R.E.M., Monster or Dinosaur? Talking about 'Collapse Into Now' and the greatest rock of my generation

R.E.M. was a blast of fresh air for rock in the '80s.
They were full of great melodies and energy.

I've been thinking lately about a grand musical question: What is the greatest American rock band of my generation? By my generation, I'm thinking of music made after the punk revolution of the late '70s successfully dislodged blues as the necessary foundation of rock music and opened up the musical palate of  rock music since at least 1980.

When I consider the question, I have something in mind like a great big March Madness bracket. There would be middle seed bands like Modest Mouse, The Minute Men, Fugazi and Dinosaur Jr., scrappy upstarts with higher seed looking for a their Cinderella turn like The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Interpol and The Strokes. And, of course, lets not forget the sole Ivy League contender: The National. Top seeds favorites would be those bands that were successful and influential: The Pixies, Pavement, Wilco, Flaming Lips and Nirvana. All worthy of discussion -- all capable of making the Final Four, but not capable of winning the title

I can think of only two bands that are really deserving of the title. These are bands worthy of "greatest in a generation" titles. There are two American bands that have had not only built wildly successful careers, but have done so consistently for more than 25 years and have influenced nearly everything that came after them in one way or another: Sonic Youth and R.E.M.

A lot of people have heard of Sonic Youth but never listened. As a rock band, no one has done more with the guitar and with the rock form. They've been experimental, AND they've rocked hard, creating a blast of sound on records like Daydream Nation and Dirty that is still breathtaking 20-plus years later. And they've done it now at an unbelievably consistent level. What other band of 50-year-olds could have recorded anything like 2009's The Eternal? Guitar players half their age are still trying to catch up to Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo.

R.E.M. never pushed the boundaries the way Sonic Youth did, but in the early '80s, they literally paved the road for alternative rock with a string of terrific records -- from the debut Murmur to Reckoning, Document and Green. They continued to build a rock sound that was a breath of fresh air, melodic and energetic and nd the became wildly successful doing it. When Automatic for the People came out in 1992, R.E.M. was rivaled in influence and in the arena only by other mega bands like U2.

But after 1994's Monster and the departure of original drummer Bill Berry (who suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm while on tour for Monster) R.E.M. muddled through a string of records in the late 90s and early aughts that never really captured that old energy. It was hard to hear in the newer material that which made the band so great in its first decade.

In 2008, the band released Accelerate, a collection of mostly upbeat rock songs that seemed to have found the original members -- Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills -- reenergized. Last week's new record, Collapse Into Now builds a bit on the same sounds as Accelerate, which works in some ways, and falls short in others.

The good: This is R.E.M.  These guys really don't write bad songs. And Collapse Into Now is a collection of good songs. The best songs, to my ear, are the ones that find the band exploring the "up" rock sound of Accelerate, a romping and rolling merger of  distorted guitar tone and solid rhythm back up. Yeah, it's anthemic stuff, not as nuanced as the jangly sound R.E.M. pioneered on Murmur and Reckoning, but it's good rock music. "All The Best," "Mine Smell Like Honey," "Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter" and "That Someone is You" are instantly likable tunes that will make you want to turn up the speakers.

The bad: I can't help but feel listening to Collapse Into Now that R.E.M. has sort of become the band they were parodying on Monster. As talented as they remain, the band sounds fairly predictable. Some of the slower songs, all with that mandolin-y, Americana-ish sound of early '90s R.E.M. sound like thy could have easily been out-takes from Automatic for the People. Songs like "Oh My Heart" and "Walk it Back" are fine, but sound tired. R.E.M. has been here before. And then some.

Now, you can argue that R.E.M. has earned the right to be a little predictable at this stage in their career. I think that's largely true. But it doesn't help the fact that there are moments on the new record sound an awful lot like old songs. And that really won't get the listener to feel a lot of excitement.

I wouldn't call Collapse Into Now a disappointment. It's a good record and  comparing it to R.E.M.'s amazing early catalog is unfair in some ways. Few bands at this stage in their career could produce anything close to as competent as Collapse into Now, and for that R.E.M. deserves accolades... and record sales.