R.E.M. - COLLAPSE INTO NOW (LP)

R.E.M. Collapse Into Now on 150g LP

2011 Studio LP Is the Album Fans Have Been Wanting to Hear for More Than a Decade

Feautures Guest Appearances by Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder, Lenny Kaye, and Peaches

Collapse Into Now is the record that R.E.M. fans have been wanting to hear for more than a decade. Produced by R.E.M. and longtime collaborator Jacknife Lee, and featuring guest appearances by Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Joel Gibb, Peaches, and Eddie Vedder, the 2011 studio LP finds the group going back to its roots and expanding its palette to include all of the types of songs and styles that defined the band during the mid-80s through the mid-90s.

A cavalcade of instrumentalists help R.E.M.'s foray into parallel universes. Guitars, keyboards, accordions, bouzouki, trumpets, trombones, and sousaphones all figure into the arrangements. Michael Stipe's vocals sound as good as ever, and the group's handle on acoustic ballads, gusty rockers, and charged pop anthems evokes that of its heyday.

On Collapse Into Now, R.E.M. is very much alive, well, and relevant.

"Collapse Into Now is the first truly messy album R.E.M. have made in 10 years, since their underrated 2001 gem, Reveal. Their recent albums have focused on one musical approach at a time: 2004's Around the Sun was all slow-motion torpor, and 2008's excellent Accelerate went for spiky rockers. But Collapse Into Now touches on all their favorite tricks: punk raves, stately ballads, piano, accordion and the most mandolin they've put in one place since "Losing My Religion.""
--Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, February 23, 2011

R.E.M. Collapse Into Now Track Listing:

1.  Discoverer
2.  All The Best
3.  Uberlin
4.  Oh My Heart
5.  It Happened Today
6.  Every Day Is Yours To Win
7.  Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter
8.  Walk It Back
9.  Mine Smell Like Honey
10. That Someone Is You
11. Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I
12. Blue