Accelerating

This new REM record is gonna turn heads. It's brief (11 songs in 34 minutes), urgent, guitar heavy and unlike anything they've released since "Monster". I didn't mind the turn they took when Bill Berry left - "Up" and "Reveal" were both underrated in my book, but "Accelerate" is a nice 180. I honestly didn't think I'd ever hear them sound like this again, but here it is, an aggressive, melodic, in your face REM. Secret weapon: some awesome backing vocals from Mike Mills.

I can't stop listening to this thing. 8.5/10