Collapse into Now
by R.E.M.
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 37
  3. Negative: 0 out of 37
  1. Mojo
    Apr 22, 2011
    60
    Collapse Into now finds Stipe, Peter Buck and mike Mills pleading relevance and vitality. [Apr 2011, p.96]
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  2. Uncut
    Mar 29, 2011
    60
    Collapse Into Now can only sound like an afterthought, but it nevertheless one which bristles and fizzes with invigorating qualities of wit and fury. [Apr 2011, p.76]
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  3. Dot Music
    Mar 10, 2011
    60
    Collapse Into Now isn't a bad album but crucially it isn't a classic.
  5. Drowned In Sound
    Mar 10, 2011
    60
    Like all of R.E.M.'s most recent albums, Collapse Into Now is flawed; a reflection, I'm speculating, on the fact that that band's working process is now flawed.
  6. Sputnikmusic
    Mar 9, 2011
    60
    The group have harked back to the more memorable songs in their canon, but this can be interpreted as largely derivative in some quarters.
  7. Clash Music
    Mar 8, 2011
    60
    Collapse Into Now suffers somewhat. It's good. But it's no Reckoning. Or Document. Or Automatic For The People. Or...
  8. The New York Times
    Mar 7, 2011
    60
    Where the spirit-void blankness of R.E.M. once felt intuitive and intentional, it now feels accidental. Most of this record's musical temperament seems reheated or purchased.
  9. PopMatters
    Mar 7, 2011
    60
    Although Collapse into Now is ultimately an OK rock record, one can point to moments here or on the album before that demonstrate that today's R.E.M. can achieve better if it buckles down hard enough.
  10. The Telegraph (UK)
    Mar 4, 2011
    60
    Not as cohesive as their very best work, R.E.M.'s 15th album is still as smart, sonically rich and emotionally resonant as a guitar band can ever hope to be.
  11. Slant Magazine
    Mar 7, 2011
    50
    Considering how the album's style draws from each era of R.E.M.'s evolution, Collapse Into Now plays as something of a greatest-hits package.
  12. Chicago Tribune
    Mar 4, 2011
    50
    What better band to cover R.E.M. than R.E.M.? That's exactly what the longtime Athens, Ga., trio sounds like it's doing on its 15th studio album, Collapse Into Now.
  13. Q Magazine
    May 2, 2011
    40
    Unfortunately, Collapse Into Now is not nearly as consistent, vital or accomplished as either Out Of Time or Automatic For The People. [Apr 2011, p.94]
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Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Most Discussed Album of 2011
84
#84 Most Shared Album of 2011

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 61 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 61
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 61
  3. Negative: 1 out of 61
  1. PeterGast
    Mar 8, 2011
    10
    There was a time I waited for an REM album with defiant hope. I mean, REM embodied the sophisticate yet accessible, the experimental yetThere was a time I waited for an REM album with defiant hope. I mean, REM embodied the sophisticate yet accessible, the experimental yet refrained, the beautiful but never the corny, and they were "southern boys just like you and me" (in Pavement's words). They were the leaders that made a path for and championed great younger bands. That was a long time ago. I stopped waiting for their second comming a few years back. Today I am glad they were never gone. I have read several accusations of fabrication of an artificial REM sound by REM on this album, which just seems ridiculous to me. I get why these are put forward, this is an intensely reminiscent album if you happen to know a couple of things about this bands important past. There is something stuck in the ears of critics disliking these songs for being too much like their early forerunners of Document, Green, Out of Time and Automatic. That something is that REM â… Full Review »
  2. ramona67
    May 19, 2011
    9
    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 vocalThis 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!… Full Review »
  3. EnriqueKik
    Mar 16, 2011
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link 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    … Full Review »
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