So why is R.E.M.’s Accelerate on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Accelerate waAccelerate was seen as something like a “return to form” for R.E.M. when it was released in 2008.
As you can see, I have it just a hair outside of my best 300 albums ever at #306, but I strongly disagree with the fact that R.E.M. was ever “out of form” at all. While certainly the band’s sound changed a lot over the years – and by 2008 they’d already been around for a solid quarter century! – particularly in the post-Bill Berry era, I’m the kind of R.E.M. superfan who strongly argues that every era for the band holds an abundance of delights.
And if that’s not enough of a hint that there are… multiple R.E.M. albums yet to be featured on this here best 1,000 albums ever project (some of which may well be late era releases!), here are the five albums from the Athens, Georgia band that have been included to date: Fables of the Reconstruction(#638), Automatic for the People (#546), Monster (#449), Dead Letter Office (#357), and Document (#344)*.
* I’m well aware of how “controversial” the relative order of these R.E.M. albums is for R.E.M. heads (and some music critics and fans as well), with Automatic for the People being the choice for many as the “best” R.E.M. album. As my best 1,000 albums ever selection suggests, it’s very good but I have a large chunk of the band’s output ahead of it.
One other important thing about R.E.M. to note is that casual fans likely associate them with relatively gentle material such as “Everybody Hurts” or “Losing My Religion,” or perhaps their best early jangle pop hits like “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)”. However, if you’ve seen R.E.M. live or if you’re more familiar with their catalog, you’ll know that they are at heart a rock band.
And Accelerate is a fantastic statement as just that, a rock album that’s super sharp, focused, and punchy throughout its 11 tracks and tightly crafted 35 minutes of running time.
It’s a rock solid (pardon the pun) album end to end, with “Supernatural Superserious” easily the strongest of them all. The iconic guitar riff leads into a wonderfully constructed rock song that feels inviting, soothing, and energetic all at once somehow. Michael Stipe has never sounded better outside perhaps of a handful of the band’s best ballads. And overall the production is clean and precise and rather perfect.
Everybody here
Comes from somewhere
That they would just as soon forget
And disguise
“I’m Gonna DJ” is R.E.M. having an absolute blast, letting it completely loose with a massive payoff in the form of a fun, exciting track. After a quarter of a century, these guys have done it all, come out the other side, and are ready to DJ at the end of the world. I couldn’t love the concept – and the song – any more than I do.
If death is pretty final, I’m collecting vinyl
I’m gonna DJ at the end of the world
‘Cause if heaven does exist with a kickin’ playlist
I don’t wanna miss it at the end of the world
“Houston” is a beautiful and melancholy dirge that depicts the plight of people forced to move away from the devastation of New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
And “Living Well Is The Best Revenge,” Accelerate’s opening track, is on brand with “I’m Gonna DJ,” the closer, in showing off how to still rock out and feel good doing it decades down the road. Most importantly, it’s another fun, upbeat rocker.
An outtake track that I discovered at some point is one of my favorite finds in recent years – it’s an absolutely scorching and freewheeling cover of Beat Happening’s “Red Head Walking.” It’s a song that I have and can easily listen to over and over.
Some stats & info about R.E.M. – Accelerate
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, College Rock, Jangle Pop, Pop Music, Indie Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Accelerate released? 2008
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #306 out of 1,000
R.E.M.’s Accelerate on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from R.E.M.’s Accelerate that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
It’s an experience, sweet, delirious, supernatural, super serious.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.