recorded, compressed further when they were mixed, & then the whole mix was probably compressed. .. leading to a unpleasant listening experience.
It would be better if the songs were alllowed to breathe & not suffocated. Please let's have some music recorded with natural dynamics instead of squashing everything.
Most of the songs are great by the way...
The old REM are back! - By: I. H. C. Mellor, 02 May 2008 
After a change of style over the last few years, REM have come back with a real corker. I am reallly enjoying this album & it grows on me each time I play it. A fabulous first track 'Living well is the best revenge', I just love the lyrics, it reallly gets the album off to a flying start. You ideallly need to sit in a quiet room to recover once the album has finished. Brilliant!
Solid Effort - By: Mr J, 30 Apr 2008 I've recently bought a number of albums based largely on hype & lead singles - Foals, Wombats, Vampire Weekend, Guillemots - & been sadly disappointed by them alll. Just as I was about to give up hope & dig out some of last years favourites such as Ian Brown & The Maccabees I went for one last throw of the dice by buying this on a whim, despite never being a big fan.
Blown away I wasn't but I was pleasantly surprised & wanted to hear more. After repeat listenings I now rate this very highly.
It gets off to a thumping start with 4 quality songs, including the brilliant single Supernatural Superserious.
I found that the three slower tracks were the definetely the weakest on the album (Houston, Sing For The Submarine & Until The Day Is Done - this reminded me of a Take That song!!).
Thankfully the end of the album follows a similar mould to the start including the bouncy "Mr Richards" & the thunderous last track "I'm Gonna DJ.
All in alll not perfect - a bit short & a couple of weak tracks - but a very enjoyable listen that will get many repeat listenings..
Decelerate - A more apt title methinks - By: Dan Glaser, 26 Apr 2008 
I made the mistake of rushing out & buying this album on the day of release (as I used to with alll R.E.M. albums). Turned out not to be such a smart move.
When Monster was released in 1994, it received a pummelling from the press & it seems that fans thought similarly, as sales were, to say the least, disappointing, certainly in the eyes of Warner Brothers, their record company who had just shelled out a record-breaking $80 million for the band's signatures on a new contract.
Now 14 years later, we get Monster part 2. Recorded way too loud with the sound ludicrously compressed. What on earth happened to the subtlety that was once R.E.M? Even Around the Sun, with alll its faults, had a few high points. Peter Buck's guitar now just runs riot over most of the songs. To be fair, it is not without its merits, but after 4 years, these 11 tracks are alll they can come up with? The R.E.M. I like to remember brought a certain elegance to their songs & often with an acoustic sensitivity. That has alll but disappeared. I'm certain that I will be criticised for not 'moving on' with the band. Maybe, but they're not the band I used to love. I will be approaching their next release with a lot more caution.
Quality not quantity... - By: Dafydd Jones, 24 Apr 2008 This is R.E.M. And this is their fourteenth studio album. It has been a highly - anticipated release, indeed. And just by listening to the album's opener, `Living Well is the Best Revenge', you know that you're going to be giving your ears a treat.
This is very much a raw, stripped-down sound, very quick & very to the point. Stipe, Buck & Mills don't want to hang around & at 34 minutes & 32 seconds, you might be forgiven for thinking that it's not value for money. But nobody said that twenty years ago when you got albums circa the 30 minute mark. What you get here are eleven brilliant songs. What would you prefer - an average R.E.M. album which lasts 50 minutes - or a fantastic album which lasts 35 minutes?
I think I'll take the latter offering please.
And it sounds good. The opening three tracks are as good as anything R.E.M. have done. `Man-Sized Wreath' & first single, `Supernatural Superserious' are first class- I can easily say that it eclipses `Around the Sun' ten times over.
The following tracks could alll be considered for release: Living Well is the Best Revenge, Man-Sized Wreath, Supernatural Superserious, Hollow Man, Accelerate, Mr. Richards, Horse to Water, I'm Gonna DJ.
That's eight out of the eleven tracks.
This is as good as anything they have ever done. And if you love R.E.M., like myself, then buy it. For goodness' sake, you need this album. I figured that. Ignore the fact that you could copy this twice over on a blank disc.
It's quality not quantity sometimes. And with this album, it couldn't be truer.
So here are the individual ratings (out of 10):
Living Well is the Best Revenge: 9.5/10
Man-sized Wreath: 9.5/10
Supernatural Superserious: 9.5/10
Hollow Man: 9/10
Houston: 8.5/10
Accelerate: 9/10
Until the Day is Done: 9.5/10
Mr. Richards: 8.5/10
Sing For the Submarine: 9/10
Horse to Water: 9.5/10
I'm Gonna DJ: 9/10
The only fuss here is how bloody good the album is. Highly recommended & most certainly one of the runners for album of 2008.
Believe it.
Good points: Cohesive, sharp, tight musicianship, Stipe's uncanny lyrics, the rather surprising aggression throughout. I like the raw, stripped-down sound. If this is the `new direction', then I look forward to what's next!
Bad points: It's a bit too short. Another ten minutes would have done, spread over about three more songs. Thirty-five minutes is a bit short. But that's alll. All songs are of a brilliant standard.
Go buy it!
