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Reveal
by
Reveal Image
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 51 Ratings

  • Summary: 'Reveal,' the Athens, GA band's 12th full-length album, marks the 20-year anniversary of the group. Operating as a trio for the second consecutive outing, R.E.M. offer up 12 new tracks, mainly of the mid-tempo acoustic guitar and keyboard variety. Guests include Joey Waronker, Ken'Reveal,' the Athens, GA band's 12th full-length album, marks the 20-year anniversary of the group. Operating as a trio for the second consecutive outing, R.E.M. offer up 12 new tracks, mainly of the mid-tempo acoustic guitar and keyboard variety. Guests include Joey Waronker, Ken Stringfellow (The Posies), and Scott McCaughey (The Young Fresh Fellows).… Collapse

Top Track

Beat A Drum
The sun reflected in the back of my eye I knocked my head against the sky. The dragonflies are busy buzzing me Seahorses if we were in the... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Q Magazine
    100
    It's a landmark album for REM and the fans who stayed faithful, a shot in the arm for music in 2001 and - unless they're too foolish to accept it - a long-awaited treat for all the listeners who bailed out after Monster.
  2. The A.V. Club
    90
    For all its daring, Reveal still ranks among the group's most instantly winning albums, the kind whose poppiest pleasures, like "All The Way To Reno (You're Going To Be A Star)" and the single "Imitation Of Life," eventually fade into the album's overall beauty.
  3. Playlouder
    90
    Whilst this comes closer to 'Out Of Time' than anything else they've done, it never once sounds dated.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    Reveal is billed as the band's return to form, and mostly it is.... But like 'Up,' much of 'Reveal' is haunted by an ennui that's curious for a band that made their name by talking about the passion. [18 May 2001, p.79]
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  5. Spin
    70
    Unlike U2, whose left turns have felt like oblique strategies in the band's pompous struggle to redeem rock, R.E.M.'s stylistic shifts tend to feel like survival skills. Vaguely psychedelic, filled with hazy shades of woo or whatever, much of Reveal moves with the graceful drag of 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction, yet with more ebb and flux. [June 2001, p.143]
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  6. Sonicnet
    60
    On the plus side, the album sounds really nice.... The problem is, things get a little too lazy and hazy; Reveal's 12 tracks all move with almost the exact same dreamy, midtempo lope.
  7. Blender
    40
    'Up' sounded like the work of a band getting its bearings. On 'Reveal,' they're still finding their way. [Jun/Jul 2001, p.110]
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See all 20 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. DanielE
    Nov 25, 2003
    10
    I was going through a break up at the time and this album struck a very heavy note with me as it related to what I was going through. Every I was going through a break up at the time and this album struck a very heavy note with me as it related to what I was going through. Every song seemed to mirror my own situation. Michael Stipes voice and lyrics are to be commended. I would go as far as to say that this was their best album in many years.… Collapse
  2. C.S.Reed
    Feb 12, 2006
    10
    a collection of torpid songs that taste like summer afternoon
  4. HenryG
    Apr 29, 2008
    10
    Atrocious for an artist of her calibre. So dissapointing. 2, maybe 3 decent tracks tops. I love her too.
  5. BangkokDave
    Jul 30, 2002
    9
    REM's best album since Automatic for the People & in many ways, its spiritual successor. At least half the songs would make excellent REM's best album since Automatic for the People & in many ways, its spiritual successor. At least half the songs would make excellent singles. Ironically, the only mildly successful single, Imitation of Life, is largely bland & nondescript. The fact that no one is playing this album is a sad commentary not just on the state of the popular music scene, but on the so-called alternative scene, now almost completely taken over by rap & nu-metal.… Expand
  6. Estevetheque
    Aug 17, 2013
    8
    One of best REM records in Warner's era. (In a 2nd row with Up, Monster and New Adventures after AFTP and OOT). Great BeachBoys tribute!One of best REM records in Warner's era. (In a 2nd row with Up, Monster and New Adventures after AFTP and OOT). Great BeachBoys tribute! Imitation of Life classic!… Expand
  7. ErwinB.
    Nov 10, 2001
    8
    A coherent album. Plenty of highlights.
  8. shakermaker
    Aug 16, 2001
    4
    they always sound the same after all these years it's gettin boring

See all 20 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Best Album of 2001
40
#40 Most Discussed Album of 2001
33
#33 Most Shared Album of 2001

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