Some bands I like to name check, And one of them is REM, Classic songs with a long history Southern boys just like you and me. R - E - M Pavement - 'Unseen Power of The Picket Fence'It is now 28 years since R.E.M. played their first tentative notes. In that time they’ve had their highs and lows, losing members, almost splitting, suffering bouts of air rage along the way. Michael Stipe has become a true icon of modern pop music, his voice and balding head instantly recognisable to millions around the globe, up there with the likes of Bono, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. In recent years however, R.E.M. have seemed to be a spent force, with the largely disappointing trilogy of albums Up (1998), Reveal (2001) and Around the Sun (2004). Around The Sun was so badly received both commercially and by the fans, selling 300,000 worldwide, which for a band of their size and reputation came as quite a shock to the system. lt is interesting to note that one of the best received songs of the post-Bill Berry era (the drummer left the band in 1997 to tend his hay farm) ‘Bad Day’ which appeared as a new track on In Time-The Best of 1988-2003 was in fact a song that the band had been performing since 1985, before the release of 'It’s The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' to which it often gets compared. It seems the fallout from Around The Sun made R.E.M turn in on themselves and reassess their future. The band drafted in Jacknife Lee (U2, Bloc Party) as a producer, played a series of "live rehearsals" in Dublin to try out new material (which was released as last years Live album) and attempted to go back to their roots. Coming and going in a refreshing 35 minutes, Accelerate cuts to the chase and focuses on the classic R.E.M. formula of Peter Buck’s chiming Rickenbacker, Mills’ harmonies and Stipe’s indignant rantings on the mic.Album opener ‘Living Well Is The Best Revenge’ acts as a statement of intent, and from the first chiming notes of the intro you sense that something has re-invigorated the band. The song charges along with the taught drumming and high end bass runs, and snaps to an end just over three minutes later. 'Man-sized Wreath' and 'Supernatural Superserious' continue this headlong charge of upbeat, chiming pop, and even 'Hollow Man', which begins as a slow, meditative piece succumbs to the pervading pop rush half way through, with a killer stomping chorus at the end of the song. This rediscovered rock and roll bluster continues throughout the album, particularly on album closers 'Horse to Water' and the appallingly named 'I’m Gonna DJ', which showcases some classic love-it-or-loathe-it Stipe doggrel, as, once again, he visits "the end of the world", deciding “because death is pretty final, i’m collecting vinyl”. Only once does the pace let up, on 'Until The Day Is Done', which finds Buck getting out his faithful mandolin once again, and turning in a pleasant enough acoustic number, but one that seems out of place on such a driving, positive record.Without doubt Accelerate is a return to form, and it is almost certainly the best R.E.M. have managed since Berry left to leave them as what Stipe described as “A three legged dog.” Although much of the writing here is classic R.E.M., that is not to say they are classic songs, or that this is a classic album. The cynical may criticise the album as little more than a formulaic rehash of former glories. However, the energy with which the band go about their business, and the general mood of the album suggest there is plenty more to come from these Southern boys. As Stipe sings as the album draws to a close “I don’t wanna go until i’m good and ready.” On the evidence of Accelerate this can only be a good thing for us all. 84%Links R.E.M. [official site]