New R.E.M. songs

Given that I gave you all those REM covers on Sunday and then yesterday told you about Rural Alberta Advantage's upcoming release it only makes sense that I tell you about Collapse Into Now, the soon to be released album from R.E.M.

So far two tracks have been released from the album, Discoverer and It Happened Today, featuring guest vocals from Eddie Vedder and Joel Gibbs. Both are available below and as a bonus I've included a live version of Man On The Moon, also featuring Eddie Vedder.

This is the first time in a while I've really looked forward to an album by R.E.M. As I've mentioned before Automatic For The People was the first album I ever bought. I loved it and I loved Monster. New Adventures In Hi Fi is my favourite R.E.M. album and Up was an excellent album. So when Reveal was released I was disappointed. Not that there aren't good songs on it, perhaps I'd have enjoyed it more if it was a debut album by a band I had no expectations for. Maybe then I'd have enjoyed the good songs enough to not let the rest colour my opinion of the album so much. Then came Around The Sun. Final Straw is a good song, but that's pretty much it. The album isn't terrible, but it's a long way from good or even above average.

So it's safe to say my expectations for Accelerate were low. After all the last three albums had all been ones I'd enjoyed less than their predecessor and the gap had grown with each release. If the pattern continued then I'd dislike Accelerate even more than Around The Sun and I didn't want to risk that. So I pretty much ignored the release and bought it a few months later after I'd seen plenty of good reviews. And it was very good. I enjoyed listening to it a lot and it made up for the missteps of Reveal and the general mediocrity of Around The Sun. Now it's almost time for Collapse Into Now to be released and I'm looking forward to it. I think after you've listened to these two tracks you will be as well.

Discoverer

It Happened Today feat Eddie Vedder and Joel Gibbs

Man On The Moon feat Eddie Vedder

Track listing:

Discoverer
All the Best
Überlin
Oh My Heart
It Happened Today (featuring Eddie Vedder and Joel Gibb)
Every Day Is Yours to Win
Mine Smell Like Honey
Walk It Back
Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter (featuring Peaches and Lenny Kaye)
That Someone Is You
Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I
Blue (featuring Patti Smith)