For me listening to a
classic R.E.M. album is like stepping into a room and feeling
instantly welcomed. It’s like entering a place where selfish
behaviour and disagreement don’t exist, and people work together to
create wonderful warm vibes. Listen for instance to the harmonies on
tracks such as Letter Never Sent and Kohoutek. They capture not just
the sound of four friends working together to create something
good, but invite the listener to share in that too. It’s the rock
equivalent of enjoying a sunset with friends and not stressing about
tomorrow – or something. However I guess ever since drummer
Bill Berry left the band in 1997 the remaining members have struggled
to find a new dynamic. Berry obviously brought something to the
group beyond the nominal duties of a percussionist. That’s meant
that in the past decade R.E.M. have sought to find a new sound, and
it’s produced some interesting results. Neither Up nor Reveal could
be called conventional R.E.M. albums and lack the immediate charm of
their predecessors, but they’re superb records nonetheless. For
instance much of Reveal (with its underlying summer theme) could
almost be called avant-garde.
Discoverer (the first
track from the band’s new release Collapse Into Now) differs from
those albums in that R.E.M. are obviously seeking to return to their
roots. Gone are the electronic wires and clicks that characterised
much of Up and gone are the ambient tones of Reveal. Instead it’s
back to the classic jangle-rock sound of the band’s first ten
albums. So how does it fare?
I think the first thing
to note is that Peter Buck’s guitar riff here is much less
evocative of other things than it used to be. It is less poetic or
suggestive. For instance check out the riff to Drive off the band’s
landmark album Automatic for the People. It positively smoulders. For
me it brings to mind a video in black and white of someone addressing
a crowd of thousands and just not giving a fuck. This person
might have the audience in the palm of his hand but he’s cool as a
goddamn cucumber. On the other hand the riff to Discoverer is pretty
serviceable. It rocks and Buck is obviously putting some heart into
it but it lacks a certain – magic. It is also quite
forgettable.
Next up are Michael
Stipe’s vocals. In fact I don’t think Stipe has sounded this good
on record since New Adventures In Hi-Fi in 1996. He tended to sound
unenthused on Up and Reveal and – though I don’t think
that’s because he was bored – it felt like he’d lost
something important. His mojo perhaps. (Incidentally this didn’t
extend to his live performances because – having listened to
Perfect Square and Live In Dublin – I know Stipe has sounded
absolutely electric on stage this past decade.) So how come the
singing on Discoverer is such an improvement on the band’s recent
records? I think exactly because Stipe is no longer approaching
singing as a studio experiment (as he did in Up and Reveal) but
behaving as though he were in a live setting. He sings as though the
audience were there. That immediately injects Discoverer with some
energy and (for me at least) gets the blood pumping.
In terms of lyrics too
Discoverer is a pretty decent effort. On recent albums Stipe has been
accused of not putting much effort into his words but I think he’s
just gotten good at expressing complex things in simpler forms. It’s
true he doesn’t put much stock in concrete images now but his
lyrics can add up to sophisticated scenarios. In Discoverer for
instance he’s addressing a former lover to admit for mistakes made
in the past: 'I was wrong / I have been laughable wrong.’ But he’s
not intent in dwelling on those mistakes nor in directly addressing
this ex-lover for much of the song. Instead the song is about Stipe’s
attempt to recover from those mistakes himself and move forward: ‘But
it was what it was / Let’s all get on with it now.’ Incidentally
the plural form of that second line suggest he’s being
condescending to people that do needlessly dwell on the past. Finally
the title of the song seems to contextualise the experience Stipe is
describing. He’s admitted to a mistake and has opted to move on
having learnt from it. So he’s lived: he has Discovered. In that
sense the lyrics are unremittingly positive in spite of the emphasis
on past mistakes.
Lastly I think it’s
important to note that the dynamic inside R.E.M. has obviously
shifted since Bill Berry left. The band once described itself as
fiercely democratic but since his departure Stipe has taken a much
bigger role. I mean this not just in terms of personalities but in
terms of atmosphere within the songs. Stipe dominates. He no longer
comprises a part of the whole in which guitar and bass and drums are
equal contributors but has somehow taken central stage. This means
that Discoverer lacks an essential part of the old R.E.M. magic: that
sense of four friends working together to create something good.
Instead it’s Stipe at the front and a guitar riff that recognisably
derives from Peter Buck and not much more. Hence though the band
are obviously striving hard to make something vital and putting in a
ton of effort it’s not in the same league as old R.E.M. Old R.E.M.
worked because of the unique chemistry between its four original
members. Discoverer is the product of a different beast and –
though it’s a good song – it’s just not in the same league.
