For Those About To Rock

This Week, Nick Would Buy ... #21

The Roots, Rising Down (Def Jam)

Rising Down is billed as the Legendary Roots Crew's most political record to date, quite a tag to live up to since the South Philly hip hop group is the one to have paired the lyrics for "Masters of War" with the national anthem.

The new record, the group's second for Def Jam, is said to continue the darker and more political undertones of 2006's underappreciated Game Theory. Guest spots pop up on nearly every track — Common, Talib Kweli and Mos Def stop in to help out.

A lot of the pre-release drum beat has focused on "Birthday Girl," a collaboration with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump that was issued as the first single. But the lighthearted fare didn't fit the bill, so it doesn't even show up on the final copy of the CD.

That says it all about Rising Down — The Roots want you to take them and their message seriously.

If I Were Really Rich ...
— Mudcrutch, Mudcrutch (Reprise/Wea) — Tom Petty side project Lazaruses its way back into existence and releases its debut album nearly 40 years later.
— Portishead, Third (Mercury/Island) — First record in more than a decade from English trip hoppers.

Others
— Augustana, Can't Love, Can't Hurt (Epic)
— Baby D, A-Town Secret Weapon (KR Urban)
— Boris, Smile (Southern Lord)
— The Cab, Whisper War (Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen)
— Chin Chin, Chin Chin (Definitive Lux)
— Def Leppard, Songs From the Sparkle Lounge (Bludgeon Riffola/Island)
— Robert Forster, The Evangelist (Yep Roc)
— Forever the Sickest Kids, Underdog Alma Mater (Universal Motown)
— Griffin House, Flying Upside Down (RCA)
— Lyfe Jennings, Lyfe Change (Sony Urban Music/Columbia)
— Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American [Deluxe Edition] (Geffen)
— Joy Division, The Best of Joy Division (Rhino/London)
— Liverpool FIve, Best of the Liverpool Five (Sundazed)
— Madonna, Hard Candy (Warner Bros.)
— Mindless Self Indulgence, If (The End)
— Puscifer, V is for Viagra: The Remixes (Zomba/Puscifer)
— Raven-Symone, Raven-Symone (Hollywood)
— Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves, Roll With You (Q-Division)
— Santogold, Santogold (Downtown)
— Carly Simon, This Kind of Love (Hear Music)
— Steve Winwood, Nine Lives (Columbia)
— Zappa Plays Zappa, Zappa Plays Zappa (Razor & Tie)

Where Are You Going: DMB in the Post-Lillywhite Era

This fan-shot video of John Mayer joining Dave Matthews Band on "#41" last fall is a good way to launch us into this post.

Mayer marks what DMB became in the decade since it released Before These Crowded Streets, which turns 10 Monday. They crossed from being influenced to influential, and Streets was the turning point. It's a record many consider their best, so it's important for me, a DMB obsessive, to discuss the subsequent decade.

For some of the globe-trotting, show-collecting diehard obsessives, it's the last time the band mattered. To say that some of the DMB fans that have been around since the '90s were disappointed with 2001's Everyday and 2005's Stand Up is like saying fans of Coke were underwhelmed with New Coke.

This splits the DMB fan camp into two unspoken but divisive groups: the old-timers, who represent the '90s albums (Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash and Before These Crowded Streets), who watched the band go from playing clubs and small theaters to headlining three nights at Giants Stadium. The newcomers are the '00s fans, those who came in with the sleek production and pop-flecked singles such as "Where Are You Going" or "The Space Between."

At the heart of this mess is The Lillywhite Sessions, a block of 2000 studio time with Steve Lillywhite  (who produced the aforementioned '90s trio of albums) which was recorded, unreleased and later leaked to the Internet. The old schoolers ate up the Lillywhite stuff like foaming pitbulls at a steakhouse, especially since it was leaked one month after the released of the lambasted Everyday.

The Lillywhite material, which was later re-recorded for release as 2002's Busted Stuff, may be what fuels the '90s holdovers. For as much as they b****, whine and complain, a number of those old-school fans will say they're still around, following every move the band makes, not because they're determined to skewer them, but because they believe there's another great record in DMB.

Both crowds are Pavlovian when it comes to news about DMB's in-progress seventh studio album. Matthews has said in several interviews that the band is going to take its sweet time to complete the record.

After jettisoning Stand Up producer Mark Batson (Jay-Z, 50 Cent) last year, the band returned to the studio last month with long-time Green Day lab rat Rob Cavallo. Also aboard is frequent DMB collaborator Tim Reynolds, a guitar virtuoso.

As to how the band got to where it is now — 10 years after its best album and trying to figure out where to go — the message board crowd has its innumerable speculations, i.e., Batson and Everyday producer Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Quincy Jones) didn't push them hard enough, the band has gotten lazy, etc. Many fans cleave to the idea that DMB hasn't had the right producer since Lillywhite, who is all but canonized for his efforts. But one fact seems to be largely ignored.

