In the Huffington Post, former Chicago Reader rock critic/R. Kelly uber-fan Bill Wyman traces Rolling Stone's coverage of R.E.M.'s recent releases only to discover that, according to hype-blinded critics, R.E.M. has consistently topped itself with "each successive release being so good as to make clear the flaws of the one before it."
Yo Chuck, they must be on the pipe, right?
It might be hard for kids these days to believe, but R.E.M. used to be really exciting. And awesome. Lifes Rich Pageant is an absolutely solid rock and roll record.
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Video: REM - "Begin the Begin" (live in 1989)
The inusurgency began, and we missed it.
The new album, Accelerate, is out now. And once again it's being described as a return to form.
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Awesome. Wyman is the one who also traced the same phenomenom for the band the Rolling Stones, where each new release was "their best since Exile/Some Girls...etc" but each immediately previous release wasn't so good.
For R.E.M., though, some progress: even they admit their last album sucked.