R.E.M.-- Accelerate

[Josh]

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I've been expressing cynicism about the new R.E.M. album for months now, but I confess that I'm quite pleasantly surprised by how good the album turned out to be. Here's my review.

[Aaron]

I thought it was a decent album but nothing really stood out.  I gave it a B+

[murlough23]

I thought it was a decent album but nothing really stood out.  I gave it a B+

A B+ is decent??!?!

[Aaron]

A B+ is decent??!?!

For R.E.M., it was decent.  If I felt it was below average, it would have gotten a B- or lower.  It's on the lower end of the B+ range which to me is decent. 

[murlough23]

For R.E.M., it was decent.  If I felt it was below average, it would have gotten a B- or lower.  It's on the lower end of the B+ range which to me is decent. 

So it's below R.E.M.'s standards, but still pretty darn good compared to most other bands, right?

Just wondering, because a B+ is a grade I'd only give to a record I really enjoyed that just barely squeaked in under an A grade. It means I still really enjoy the record. I could see saying much the same thing you're saying here if, for example, Jars of Clay put out a record that fell short of their usual standards but was still pretty darn solid. But usually, to me, "decent" is a B- or C+.

I'm not nitpicking, just making sure I understand where you're coming from.

[Aaron]

I'm not nitpicking, just making sure I understand where you're coming from.

No worries.  We all have different criteria standards when grading albums. 

[murlough23]

Just try to give slightly better praise than "it's decent" if you ever have a kid that comes home with a B+ on his report card. 

[Aaron]

Just try to give slightly better praise than "it's decent" if you ever have a kid that comes home with a B+ on his report card. 

I'm not planning on ever having kids, but if something changes, I'll let you know..LOL

[bloop]

I went with my equivalent of a straight B, which is "well above average" in my system.  It's a good album, but I wouldn't regard it as a must-own.

[murlough23]

Well, it's nice to know that someone thinks interpreting R.E.M.'s lyrics is easy. Personally, most of their songs baffle me... but you've gotta hand it to those guys at Plugged In, they're sharp cookies!

http://www.pluggedinonline.com/music/music/a0004068.cfm

(Obviously, I'm being sarcastic here. They completely missed the point of most of the songs, far as I can tell. Especially "Mr. Richards". Sure, it calls out a politician for his dirty deeds, but what really makes the song stand out is the gleeful delight that the general public feels in watching that public figure go down. It's all about schadenfreude. Plugged In, being experts at the judgmental attitude themselves, apparently didn't hear the big "whoosh" as the irony went right over their heads.)

NP: "The Escapist", Coldplay

[danny316]

Why are you still reading Plugged In?

As a general rule, if somebody spends 90% of their time telling me I'm going to hell, I'm not going to want to bother with them.

[murlough23]

Why are you still reading Plugged In?

Because one man's offense is another man's humor.