Accelerate: R.E.M.'s Second Reckoning?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit tonyfletcher.substack.com

Welcome to the 16th episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.

While most of our previous episodes have covered bands or artists that have been received very differently in the UK than the US, this one focuses on a band that was hugely successful in both countries (and a whole lotta other places as well): Athens, Georgia’s R.E.M.

But instead of zooming in on one of R.E.M.’s classic early/mid-eighties albums like Murmur or Reckoning, or delving into one of the releases from their multi-platinum run in the nineties, Dan and Tony fast-forward here to the penultimate studio album of the massively influential alternative rock band’s 31-year career: 2008’s Accelerate.

Produced by Jacknife Lee (who had previously worked with Snow Patrol, Editors and The Hives, among others), Accelerate is a 35-minute blast of hard-riffing, tightly-wound tunes, featuring such bracing singles as “Hollow Man” (video below), “Man-Sized Wreath” and “Supernatural Superserious”. Viewed by many — including R.E.M. co-founders Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe — as a significant comeback from their previous outing, 2004’s soggy Around the Sun, the record received rave reviews pretty much across the board, and reached #2 on the Billboard 200 in the US while going all the way to #1 on the UK Albums chart.

But despite its commercial and critical success, Accelerate remains something of an overlooked entry in R.E.M.’s extensive discography. Dan, for example, was only dimly aware of its existence; even though R.E.M. was once quite literally his favorite band in the world, he’d never actually even listened to Accelerate until Tony suggested it for this episode. Tony, on the other hand, was already highly familiar with the album, having detailed the story of its unusual gestation, especially the role of Jacknife Lee in revitalizing the group’s mojo, in the last update of his band biography, Perfect Circle: The Story of R.E.M.

In this episode, Dan and Tony discuss the circumstances around Accelerate’s creation, the album’s various musical and lyrical highlights, and where it ultimately ranks in their respective R.E.M. standings. Will Tony make a convincing case for the album’s enduring greatness? Will Dan kick himself for waiting nearly 17 years to actually listen to the record? Tune in to this episode of CROSSED CHANNELS and find out!

As always, this full CROSSED CHANNELS episode is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available above for all to listen to. To hear this episode in full, along with all of our previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one of our Substacks — or, better yet, sign up for both of them! In addition to the podcast, Jagged Time Lapse and Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith regularly serve up previously unpublished interviews and other exclusive content to our paid subscribers.