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R.E.M. — Accelerate
Album: Accelerate
Avg rating:
6.2

Your rating:
Total ratings: 326









Released: 2008
Length: 3:31
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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Sinking fast, the weight chained to my feet
No time to argue with belief
I'm not alone, a thousand others dropping
Faster than me
What put me here?
Nothing to hold on to
Nowhere to brake

Where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key?
Where is the cartoon escape-hatch for me?
No time to question the choices I make
I've got to follow another direction (although fall down is much cooler)

The last thing I remember was climbing up the stairs
I threw the window open in challenge and despair
I don't know what I needed
I needed time
I needed to escape
I saw the future turn
Upside-down and hesitate.

Where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key?
Where is the cartoon escape-hatch for me?
No time to question the choices I make
I've got to follow another direction

Accelerate.

The vista I see now is changing
Uncertainty is suffocating
Our hope has never felt so great and
Lit up down
A pounding pulse
To make it go
Make it slow down,
Go.

Where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key?
Where is the cartoon escape-hatch for me?
No time to question the choices I make
I've got to follow another direction.

The city's burning, it's like it's ready to explode
Accelerate to make it slow
Make it go
Accelerate to make it slow
Make it go
I'm incomplete
I'm incomplete
I'm incomplete.
Comments (69)add comment
Way too much of the inferior late-period REM on here.  Not a melody in sight. 
Posted 14 years ago by JGM    [ Reply ]


Posted 14 years ago by Jelani    [ Reply ]
I'm craving some James.

Posted 15 years ago by yofitofu    [ Reply ]
niiice. esp as josh joplin piqued the interest / train of thought..
Posted 15 years ago by tracey    [ Reply ]
 tputkey wrote:
Gots to say that I just don't like much of REM anymore... Not since Automatic for the People... Some bands evolve well, some don't.
 
I have enjoyed some of their later releases to a certain extent, but I have to say I'm pretty much in agreement with you.  I have just not gotten in to any of their albums since AFTP.


Posted 15 years ago by DaMoGan    [ Reply ]
I want to like this, I really do, but the lyrics and the whole effect of the song just sounds pedestrian to me. I won't go so far as to say it comes across like pop music.  I guess it's just that I never imagined REM sounding ordinary and nearly pop-ish.

Posted 15 years ago by MojoJojo    [ Reply ]
I happen to think this is the most cohesive and enjoyable REM CD since Out of Time and my favorite of all of them.
Posted 15 years ago by snowcat    [ Reply ]
 Kittee wrote:
Hmm I am not liking this and I consider myself a rabid REM fan.  {#Eek}
 
That's interesting because I am not a REM fan and do like this song enough to give it a solid 7 and, perhaps, even an 8.  Nostalgia does play a large part of music appreciation.   


Posted 15 years ago by speakerman    [ Reply ]
meh
Posted 15 years ago by jagdriver    [ Reply ]

My wife loves everything they do, regardless. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Me, I used to like them a lot - now, they sound as interesting as Britney Spears (to me)

You may like them - and that's cool - I think their day has come and gone  . . . . . a long time ago.



Posted 16 years ago by bindi    [ Reply ]
What he said     {#Arrowd}

 Kittee wrote:
Hmm I am not liking this and I consider myself a rabid REM fan.  {#Eek}
 


Posted 16 years ago by HarrO    [ Reply ]

 

call "fast-consuming-syndrome"



Posted 16 years ago by calypsus_1    [ Reply ]
Hmm I am not liking this and I consider myself a rabid REM fan.  {#Eek}
Posted 16 years ago by Kittee    [ Reply ]

 

I sure miss the angry days of REM.


Posted 16 years ago by kingfish2004    [ Reply ]
Hi, Everybody
Where's the R.E.M's perfection not for this album. But I pardon the short moment of their error !!!!
Posted 16 years ago by vicmicric    [ Reply ]
I actually like this song. But listened to the album at home and felt that the sound/mastering of the album was not that good. 
Posted 16 years ago by equinoxus    [ Reply ]
REM turning into Placebo ? whatever next !
Posted 16 years ago by rez    [ Reply ]
I'm surprised at the negativity, 'cause for me, this rocks!
Posted 16 years ago by Dave_Mack    [ Reply ]

Peter Buck—along with R.E.M.'s road drummer and bassist—plays in Robin Hitchcock's Venus 3. Buck says in the documentary, "Robin Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death...and Insects," that in many ways he prefers Venus 3 because of Hitchcock's fecund spontaneity, something Buck feels is lacking in R.E.M. Perhaps it's that too-self-consciousness that's made the last few R.E.M. albums so frustrating: some good rock'n'roll buried in a lot of other stuff that seems oddly uncommitted.


