Rockin’ out again.

A graph of  R.E.M.'s success would look like a perfect bell curve, a slow steady climb through their first eight albums and then, over the next five, the long drawn out decline. Blame it partly on the departure of drummer Bill Berry but Peter Buck's guitar has been inexplicably absent during what many long time fans call the Michael Stipe solo years.  Accelerate, the band's fourteenth studio album, has Buck slashing and banging his way from start to finish in a defiant return to their trademark, jangling elegance. Every song references past glories and for the first time since Automatic for the People, they sound like a rock and roll band again.

Accelerate bears no resemblance to their other “electric” album, 1994's Monster, which actually signaled the beginning of their long drop-off. The psychedelic distorted sleaze of that album is replaced by a lean, aggressive bar band with Stipe's vocals way back in the mix, happy to be obscured again by force of the band itself. He spits out the lyrics to the opener "Living Well is the Best Revenge" and sounds ominous in the Katrina inspired “Houston."  Amidst this revival of their electric side, the centerpiece of the album is the beautiful, apocalyptical acoustic ballad "Until the Day is Done." The song's simple and graceful arrangement references classics like "Losing My Religion" and  "Man on the Moon"  as Stipe sings "So hold tight your babies and your guns, forgive us our trespasses father and son."

It's hard to gauge how Accelerate will be received; it's been a long time since R.E.M. sounded this vital. While it's not necessarily a return to form it certainly is a step up from the down-side of that bell curve.
             

Listen for songs from the R.E.M.'s album “Accelerate” all this week on Paul Shugrue’s new music show “Out of the Box” on Hampton Roads public radio 89.5 WHRV Monday through Thursday from 7pm until 9pm, Saturday afternoon from 1pm to 5pm and on-demand at www.whrv.org/outofthebox.