solid album from the veteran band rem. the songs flow nicely. i highly recommend this album to fans and newcomers. guest musicians as well. this album is well worth it. it just should have come out late 2010 instead of early 2011 as it was finished almost mid 2010. this album will satisfy those yearning for more rem.

This is by far their best album since "Up" . You can hear everything that makes them to be one of the greatest band in 80s and 90s, and very little of creative crisis after that. You don't need to listen this record 20 times before you get it - it is perfect and familiar right at the first listen and after that, only thing that you can do is to play it once more. Welcome back and thank you for this beautiful music. It is great to have you around.… Expand

For awhile there it seemed like one of truly great bands R.E.M. were lost. The lack of drummer Bill Berry seemed to have changed of the tenure of the music to something more contemplative. Up had "Lotus" a truly great rock song. But Reveal disappointed with "Imitation Of Life" a b-side track off of Out Of Time really as it's only worthy song. Then Around The Sun which, in my mind is the worst R.E.M. album ever.

Then came Accelerate a great solid album. Simple, easy, straight-forward rock songs. Maybe a little bit one dimensional but back was the R.E.M. we all loved. Collapse Into Now builds off of Accelerate and expands the pallet of musical flavors.

Collapse Into Now still has the energy of Accelerate (the thing we so missed from R.E.M.) But, it also has some more interesting sonic explorations. Take the final track Blue for instance. With the great Patti Smith singing vocals with Michael Stipe speaking, followed with a coda that alludes back to the opening track Discoverer. Excellent. Best album since at least New Adventures In HiFi.… Expand

This magical album blends all of the elements that make R.E.M one of the best bands of the last decades. You find the melancholic and beatiful slower tunes along with classic R.E.M. rock/popsongs. The lyrics are intriguing and quite positive. All in all this might be their finest album since Automatic for the people.
Stand out tracks: "Everyday is yours to win " ( insanely beatiful), "Uberlin" ( mezmerizing), "Discoverer" ( attitude and possibility)… Expand

Although there are no individual songs that register as particularly exceptional the collection as a whole is quite outstanding and should be enjoyed by fans and non-fans alike.

A very good album that shows R.E.M. aren't quite down for the count just yet. As many of the critics reviews point towards, this album grabs some of the best ideas from previous albums and strings them together. R.E.M. sounds very comfortable with this choice. The result is surprisingly great. Many artists try to go back to the well, but fall short. Fortunately, this album comes together smoothly, with each track logically following the next.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 10.0
R.E.M. has always been creative. Murmur was on it's time, a revolutionary album. The IRS years were great, and for some people a dislike, and for others an evolution (I am one of that kind), since Document, they have reinvented themselves in every new realise: The sticky sound from Green; the acoustic Out of Time; the masterpiece Automatic for the People; the distortion from Monster; the variety from New Adventures in Hi-Fi; the electronic Up; the kind of psychedelic Reveal; the soft and mostly underrated Around the Sun; the most rocker and a truth reinvention Accelerate.
Now, apparently they have decide to take the essence from every album they've ever made in every song this album is R.E.M.'s history that Collapse Into Now. This could be the best album R.E.M. will realize along with Automatic For The People.
"Discoverer" and "All The Best" are fast songs that reminds of their fast albums. "Ã… Expand

Likely to be the best album of 2011. "Collapse into now" delivers on all levels. It rocks you and moves you. BUY THIS CD! A guest apperence by the queen of rock Patti Smith and her side kick Lenny K. only sweeten the deal. With only one medocre song on the whole disk (me marlon brando etc) this album will be an album that will be remembered as a classic. The best new album since The Blacks Keys "Brothers" last year (BUY IT). I will be spining this record for years. R.E.M. has returned to greatness with the last two CD's. If I lost this CD I wouldn't hersitate to buy it again.… Expand

This is R.E.M.'s best since New Adventures in Hi-Fi in 1996. My favorite song on here is "Uberlin," which is Michael Stipe's finest vocal performance in many years. Collapse Into Now successfully mixes mid-tempo tracks like "Uberlin," "Oh My Heart," and "It Happened Today" (the last of which has the greatest harmony vocals on any R.E.M. album) with good slow songs like "Walk It Back" and "Me Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I" and faster, more rocking songs such as "All the Best" and "That Someone is You." Highly recommended!… Expand

For me, this was one of the albums of 2011 and such a shame that this was their last. I believe R.E.M only ever realeased one bad/mediocre album (Around the Sun) so every time they released an album of late, they risked their legacy. With this record they put a bit of added sheen on that legacy. Great that the band finished on a creative high. It does fade a little in the 3rd quarter of the album but the first half and finish is as strong as any REM record. It really is a pity we won't ever have another R.E.M record but what a back catalogue we have to remember them by.… Expand