Posted 16 years ago by WonderLizard    [ Reply ]
 orpheus wrote

 


True dat, they have to come up with a new word for SUCK to describe this monstrosity of an album cover! {#Puke}{#Puke}{#Puke}{#Puke}{#Puke}


 

Reminds me of one of our old high school art projects for everyones poetry or something. Funny, how some bands just grow out of fashion....now if Poison and Boston would figure that out. {#Stupid}
Posted 16 years ago by Shesdifferent    [ Reply ]
 tputkey wrote:
Gots to say that I just don't like much of REM anymore... Not since Automatic for the People... Some bands evolve well, some don't.
 
I'm with you. I am so over them.

Posted 16 years ago by hippiechick    [ Reply ]
Gots to say that I just don't like much of REM anymore... Not since Automatic for the People... Some bands evolve well, some don't.
Posted 16 years ago by tputkey    [ Reply ]

otto63 wrote:



I HATE all their album cover arts. I've created new ones of my own (the only group i've done such a thing - and it's because I love them and I can't stand their untalented and awfull piece of graphic art)

True dat, they have to come up with a new word for SUCK to describe this monstrosity of an album cover! {#Puke}{#Puke}{#Puke}{#Puke}{#Puke}


Posted 16 years ago by orpheus    [ Reply ]
Bought this album used at the local music shop and set it up as the only cd in my 6 pack CD changer in the car. Listened to the damn thing like a hundred times. My conclusion. It is very solid, has a few weak numbers, especially the first three songs. But from Hollow Man, to Houston, and then Accelerate the album really kicks it up into that good old Michael Stipes rock it til ya drop it sound. Mr. Richards is very cool and Horse to Water is very lush. But I'm Gonna DJ blends the harmonies of their Monster sound so well it just stands out and at the end of the album it just comes across as a knockout punch. I'm very happy with this album. Around the Sun was good in that it let us know that Michael still has the pipes and lyrical talent to put great songs together. Reveal was dark and introspective and not something these guys did for a long time (since Document). The new album shows us the pure rock that these guys were in the early 80s. Bout time boys! Been waiting a long, long time for this one. Ya didn't disappoint!
Posted 16 years ago by horstman    [ Reply ]
Peanut Butter and Strawberry Preserves on Whole Wheat Sandwiches. Banana Splits. Accelerate. I likes 'em!
Posted 16 years ago by MonkeyPod    [ Reply ]
pmnixa wrote:
Yippie! Thought it was an old album I hadn't heard of at first. LOVE the album cover art.
I HATE all their album cover arts. I've created new ones of my own (the only group i've done such a thing - and it's because I love them and I can't stand their untalented and awfull piece of graphic art)
Posted 16 years ago by otto63    [ Reply ]
I used to think that Bill played Peter Gabriel a little too much. I was wrong. He plays REM too much. I have a hard time with the voice.
Posted 16 years ago by ronniegirl    [ Reply ]
Great to see REM really letting it rip on their new album.
Posted 16 years ago by InTexas    [ Reply ]
noisy, lacking melody and hooks...
Posted 16 years ago by coding_to_music    [ Reply ]
I'm really in the minority here. This song is pretty weak, and although this album has instant R.E.M classics like Hollow Man and Supernatural, it's one of my least favorite of theirs. I loved Reveal and Around the Sun. Those are two of my favorite albums, along with Life's Rich Pageant.
Posted 16 years ago by jnhashmi    [ Reply ]
I am really pleased with the RP listeners who have something nice to say about REM. It's really easy (and cheap!) to sit back and say mean stuff about a middle-aged band who still try to do cutting edge work in the alt. rock genre. REM are just as good now at it as they ever were. I appreciate them for trying, and for admitting that their work (before Accelerate) since Bill left was sub-par. Love or hate them, these are some of the best musicians there are to be had, and I think they are the best. IMHO.
Posted 16 years ago by toterola    [ Reply ]
Welcome back lads
Posted 16 years ago by freejgar    [ Reply ]
just saw the original indie boys from IRS records perform one motherfucker of a show in a deluge at Jones Beach. best show I've seen in years. perhaps ever.
Posted 16 years ago by thewiseking    [ Reply ]
I disagree. Love this song. This is what makes RP so great. musikalia wrote:
Egad! This is terrible! I find it really annoying and grating.
Posted 16 years ago by Land_Shark    [ Reply ]
AphidA wrote:
I'm so bummed these guys are headlining after Modest Mouse and The National. Well, I guess it will be easy getting out of the parking lot after the show.
Saw the June 8th show at the Amphitheater in Toronto... I bought the tickets to see The National primarily. They were awesome of course, but played a 20 min set. I was very disappointed as they left me wanting more. Then came Modest Mouse who were okay. But as it turns out R.E.M. blew me the fuck away. Tightest band I've heard in a long time. Great energy, stage presence, and lights/effects. I am now a HUGE R.E.M. fan.
