Grand Hotel Paradox - First World Problems

Stalwarts of the alternative rock scene triumphantly return with their most well constructed
album in years. Read our review of R.E.M.’s Collapse Into Now...

I’m going to admit, I’m not the biggest of R.E.M fans. Yeah, O.K, their early stuff defined a generation
and probably influenced more music in the ‘90’s than we’ll ever begin to imagine. Consistently
prolific during their 30-year career, for this reviewer they are defined by their groundbreaking ‘80’s
albums of Murmur, Document, Fables of the Reconstruction and the hit Green.

Some of the stuff towards the end of the ‘90’s and through most of the 2000’s was mediocre, to put
it bluntly (and subjectively). 2008’s Accelerate was a return, of sorts, to some former glory but still
felt lacking, like a great band trying to recreate itself when it didn’t need to.

Collapse Into Now, their second record after Accelerate with producer Jacknife Lee, seems to be
none of that. It’s almost every play from the R.E.M. handbook, held together by a loose musical
thread that grows and delights with each listen, bursting from the first track Discoverer through its
reprise at the tail-end of final track Blue.

Michael Stipe’s vocals, although somewhat diminished these days, sound comfortable with the same
amount of lyrical persuasion as has typified R.E.M. across their 30-year tenure. Peter Buck’s jangling
guitars almost stretch back to Green while Mike Mills’ bass still drives and underpins every track with
laser-guided precision.

Lead single, Uberlin, isn’t a highlight – it’s almost too R.E.M. for its own good, but it’s immediately
rescued by the subtle and touching Oh My Heart, replete with trademark mandolin. Guest
appearances by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Joel Gibb on It Happened Today adds an interesting
depth to a beautiful, well constructed song.

The curiously titled Mine Smell Like Honey is a great example of R.E.M.’s ability, after all these years,
to write a verse-chorus-verse song to an almost uncanny perfection.

The true highlight of the hold record is Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter featuring Peaches
on backing vocals, with Lenny Kaye (of Patti Smith fame), is almost a definitive R.E.M. song – rough
around the edges, curious lyrics and backing vocals that add another dimension to the song.

The closing trio of That Someone Is You (complete with now Stipe-standard references to history;
We, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I; and Blue (with Patti Smith) round out the album solidly.

While Stipe’s voice has diminished; the ability of delivery and performance of both band and singer
held together by a reassuring still-political sentiment, albeit more obscure now than ever, is a
testament to the quality of a band after 30 years. Almost arriving full-circle at what made them
ground-breakers, this is surely up there with any career-defining moment that came before them.

And all this from a non-R.E.M. fan...