■
R.E.M.
“Up”
Warner Bros.
Grade: C
You never really appreciate some
one until they’re gone.
Bill Berry, who served as R.E.M.’s
primary percussionist for nearly two
decades, retired from the group last
fall in the wake of a startling brain
aneurysm that struck Berry down dur
ing 1996’s “Monster” tour.
His collapse marked a certain mor
tality for the artsy but aging foursome,
one which it seems that Berry conced
ed by his consequent retirement.
R.E.M. decided to push ahead with
its plans for a new album anyway and
defiantly dubbed it “Up,” which was
released Oct. 27 to a minimal response
from critics and fans.
As has become obvious since the
album’s release, Berry was much more
than just any old drummer. Members
have confessed numerous times to his
vital contribution to the group’s evolv
ing, but always interesting, experimen
tation with pop and rock.
As his presence in the band extend
ed much further than the drum set; his
absence on the album seems to domi
nate the entire recording.
Drums are the first thing you don’t
hear on “Up,” which carries as its first
track a mumbled hymn to mundane
existence titled “Airportman.” It esca
lates as imperceptibly as a moving
sidewalk and induces the same feeling
of exhilaration.
“Up” boasts as its co-producer Pat
McCarthy, who engineered R.E.M.’s
last two albums, both of which broke
new ground for the band: one a cele
bration of classic rock and the other a
foray into electronic sound.
McCarthy must have liked the lat
ter, “New Adventures in Hi-Fi,” so
much that he decided “Up” should be
as similar as possible. Just as “How the
West Was Won And Where It Got Us”
served as a musical preamble to the
raucous paean to glam rock, “Wake
Up Bomb,” “Airportman” quietly
introduces a rowdy second track,
“Lotus.”
Berry’s invaluable contribution to
R.E.M. is painfully clear by the fourth
track, “Hope,” which attracts attention
only because it contains the album’s
first tickings of a drum line.
R.E.M. fans surely are teary-eyed
by this point as the synthetic, lifeless
snare/bass combo sounds as if it were
lifted off a Wal-Mart Casio keyboard
display.
The rest of the album wanders into
boredom and oblivion, occasional
bursts of energy are enveloped in repe
titious crescendos and only sporadical
ly is there the slightest inclination of
activity.
The dazzling exploration of “New
Adventures in Hi-Fi” has become a
routine stroll for R.E.M. without the
punchiness of Berry, and to a lesser
extent, longtime producer Scott Litt,
who has moved onto other projects.
To be fair, “Walk Unafraid” and
“Why Not Smile,” which appear more
than halfway through the recording,
recall better days for R.E.M. and are
the album’s brightest spots. The inclu
sion of lyrics, an unexpected bonus
(perhaps to compensate for its other
inadequacies) enhances the listening
experience by making it possible to
understand what Stipe is saying, even
if you don’t understand what he
means.
Although Stipe is as lyrically deft
as ever when it comes to exploring his
favorite psychological crevices, he
alone cannot compensate for the
album’s glaring omissions.
Berry retired, claiming he needed
more time for his family and himself.
Based on this recording, it sounds like
the rest of R.E.M. needs a break, too.
-Bret Schulte
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