The old-school fans seem to forget that DMB hasn't been trying to make a great record. Everyday and Stand Up are not intended to be masterful artistic statements. After the unexpected mess of Everyday and The Lillywhite Sessions, they didn't know what to do next. As such, they've been having fun and keeping it light until they figure it out. It's a protracted reaction to that entire debacle.

This is for the old-school fans: Say what you want about the artistic merit of a song such as Stand Up's "American Baby Intro," an experiment in minimalism on steroids as five notes and 10 words coalesce into an orgy of screaming, violin-fueled madness. (Judge it for yourself in this YouTube clip.) At least the group looks like it's having fun playing it. The '90s set is quick to dismiss fans who say these songs are solid live because of "the energy," saying the older material not only has energy but is solid stuff. But live performance is DMB's bread and butter. They bring it hard almost every night, whether you like what they're playing or not. That's commendable.

But there's a kernel of truth in the old crew's argument and this is where the newcomers owe an apology. "Teh energy!" isn't a new idea to the DMB catalog — it's always been there. How infectious is "What Would You Say," regardless of its abstract hypotheticals? Just listen to Live at Red Rocks, 8.15.95. DMB may sound a little unpolished compared to where they're at now, but they certainly make up for it by going full steam ahead song after song.

Assuming the band has been trying to have fun with Everyday and Stand Up, perhaps its members felt they made their masterpiece with BTCS. If they feel that way, they're certainly entitled — it's a solid outing that doesn't get its due as one of the best records of its decade. Or maybe they really didn't know where to go after scrapping the Lillywhite tracks. But now I'm speculating like the message board freaks.

At the crux of DMB's post-BTCS story is a truth about all bands and everything in life — change is inevitable. The only way to deal with it is to tackle it head on and challenge yourself to try something new.

For both generations of DMB fan, there's hope for the future. With Cavallo and Reynolds on board, as well as a batch of road-tested songs from the 2006 and 2007 summer tours — including the soaring standout "Shotgun" (more YouTubeage) and the radio-ready "The Idea of You" — many think the stars are aligning for another great album.

I'll drink to that. Bartender, please, fill my glass for me.

Further reading:
2002 Rolling Stone cover story on Everyday/Busted Stuff debacle.
David McNair's insightful look in 2005 into Dave Matthews during the post-BTCS era.

The One That Got Away

For many, there’s “the one that got away,” the one that leaves a person wondering, “if only … .”

Maybe we weren’t ready. We weren’t mature enough.

Sometimes, we just made a foolish mistake. We wish we could take it back, but it just wasn’t meant to be — a lesson we had to learn in order to be where we’re at now.

Maybe we’re grasping the notion the grass is indeed greener on the other side, coveting what we don’t have instead of appreciating what we do.

And why not? There’s something so alluring, so enticing about the unexplored, the unknown.

I recall vividly the last time I saw the one that got away.

It was in the vinyl section of a now-defunct Media Play store.

Oh, what a site! Radiant, stunning and impossible to miss, a true head-turner.

What glorious grooves! What rich and enticing sound! What a cool record cover!

C’mon, now.

You had to guess this wasn’t about any woman.

Sadly, the vinyl printing of Dave Matthews Band’s Before These Crowded Streets has eluded me for nearly a decade. Considering the album turns 10 Monday, it seems like a good time to mention it.

I decided not to buy it that day in 1998. I don’t know what I picked up instead.  And I’ve never seen the vinyl printing since.

That sounds like a long time, but the wound is still fresh. When I look back at years records I should’ve bought when I had the chance, that’s the one that stands out — the one that got away.

What makes BTCS precious is it’s the only record the band has issued in vinyl and it’s out of print. Well, that and I’m one of those freaks who travels the globe to see the band’s concerts and has downloaded hundreds more, so having it would only further prove my fandom. Or insanity — after stating I was going to attend every show in a four-night stand at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, my friend, Kristen, told me, “Nick, the cheese has slid off your cracker.”

Going to every show in a four-night stand or owning a rare vinyl symbolizes a certain level of fanaticism. To have the BTCS record would be just short of the DMB collectors holy grail — only the “Pumpkin Recently,” an ultra-rare edition of an EP with a different cover, could outshine gramophone-style DMB.

Aside from what having it would say about me as a fan, it also serves as a reminder of the band’s development and history. BTCS cemented the Charlottesville, Va., quintet as a mainstream mainstay. They had hits before, but never a No. 1 album; the record dethroned the Titanic soundtrack after 16 weeks in the top spot, giving Celine Dion more reason to whimper about how her heart would go on and on. Dave Matthews Band had already arrived, but the success of BTCS solidified their place as one of the most beloved acts of the ’90s.

