Music Review: R.E.M. picks up the pace on 'Accelerate,' best album in years

@SL_body_copy_ragged:When R.E.M. was at its peak, its music was filled with urgency and energy -- something the band lost over the years.

After a decade of what singer Michael Stipe calls unfocused studio efforts, R.E.M. picks up the pace on the enjoyable "Accelerate," its first album since 2004.

Equal parts political commentary and personal introspection, "Accelerate" contains many of the hallmarks of the early R.E.M. sound.

Here though the jangly guitar and ambulatory bass lines are more about jittery nerves than beautiful atmospherics, the high harmonies more Greek chorus moan than a reflection of the joy the band shared with millions of fans while making groundbreaking rock 'n' roll in the 1980s.

Stipe is as sharp and wickedly funny as ever here.

In "Man Sized Wreath," he sings, "Turn on the TV/What do I see?/A pageantry of empty gestures/All lined up for me."

-- The Associated Press

CHECK THIS OUT: Title track "Accelerate" has the feel of a never-ending freefall that gains speed with each passing measure.