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Collapse into Now Image
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 61 Ratings

  • Summary: R.E.M. returns with their 15th album, mixing up their winning musical recipe of the past with a new approach, featuring guest appearances by Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder, and Peaches.

Top Track

Oh My Heart
The kids have a new take, a new take on faith Pick up the pieces, get carried away. I came home to a city half-erased. I came home to face what we... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 37
  2. Negative: 0 out of 37
  1. Mar 9, 2011
    86
    Despite some small stutter steps, Collapse Into Now is easily the best R.E.M. album since the trio lost its way.
  2. Mar 4, 2011
    80
    Collapse mostly sounds like a familiar friend -- reliable in all the best ways, but still capable of quietly insinuating surprises.
  3. Mar 10, 2011
    80
    The album clearly bounces back and forth between those moments of emotional annihilation and utter hope and optimism. But more than that, with those tracks book-ending the effort, the record's most basic motif is clear: even as lords of rock, the men of R.E.M. still struggle daily with their own issues and the standards of the world, but welcome the battle with ever-glowing smiles.
  4. Mar 15, 2011
    70
    What makes this record better than Accelerate is the feeling that R.E.M. have figured out how to be R.E.M. again--how to affect the signature balance of folky and punky that's inspired bands far less worshipful than Pearl Jam or the Decemberists.
  5. Mar 7, 2011
    69
    Collapse shuffles through all of R.E.M.'s past lives; it's a greatest hits without a hit, a career retrospective with all new material.
  6. 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]
  7. 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]

See all 37 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. 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 Expand
  2. Mar 15, 2011
    10
    solid album from the veteran band rem. the songs flow nicely. i highly recommend this album to fans and newcomers. guest musicians as well.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. Expand
  3. Mar 11, 2011
    10
    Although there are no individual songs that register as particularly exceptional the collection as a whole is quite outstanding and should beAlthough 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. Expand
  4. Mar 8, 2011
    9
    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 veryThis 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
  5. Aug 30, 2012
    9
    Somebody says that it's the best album of their entire career. Someone else says that it's not good at all.
    The truth, in my opinion, is that
    Somebody says that it's the best album of their entire career. Someone else says that it's not good at all.
    The truth, in my opinion, is that Collapse Into Now is a great album, maybe the best of the latest 20 years by R.E.M. The quality of the songs is very very high, I can't see many albums with so many great songs (Mine Smell Like Honey, It Happened Today and Ebery Day Is Yours To Win are the best), maybe only Automatic For The People, with its masterpieces Man On The Moon, Everybody Hurts, Drive and Nightswimming.
    There Is only one little flaw: a great hit song is missing. Put in the tracklist something like Supernatural Superserious or Bad Day and the record is perfect.
    Expand
  6. Mar 8, 2011
    7
    "Accelerate" was the first R.E.M. album since Bill Berry left the band that sounded to me like R.E.M. It was a welcome album to hear and a"Accelerate" was the first R.E.M. album since Bill Berry left the band that sounded to me like R.E.M. It was a welcome album to hear and a return to form for a band that I felt was meandering and just putting out albums because they were under contract to. It was the first album of theirs whereby repeated listening was as rewarding as some of their earlier albums. So it was with great anticipation that "Collapse into Now" made it's way into my headphones today. After two listens through I can say they still have the form that came about with Accelerate...as in they sound like R.E.M. and not some weird hybrid. But the songs seem to be a bit too derivative of their earlier work...same chord selections, same acoustic type riffs, even the same tonal characteristics in Peter Buck's guitar playing. It all sounds almost too familiar. Some may like that, but for me there isn't really anything on this cd that I feel is "new". I feel like I've heard it all before across their many albums. And unfortunately that makes me sad and frustrated at this new cd. There are certainly bright spots. Mike Mills sounds fantastic in his backing tracks. The production is tight,and the guest spots from Patti Smith and Eddie Vedder are welcome. It's not a bad album by any stretch, and for someone not used to the sound of REM from the IRS or early Warner Bros years it might actually be an amazing album. For me, it all sounds just a bit too familiar and that's not a comfort. Expand
  7. Aug 6, 2011
    5
    If you like REM because of the songs "Man of the moon", "Electrolite", "Imitation of life", "Everybody hurts"... then don't go for this album.If you like REM because of the songs "Man of the moon", "Electrolite", "Imitation of life", "Everybody hurts"... then don't go for this album. Fast electric guitar songs which aren't high-quality. Only the last two tracks and tracks 3,4,5 are worth listening. Expand

See all 18 User Reviews