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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Around The Sun
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 89 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 05 October 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock
Summary
'Sun' is the 13th studio disc for R.E.M., who are joined here by frequent collaborators Ken Stringfellow and Scott McCaughey. Q-Tip also guest raps on "The Outsiders."
Also By This Artist: Accelerate Live At The Olympia R.E.M Live Reveal
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Flak Magazine
As the songs unfold over multiple listens, though, what becomes clear is that R.E.M. still has plenty to say, and plenty of interesting ways to say it.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Often recalls 1992's Automatic For The People in its sobriety of purpose. [Nov 2004, p.100]
Alternative Press
Undercut by passion and urgency. [Jan 2005, p.113]
Village Voice
Structure trumps texture throughout: "Make It All OK" is a formally tight breakup ballad, with spiritual overtones, that could fit neatly on a good singer-songwriter record, and others are arranged semi-acoustically, highlighting Stipe's cleanest melodies and most inviting vocal performances in years.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
R.E.M. still have the remarkable distinction of never once producing a bad album, but this is perhaps the biggest example yet of the group merely treading water, whereas once they majestically swam.
Read Full Review >Spin
This is a low-spark affair. [Nov 2004, p.112]
Entertainment Weekly
As arena folk goes, R.E.M. remain cooler than, say, the Wallflowers. Just barely. [8 Oct 2004, p.114]
Los Angeles Times
A noncommittal aura undermines Michael Stipe's most personal, poetic and moving set of lyrics in years. [3 Oct 2004]
New Musical Express
The first REM album to really disappoint. [2 Oct 2004, p.60]
Blender
R.E.M.'s recent albums have increasingly resembled singer-songwriter records. Around The Sun is much the best of the last three... because the tunes are better. [Nov 2004, p.140]
Under The Radar
The less a-political songs fall far short of REM's extremely high standards. [#8, p.111]
ShakingThrough.net
Its sporadic pockets of accessibility aside, it's difficult to listen to Around the Sun without hearing it as a holding pattern, or worse, a piece of product released simply to keep the R.E.M. brand out among the public.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Sound[s] less like the work of an actual band than a sterile concoction created by scientists in white lab coats.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Its chief problem is that every word, every note, and every instrument sounds dry, sapped of most of their personality.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
The good news is things pick up, eventually. The bad news is the album ends just as it starts getting interesting.
Read Full Review >Billboard
The band's writing stagnates, rendering the majority of the album in a rote midtempo formula that Stipe's increasingly trite lyrics can't always save.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
Where the two remaining musicians in the band appear to have gone astray, Michael Stipe sounds positively lost, never to be found again.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
However different the early and mid-period records are, they all sounded daring, fresh, and inspired in their own ways. Compare that to the lifeless "High Speed Train" which plods along in perfectly measured time for the longest five minutes I've ever experienced with the band.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
In eliminating both the mystery of its early years and the restless spirit of more recent times, R.E.M. leaves just exactly what R.E.M.-haters probably felt the band made all along: midtempo, largely hookless adult rock.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Relentlessly, frustratingly slow. [Nov 2004, p.108]
Mojo
The first out-and-out dull R.E.M. album. [Oct 2004, p.97]
Dot Music
Repeated plays just refuse to reveal hidden depths. There aren‘t any. “Around The Sun” is just a really poor album, probably the first one that this band has ever put out.
Read Full Review >Filter
Weak poetry set to any music sucks, let alone this plodding folk-lite. [#13, p.90]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 89 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jonas H. gave it an8:
I'm a general fan of a lot of REM's music, and I must admit I disagree this is one of their worst albums. Although they have let down their old-school rock style, it's still great.
Ross H. gave it an8:
Not as good as other albums but electron blue is like a footballer who plays well but doesnt bask himself in glory
Iban L gave it a4:
As a huge R.E.M. fan, "Around The Sun" was such a disappointment. Though it is true that the departure of Berry in 1997 was a difficult moment, the other three members proved that they were able to get over that and continue producing good music (not nearly as good as in their peak, but good). The dark "Up" and the summery "Reveal" were both interesting records, with flaws, but with a general good impression. But this is definitely not the case of "Around The Sun". Certainly, I don't consider ATS to be a horrible record or a record I hate, but it is quite lifeless and offers very little to the listener. There are a few of interesting songs but nothing really stands out, while there are some big flaws. My feeling about this record is not positive, but I still have faith on R.E.M. and I hope the next record will go back to the rocker and better sound. After all, they're a great band.
Collings j gave it a10:
a master piece
Dax r gave it a6:
r.e.m. need to do what made them great. the last to albums have just sounded too clean production-wise. mumble, mix the vocals low, and tone down the studio sheen a little bit. then they can do whatever they want with organs, beeps, and blips, sequenced drums, etc. at least the songwriting on reveal was still pretty strong for the most part. here it's uniformly as weak as it's ever been at the lowest points in the past. this is the only r.e.m. album that has ever been even remotely disappointing. after bill left i planned on being disappointed with up, and while it had its weak points, it still had some of those truly great songs that you can still remember hearing for the first time. i thought reveal couldn't keep up, and while it didn't quite have the highs, it was a more solid effort overall. this just feels like a placeholder. just a bunch of songs, some decent, some boring, thrown onto a cd. whatever.
Mark p gave it a3:
I expected more after the superb lead-off single ("Leaving New York" is in my top 3 REM songs) but the album is drab and lacklustre. You feel the fire has gone out of their bellies and the expected lp-every-two-years routine has killed their creativity. They need to take a couple of years and stockpile some better material. And up the tempo a little. Away with the middle-age malaise
Jace N gave it a3:
The pre-release word on this album was "Primitive and Howling" and we all thought "Good...no more experimental weird tinkering with organs...and stuff from the 70s like the bands attire and cover art in the UP days of 1998". ...post release we see its yet another pop, click buzz & beep festival with a slow, dragging pace and tired half-asleep vocals. Cmon...COME ON...yell Mr Stipe...we know you can! Ditch this whispering falsetto and spaceman kaleidescope background music and make us remember why we loved Monster and New Adventures In Hi-Fi!
