Intro to UP

  Here's where things get a little nuts ...



 
  Forgive the next line, but this is the end of the band as we knew them (and I don't feel particularly great about it). Of particular relevance is where Michael states Bill wasn't gonna leave if they threatened to break up. Plus there's a record deal, ya know. In hindsight, the catalog going forward is nowhere near as strong as the Berry years. However, it's clear the (now) trio were not finished making music--Michael is not even 40 at this point--he's not finished, but the sick thing is he could be. They all could be done and their legacy would be amazing. Do they spoil it? Or does it matter. The demand, particularly overseas, was still there. There's a part of me that believes this withdrawal which really began with E-BOW is an attempt to step back from the limelight as they did with OOT and AFTP, sort of how Pearl Jam kind of wanted to be left alone a little. It's hard to be an artist when you're constantly scrutinized and its this exterior part of being in a band that finally catches up to Bill. The band claims he'll never be replaced and he never is, and on the plus side Peter and Mike have already been writing ideas for the next album. The only thing missing is Berry's veto power and songwriting skills--both define R.E.M. in a way that makes this album the beginning of an entirely new group.
  Onto the album, which for me had this piece of good news--lyrics are now included!! Which gives me time to go back and edit previous trainwrecks. However, the bad news is that for the next few albums, the guitar is scarce. I won't be diving too deeply into keyboard and organ parts and the sparseness inherent in the sound of the new R.E.M. is akin to Radiohead, whose affect on the band is undeniable. As I write this, I have no idea what some songs have to offer at all!
  When the album broke the record company decided Daysleeper was the first release, I'm sure because it was the track most likely not to scare old fans as it sounds remarkably like something off an older album. However, the song is a touch on the boring side and if they had embraced some of the experiments more. For instance, Suspicion was officially released almost a year after the album came out--a song that probably should've been the first out. Lotus was second and it hits a little hard, but the more you listen to it on its own the more it seems to drag. UP is experimentation. Instead of taking a step back and trying to soul search, the band plows ahead and wants to find themselves in the music. Honestly, the results are remarkable with a lot of hit and miss but they really are fucking around in the most purely artistic way. Some of these songs are voted out by Bill I'm sure, but upon a listening party with the band he noted the jealousy he felt that the group could seemingly pick up without him so seamlessly. With Bill do Hope, Apologist, or Sad Professor make the album? Very strange tracks. What is going through Michael's head while he's writing these songs? He definitely falls back heavily on character pieces, these are almost short stories--graduating from conveying the tone and feeling of a story and diving into true narrative. What's missing is that feeling of fan ownership, songs that are abstract with interpretable lyrics move with this album to specific stories and set lyrics. A lot of these songs are people who are down with nowhere to go but UP. Which is where the band is. Expectations are both high and low, but the remaining members of the band stick to their guns and get to work, not worried about the commercial results. UP is the beginning of the road to what the band would eventually become with Accelerate, so consider this the beginning of the learning curve.