Maps of Music

Accelerate (2008)

Where the lyrics of Accelerate take you, and where it was really made.

Most of this album's songs were first played live at a five-night Dublin residency, as working rehearsals, before the band recorded them in a nine-week schedule.

Key places

Armoury Studios, Vancouver (2008)

Recording site Armoury Studios — Armoury Studios in Vancouver is credited on the album as a recording location, with assistant engineers working there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Grouse Lodge Studios, Rosemount (2008)

Recording site Grouse Lodge Studios — Grouse Lodge Studios in Rosemount is credited on the album as a recording location, with an assistant engineer working there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Seney-Stonewall Chapel, Athens (2008)

Recording site John Keane Studios — Seney-Stonewall Chapel in Athens, Georgia is listed as a recording location for the album, with the position given at city-center level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Accelerate: fourteenth studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M.
• Released 31 March 2008 in Europe, 1 April 2008 in North America
• Produced with Jacknife Lee
• Intended as a departure from the 2004 album Around the Sun
• Recorded on a nine-week schedule

Background

• Around the Sun (2004) sold 240,000 copies in the United States and drew poor critical reception
• Band members later expressed displeasure with that album
• Guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills began instrumental demos in winter 2007
• Touring members Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey assisted with the demos
• The new songs were faster and more aggressive than the band's material of previous years
• Mills suggested working out the new songs in a live setting before recording, as the band had done in its early years
• Five-night series at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 30 June to 5 July 2007, dubbed working rehearsals by the band
• Many Accelerate songs debuted at these shows, several still works in progress
• These performances were later released as Live at The Olympia in 2009
• Edge of U2 urged the band to choose Jacknife Lee as producer
• Three-week sessions in three different cities followed the Dublin residency to keep focus
• The tight schedule kept Stipe from spending too much time on lyrics and vocal parts

Recording

• Engineering credits name Armoury Studios, Grouse Lodge and other studios
• The group mixed the album in a London studio in 10 days
• Stipe said the band spent less time making this record than any in 20 years

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe, all University of Georgia students
• Released the single "Radio Free Europe" in 1981 on the independent label Hib-Tone
• Signed with I.R.S. Records in 1982

Members

• Michael Stipe (lead vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass, vocals), Bill Berry (drums) until 1997
• Bill Rieflin served as touring drummer from 2003 until his death in 2020

Career

• Breakthrough hit "The One I Love" in 1987 from Document; signed with Warner Bros. in 1988
• Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992) made them leaders of alternative rock
• Continued as a trio after Berry left in 1997
• Broke up in 2011 after selling more than 90 million albums worldwide
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2024

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album was heralded as a return to form for the band, receiving a warm reception from music critics
• Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars, with critic David Fricke praising the group's aggressive sound
• NME reviewer Alan Woodhouse gave the album eight out of 10, calling it the band's best and most cohesive album since Bill Berry left
• Q critic Keith Cameron said the album sounded like a band enjoying itself, unlike Around the Sun
• Q critic Keith Cameron compared the first three songs to the first half of Lifes Rich Pageant but noted a midway dip
• Time reviewer Josh Tyrangiel praised guitarist Peter Buck's resurgence and propulsive riffs
• Time reviewer Josh Tyrangiel said the album never quite generates the moody atmospherics of the band's first ten albums
• Uncut gave the album three out of five stars, with reviewer John Mulvey calling it a simple, pragmatic record
• Sputnikmusic described the album as a ballsier return to the band's punk roots

Reappraisal

• Metacritic weighted average of 79 out of 100, based on 33 reviews
• Consequence of Sound ranked the album at number 37 on its top 100 albums of the decade list in 2009
• Under the Radar ranked it at number 193 on its Top 200 Albums of the 2000s list
• Kitsap Sun placed it at number 73 on its Top 101 Albums of the 2000s list in 2010
• It appeared in at least 24 professional lists of the best albums of 2008

Records

• Debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 115,000 copies
• Sold more than 353,000 copies in the United States
• Became the band's eighth album to top the British album charts
• Band's highest-charting release since New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
• Stayed 18 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart
• Vinyl LP edition re-released in August 2023

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Dublin shows were called working rehearsals by the band, and many Accelerate songs were still works in progress when played there.
• A deluxe edition added a DVD with Vincent Moon's film 6 Days, which includes behind-the-scenes footage and performances.
• Bonus tracks Red Head Walking and Airliner were added to the deluxe edition along with a 64-page booklet.
• The album was released digitally as streams on iLike six days before its American physical release, as the band wanted to experiment with distribution.
• Stipe linked his angry lyrics to the state of the nation, saying it is easy to write great, angry songs when the empire is going down the toilet.
• It was the last album the band toured behind, before it decided against touring for its final album Collapse into Now and disbanded.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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