same old chords (I've used them myself for over 40 years - check out The Geldof Principle)...

remhq.com/news_story.php?id=665

Ummmmm, not sure about all that JK, but they were truly outstanding at the RAH last night. Short set ,full of new songs which thankfully sound great after a couple of mixed 'difficult' records.Stipe enjoying being so close to the audience. All in all a tad old fashioned in a delightful way.

I just sang it on a session for a re-issue company.
What a brilliant lyric.

I just got my copy of the album - great weekend listen!

Just had a sneak preview on iTunes. All sounds fantastic - just like the good old days of REM!

Also, it's interesting to note that the majority of the tracks on the album are in the 2 to 2.30 minutes bracket in length.

The most wonderful thing about the track (single) is how effortless it seems to them.
It`s like they are covering their own songs or paying tribute to themselves.
I can`t enthuse enough about the lyric, Stipe clones his "a reading from Dr Suess" line so well by appearing to have put pen to paper and saying to himself that on this track he will write a story using no nouns.
Whereas, on the new Nick Cave album (similar style), a new named character appears in all the tunes.
Music is still so interesting, I wish we could all stop looking at our next X-Factor stars and continue to look at the old masters sometimes, more often.

This is a great post about the reviews of R.E.M albums by Rolling Stone:

www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-wyman/rock-c...-if-you_b_94959.html

"So Up was better than Automatic for the People ... and worthy of comparison not just to OK Computer but Sgt. Pepper.

It sure didn't sound that bad.

At that point, we realized what the problem was. R.E.M. had set the bar for itself, and reviewers, impossibly high. On its eleventh studio album, Up, the group had come up with a Sgt. Pepper-like masterpiece.

Since then, critics have had to deal with something unexpected. R.E.M. have consistently topped that stirring work, each successive release being so good as to make clear the flaws of the one before it.

At this point, the implication is clear: As far as Rolling Stone is concerned, R.E.M.'s best work is ahead of it."

I love the Stipe being "poeticaly lethal" bit.

No muscle, just words and a couple of chords and you are a heavyweight champion.

What a band.

Sadly it turns out to be a one hit album; Supernatural is magic, the rest is just OK.