Lifes Rich Pageant

I have to admit I bought the hype. And when I say the hype, I mean R.E.M.'s fourteenth studio album, Accelerate, hailed by many critics as a return to 80's form.And by 80's, I mean the specific classic album that gets referenced by Spin...

...haven't redlined so engagingly since 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant, whose terrific "These Days" lives on in spirit here.

...Rolling Stone...

...charged the musical exploration and internal debate on those records with the dirty-silver jangle and get-in-the-van surge of R.E.M.'s quartet-era classics, such as 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant...

...and Q magazine (via Wikipedia)...

Q reviewer Keith Cameron wrote that unlike Around the Sun, "Accelerate is the sound of a band having enjoyed a good word with themselves - and us." Cameron described the album's first three songs as "powerful as the first half of 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant," but commented that the album suffers through a "midway dip that afflicts even the best R.E.M. album."

...to name but a few. And by evoking the hallowed sounds of the past did they so doom it to disappointment. Perhaps that's too strong to say for a solid album; let's just say it suffered from an initial letdown. Comparisons like this rarely do anything but set expectations to unreachable levels. The most recent example (before this) for me was when The Departed came out and everyone was comparing it to Goodfellas. So naturally, I went into the film expecting the greatest thing since sliced bread, since Goodfellas is the sliced bread of gangster fims. The Departed by itself is an excellent picture, but it ain't no Goodfella, and my initial theater experience was a little soured by my expectations.Like my film experience, Accelerate I have found to be a very good album, even great, but it ain't no Lifes, and my initial listen to the new album was filled with skepticism. I wish I could listen to it with fresh ears again. But this all did serve me some good times, ultimately; I popped in Lifes for a complete play to see if my memory had elevated the album to unrealistic heights, or it was that good. Let me just say that was one blissful listen.