Posted 16 years ago by adroc    [ Reply ]
Egad! This is terrible! I find it really annoying and grating.
Posted 16 years ago by musikalia    [ Reply ]
Rock and roll. I like it. Better than all the songs on Monster.
Posted 16 years ago by jwb    [ Reply ]
Yippie! Thought it was an old album I hadn't heard of at first. LOVE the album cover art.
Posted 16 years ago by pmnixa    [ Reply ]
Prime example of why REM is on my Bands you are supposed to like, but don't list.
Posted 16 years ago by black321    [ Reply ]
everything old is new again.
Posted 16 years ago by sans    [ Reply ]
Finally! There's the spark that went missing! It got a bit damp for a while... After "UP" I was beginning to lose hope!
Posted 16 years ago by garthwb    [ Reply ]
Danimal174 wrote:
Good choice. I like most of the new album, with the exception of the last track ("I'm Gonna DJ At The End Of The World"); leave that one off, and this is the best CD they've done in quite some time. Reminds me of their early (pre-"Document") stuff at times.
I agree...the last song '..DJ..' is not at all up to rest of the album which has really grown on me....must be a 'favor' song...
Posted 16 years ago by Kdubba    [ Reply ]
five days in a row!
Posted 16 years ago by coyote620    [ Reply ]
I'm so bummed these guys are headlining after Modest Mouse and The National. Well, I guess it will be easy getting out of the parking lot after the show.
Posted 16 years ago by AphidA    [ Reply ]
yee-haw! i agree. finally something good from REM! they're back, baby... Danimal174 wrote:
Good choice. I like most of the new album, with the exception of the last track ("I'm Gonna DJ At The End Of The World"); leave that one off, and this is the best CD they've done in quite some time. Reminds me of their early (pre-"Document") stuff at times.
Posted 16 years ago by phillips    [ Reply ]
Good choice. I like most of the new album, with the exception of the last track ("I'm Gonna DJ At The End Of The World"); leave that one off, and this is the best CD they've done in quite some time. Reminds me of their early (pre-"Document") stuff at times.
Posted 16 years ago by Danimal174    [ Reply ]
Thanks for playing a few of the tracks from their new disc. I think they still have it.
Posted 16 years ago by Ericac    [ Reply ]
littleRoom wrote:
I am lovin' this new REM album, definitely their best since new adventures in hi-fi. And that was 12 years ago!! Wow I'm getting old.
true dat friend. I'm really diggin' it so far. It's their first new one that's bit me right away since "Monster".
Posted 16 years ago by copymonkey    [ Reply ]
I am lovin' this new REM album, definitely their best since new adventures in hi-fi. And that was 12 years ago!! Wow I'm getting old.
Posted 16 years ago by littleRoom    [ Reply ]
robco1 wrote:
I don't know about "best," but it is the first album they've done in years that I've liked. It seems to have the infectious energy of their early work; something too many bands seem to loose with success.
Well stated. I hear a fire (energy) here that I haven't heard in many years....
Posted 16 years ago by Pyro    [ Reply ]
pigglywiggly wrote:
Who doesn't go to the Eagles in their mind with Stipe's line 'last thing I remember I was climbing up the stairs'? (Last thing I remember I was running for the door...) I can't help it... I do it with every listen.
I didn't
Posted 16 years ago by Thorbert    [ Reply ]
Who doesn't go to the Eagles in their mind with Stipe's line 'last thing I remember I was climbing up the stairs'? (Last thing I remember I was running for the door...) I can't help it... I do it with every listen.
Posted 16 years ago by pigglywiggly    [ Reply ]
Been awhile since REM got my foot tapping at this pace. . .
Posted 16 years ago by lathyris    [ Reply ]
Welcome back, REM!
Posted 16 years ago by ajlept    [ Reply ]
daveesh wrote:
decent album. definitely NOT their best ever as rolling stone says.
I don't know about "best," but it is the first album they've done in years that I've liked. It seems to have the infectious energy of their early work; something too many bands seem to loose with success.
Posted 16 years ago by robco1    [ Reply ]
Supposedly their best since Adv. in Hi-Fi.
Posted 16 years ago by RedGuitar    [ Reply ]
decent album. definitely NOT their best ever as rolling stone says.
Posted 16 years ago by daveesh    [ Reply ]
Nice stuff.......finally.
Posted 16 years ago by bigB_3    [ Reply ]
Cacaphonous. That shreiking Altan Urag - Ljii Mongol a few songs back sure put me in a cranky mood.
Posted 16 years ago by Geecheeboy    [ Reply ]
Released 6 days ago. I like it. Stipe didn't call this one in.
Posted 16 years ago by Pyro    [ Reply ]
Already liking it. I have to say, this is the first album from them that I've liked in a long time. I saw them perform on Colbert, and they seemed to be having a lot of fun. So many times you see veteran bands perform like its another day at the office. Its refreshing to think that you can keep it fresh after a few decades.
Posted 16 years ago by robco1    [ Reply ]