For years, R.E.M. promised that their next album would be a rocker, an oath to fans that perhaps made sense during the early '90s, when they were exploring the pastoral fields of Out of Time and the gloomy folk of Automatic for the People, but in the years after Bill Berry's 1997 departure, the desire of longtime fans for the group to rock again was merely a code word for the wish that R.E.M. would sound like a band again.
Apart from a few fleeting moments -- "The Great Beyond," their "Man in the Moon" re-write for the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic, Man in the Moon; "Bad Day," a mid-'80s outtake revived for a greatest-hits album -- R.E.M. not only didn't sound like a band, but they seemed at odds with themselves and their very strengths, culminating in the amorphous, mummified Around the Sun, a record so polished and overworked it didn't sound a bit like R.E.M., not even like the art-pop outfit the band turned into after Berry's retirement.
It was a situation so dire that the band recognized the need for corrective steering, so they stripped themselves down to bare-bones for 2008's Accelerate.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Living Well Is the Best RevengePeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 2 | Man-Sized WreathPeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 02:33 | 5 MB | 19 MB |
| 3 | Supernatural SuperseriousPeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | Hollow ManPeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 02:39 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 5 | HoustonPeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 02:05 | 4 MB | 14 MB |
| 6 | AcceleratePeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 7 | Until the Day Is DonePeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 8 | Mr. RichardsPeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 9 | Sing for the SubmarinePeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 10 | Horse to WaterPeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 02:18 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 11 | I'm Gonna DJPeter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | Play | 02:07 | 4 MB | 16 MB |
| 34 mins | 79 MB | |||||
| 34 mins | 254 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Bell | Office Coordinator |
| 2 | Sam Bell | Engineer, Mixing |
| 3 | Chris Bilheimer | Office Coordinator, Packaging |
| 4 | Peter Buck | Composer, Group Member, Guitars |
| 5 | DeWitt Burton | Technical Assistance |
| 6 | Dani Castelar | Assistant Engineer |
| 7 | John C.F. Davis | Mastering |
| 8 | Mercer Brockenbrough Davis | Office Coordinator |
| 9 | Bertis Downs | Advisor |
| 10 | Sarah Petit Frierson | Office Coordinator |
| 11 | Amy Hairston | Office Coordinator |
| 12 | Jacknife Lee | Audio Production |
| 13 | Owen Lewis | Concert Master |
| 14 | Scott McCaughey | Musician |
| 15 | Tom McFall | Engineer |
| 16 | Mike Mills | Composer, Guitar (Bass), Vocals |
| 17 | Jarrod Nestibo | Concert Master |
| 18 | R.E.M. | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 19 | Bill Rieflin | Musician |
| 20 | Rob Stefanson | Assistant Engineer |
| 21 | Michael Stipe | Composer, Group Member, Packaging, Vocals |
| 22 | Simon Wall | Assistant Engineer |
| 23 | Bob Whittaker | Technical Assistance |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |