By shelz.

R.E.M. has been around longer than some of Planet Ill’s readers have.  They served as catalyst for the alt-rock movement back in the early 80’s and have always maintained a steadfast following and more than a little respect from the industry.  Going into 2011, they are preparing the release of their 15^th album and fans of the group are beyond excited.  So to agitate the “Shiny Happy People” just a bit more, the crew has released the lead single off Collapse Into Now called “Discoverer.”  Oh and it’s free.

So of course I can’t say anything bad about it, right?  Who complains about free shit?  Well I won’t complain, but I will say I’m not crazy in love with this.

“Discoverer” is a straight ahead rock song and not the quiet, thoughtful sound fans of R.E.M.s radio singles are used to.  R.EM. are no foreigners to  the rattle and hum of a distorted guitar and heavy  tribal drums.  This side of them requires Stipe to holler a bit, but it’s not overwhelming here.

The song maintains this noisy tension throughout, but it’s dotted with little breaks where they kill the noise only to rebuild. There is some great melody here, but it’s almost buried in the distorted grind of the guitar work and the chorus is pretty tedious.

Stipe is singing about life realizations, motivations and tapping into previously unused portions of one’s self..Umm. I think.  So this discovery appears to be from self-exploration.  It’s a wonderful theme and folks who are all into their own process of self-actualization might even find this anthemic.  I just wish the sentiment was delivered atop a better foundation.  Or maybe I’m just partial to Automatic For the People. Either way, its still R.E.M.  Tune in and get your Christopher Columbus on.

R.E.M. – “Discoverer”

Discoverer

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