R.E.M. Around The Sun - I was completely wrong.

I actually felt the same way about Out Of Time. Didn't like at first, but grew to appreciate.

 

REM is my favourite American band of all time.I got on the bus when Murmur was released.My 2 favourite albums of theirs are New Adventures and Up.
It’s all just a matter of opinion.
And by the way Around The Sun is terrible.One great song can’t save it.

 

Ive listened to it once and said “they were right”.

So Ive never listened to Reveal and only half heartedly listened to Up. HiFi is really a great album.

 

My thoughts, as well, Johnny 99.

In fairness to thread starter bvb1123, I should give the album a listen. Haven't since its release.

 

You know bvb, I don’t think you were...

 

R.E.M.’s albums on I.R.S. are so incredible, it’s almost a given that their later albums don’t hit the same level of quality.

Understandably, their Warner Bros albums have varying levels of peaks and valleys.

YMMV

 

I was always surprised at how much hate this album received. The band seemed to disavow it not long after it was released. Granted, I can see why it didn`t knock anyone off their feet -- it`s a bit bland and not as memorable as their others, but it had some enjoyable moments.

Besides "Leaving New York", "Electron Blue", "Around The Sun", "The Outsiders", and "Wanderlust" are all songs that spring to mind as decent additions to REM`s catalog. Many of the other songs just kind of drift by, but I agree it`s a good Sunday morning album.

I always thought I was the only one who kind of liked this album, so it`s nice to see this thread. It definitely reminds me of 2004, when it was released, which seemed like a strange time for rock music in general.

 

I don’t think Bad Day is one of their best tracks: it’s a rehash of an early version of End of the World As We Know It with new bad lyrics. On a side note, while I do think Warners pressured the band to put up the In Time greatest hits album, and to cough up two new tracks for it, I highly doubt Warners ever made R.E.M. tour: by every account I’ve read, Warners were aghast at the decision not to tour Out Of Time, which in the end, thanks to the power of Losing My Religion and MTV, probably didn’t hurt sales, but there was no way to know that at the time the decision not to tour was made. Also, if Warners could have forced them to tour, I’m sure they would have forced them to tour upon the release of Up, not months afterwards.

 

Imagine my disappointment.

 

I steer away from using 'Best' and 'Worst', 'Great' and 'Rubbish' type judgements these days - avoids arguments about what is subjective stuff anyway....

However, 'Around The Sun' is definitely my least favourite REM album though it does have some stand out tracks. 'Wanderlust' is quite possibly my least favourite REM song as well. Which did mean that I had a conveniently timed toilet break during the otherwise EXCELLENT live set they did at Hyde Park when touring that album in 2005 (notwithstanding the fact that Patti Smith's mic wasn't working properly for E-Bow The Letter - annoying!). That was a story in itself - they were meant to play on Saturday 9th July but it was put back a week because of the London bombings on 7th July. Heaven only know what the logistics must have been to reschedule what was a large capacity event like that. As a result the concert had an extra tinge to it and they rose to the occasion magnificently. Having said that, I saw REM 5 times and they were never less than excellent, regardless of what album they were touring.

As regards albums I was wrong about - 'Astral Weeks' - it just took me a few years, a different route into Van's catalogue and then a night listening to it on headphones when it just clicked.

 

I was there too, fantastic show!

 

See, to me that's the best part of the song. Stipe is singing 3 different 'counter' vocal parts/melodies at the same time.

 

Always preferred Around the Sun to Accelerate (which I thought was R.E.M. trying too hard to be relevant). It’s not in the same league as Up and Reveal, but it has its charms in my opinion, with a handful of tracks that sit in my favourite R.E.M. playlist.

 

I agree with you. I hated this album for a long time, but it eventually clicked. It is one of my favorites now, something I never thought I would say.

 

Around The Sun is dull and ever so uninspired. I have a soft spot for Reveal. Actually, I love that album.

 

The trouble is that it's Stipe singing them all. What happened to Mills' vocals--he recorded them but they went with all Stipe. There's often something special about Michael and Mike's harmonies, and their omission detracts from ATS.

I think Accelerate is a great rock record, and the 'going into the studio, writing and recording in short order' process helped a lot on Accelerate and CiN. No more studio noodling, it was all very direct.

Wanderlust is a case in point. There's a great song in there somewhere, but it's lost in the production. A bit more time instead spent fixing the transition from chorus to verse, which I feel is jarring and uneven and the main problem with this song, would have helped. But the melody is great. Perhaps a producer with a bit more clout and vision (Jacknife?) wouldn't have given Stipe and Mills so much rope in the studio. Then we'd have had a very different record. Buck has said he did bring some faster songs to the recording sessions, but they went with the mid-tempo ones instead. Again, a producer with more presence may have suggested varying the material on the record.

Oh well. I don't think it's an absolute stinker, but it could have been so much better. And if it was what was needed to get to Accelerate and CiN, then it was worth it.

 

They didn’t write and record Accelerate in short order. There were three separate recording sessions in May, July, and September of 2007, plus the Dublin working rehearsals. Accelerate came out three-and-a-half years after their previous album, and Man-Sized Wreath was first attempted during the Around The Sun sessions, I’m Gonna DJ was played in 2005 on tour, and Living Well Is The Best Revenge dates back at least as far. Until The Day Is Done dates all the way back to Automatic for The People, and, again, was demoed during the Around The Sun Sessions. Despite the story they successfully sold that they wrote and recorded Accelerate in a few weeks, they didn’t.

 

Around The Sun blows. There's just no getting around it. The songwriting is okay (even at their worst, R.E.M. don't really write bad songs), but the performances, arrangements, and production are abysmal.

To the question posed by the OP, the only album that comes to mind is U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind. The first few times I tried listening to it, back in late 2000, I thought it was total boy-band inspired garbage and I nearly threw it out the window.

In 2001, I suddenly came to like it, although I would now say it's only a 'pretty good' record.

 

Around The Sun is a horribly dull album and I have never liked it ... and never will ... but it's probably better than Collapse Into Now.

 

Just listened to ATS again a little bit ago. I stand by my new verdict: this a beautiful, dreamlike album. However, I can understand why people, myself included, either didn't or don't like the albums: the melodies are very subtle, almost non-existent and the production is too clean, almost sterile. Two things that I usually can't stand in an album but I believe the material on this album is strong enough to overcome these flaws. But anywhoo, it really doesn't matter because it's an album of art. Art is and always will be subjective. I couldn't care less if you personally like or dislike the album, it's just not that high on my list of priorities for what I look for when meeting people. My point in this thread was to say that, to me, I discovered that an album I despised to its core was, to me, an actual beautiful near-masterpiece. I'm sure I will forever be in the teeny-tiny minority in thinking this but that's fine with me. You like your music and I'll like mine.

 

Good to see there’s a few of us 49 year olds (saw another poster mentioning he’s about to hit 49 too) here!
This album seems to be a clarion call for the haters. Even though it’s flawed I’ll take Around the Sun over Up or Accelerate every day of the week.
Have always loved Leaving New York and don’t understand why there’s been so much eyerolling over “Leaving was never my proud” either. Stipe has written nonsense lyrics from day 1 and that line is just one of many over the years. It’s a quintessential Stipe lyric. The Outsiders is one of my favourite post-Berry songs. Wanderlust and The Ascent of Man are quirky and the title track is solid if a minute or so too long. The rest of the tracks are a bit scratchy though. I wonder if an EP release with 4 or 5 of the stronger songs might have gone over better with those who didn’t like it?

 

Yeah, I'm not saying the album isn't deeply flawed, it is. It might even still be my least favorite R.E.M. album (not quite sure yet). But my whole point has been from the beginning is that this album has a stigma attached to it that it doesn't really deserve. It's at least as good as Reveal.

 

so basically... you wanted to be wrong

 

New Adventures is my #1 favorite REM album, followed by Reveal at #2 (and Reveal is my wife's #1 favorite). Needless to say we were thrilled when the 2-disc Unplugged release came out, since practically all of Reveal is represented (acoustically).

My #3 is Monster. 90% of my very favorite REM albums are post-Monster. Up is mostly good (a little bit of a mixed bag, but good). The last two are fantastically interesting too (I still need to listen to them more, but I do quite like them).

I got on the bus back in college, circa 1987.

Around The Sun is the only REM album I really don't care for much at all.

 

Reveal was such a disappointment, and I couldn't imagine Around the Sun being less appealing...but it was. "Leaving New York" is such a tepid, contrived opener. It really surprises me that people actively like that song. "Electron Blue" is a nice recovery, but from there the highlights are few and far between until we reach the title track, which is very touching, and gave me hope. But this is the weakest album from a very strong band.