But BTCS marked the end of an era, too. After three straight turns in the control room, Steve Lillywhite wouldn’t successfully produce another of the band’s albums. The 2000s have brought Everyday and Stand Up, albums ill-received among the group’s diehards because of their sleek production and hasty songwriting. Contrarily, those records furthered their popularity and ushered in a new set of fans — “The Space Between” proved to be the band’s best-charting single to date.

For DMB fans of any era, though, BTCS holds a treasured place. And why not? There’s the short, between-songs segue jams. The band shows its technical chops — simply check out the time signatures shifting throughout “Rapunzel.” Many moods color the emotional palette — political (“Don’t Drink the Water”), carefree (“Stay”), mournful (“The Dreaming Tree”), remorseful (“The Stone”) and sexually suggestive (“Rapunzel, “Crush”).

This list wouldn’t be complete without fan-favorite “Halloween,” a howling rejection song. Coveted for its infrequent live performance and raw emotion, it’s almost as rare as ... well ... finding a copy of BTCS on vinyl.

Ugh. Even writing that drudges up the painful reminder of how sad it is, even 10 years later, to think about the one that got away.

Coming Friday: 'Where Are You Going: DMB since BTCS'

This Week, Nick Would Buy ... #20

Flight of the Conchords, Flight of the Conchords (Sub Pop)

Proclaiming themselves "formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo," Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement were a splash hit for HBO last summer when their "Flight of the Conchords" TV show arrived.

Though that surely stoked the fires for this full-length, fans of the show may be disappointed to see that there's only 22 seconds of new material in the 40-plus-minute album. Additionally, "Business Time," "Robots" and "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)" were included on last fall's Grammy-winning The Distant Future EP.

Diehards of the band — take note, Mel — will likely rejoice at hearing finalized studio cuts of the songs. The genius of the Conchords is that when you scrape away the funny, the pair still has great songwriting chops. With a second season due early next year, consider this a memento of all the good times we've already had.

Hear the whole record at the band's MySpace page.

If I Were Really Rich ...
— Atmosphere, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That S*** Gold (Rhymesayers) — Minneapolis' hip-hop duo follows up December's unofficially released Strictly Leakage compilation with its first studio album in 2.5 years. Hear it on MySpace.
— Blind Melon, For My Friends (Adrenaline) — With new vocalist Travis Warren on board, Blind Melon issues its first album in a dozen years and first since the death of Shannon Hoon.
— Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Momofuku (Lost Highway) — Irish rocker issues new album exclusively on vinyl with accompanying digital download.
— The Doors, The Doors: Vinyl Box Set (Elektra) — Elektra offeres a limited-edition printing of every Doors studio album in stereo, except for the debut, which comes in mono.
— Foxboro Hot Tubs, Stop Drop and Roll (Reprise) — Green Day side project delivers its debut.

Others
— Alkaline Trio, Agony and Irony EP [EP] (Epic)
— Armin van Buuren, Imagine (Ultra)
— Tab Benoit, Night Train to Memphis (Telarc)
— Bizzy Bone, A Song for You (After Platinum)
— Billy Bragg, Mr. Love and Justice (Anti)
— Dokken, Lightning Strikes Again (Atco/Rhino)
— Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid (Geffen)
— Tiffany Evans, Tiffany Evans (Columbia)
— Goldfinger, Hello Destiny (SideOneDummy)
— Juno Reactor, Gods & Monsters (Metropolis)
— Carole King, Tapestry: The Legacy Edition [reissue with bonus disc] (Sony Legacy)
— Lyrics Born, Everywhere at Once (Anti)
— Keith Murray, Intellectual Violence (Legion of Doom)
— Prodigy, H.N.I.C. Pt. 2 (G-Unit)
— The Replacements, Hootenanny [re-issue] (Rhino/Rykodisc)
— The Replacements, Let it Be [re-issue] (Rhino/Rykodisc)
— The Replacements, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash [re-issue] (Rhino/Rykodisc)
— The Replacements, Stink [re-issue] (Rhino/Rykodisc)
— Ashlee Simpson, Bittersweet World (Geffen)
— Story of the Year, The Black Swan (Epitaph/Geffen)
— Tantric, The End Begins (Silent Majority Group)
— Tokyo Police Club, Elephant Shell (Saddle Creek)
— Phil Vassar, Prayer of a Common Man (Universal South)
— The Weepies, Hideaway (Nettwerk)
— Whitesnake, Good to Be Bad (Geffen)

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

My resolve was so strong.

I vowed not to listen.

It'd been nearly a month.

But like a junkie unsuccessfully swatting at the monkey on his back, I caved and shot the musical smack straight into my cranium.

I gave a big, sated sigh of relief when it was done, too.

I guess you could say I have the joneses for My Morning Jacket's forthcoming Evil Urges album pretty bad. I downloaded the title track — offered free to fans on the mailing list as if it were a taste of heroin — about three hours ago. My iPod counter says I've already listened to it eight times; it's on the ninth as I write this paragraph. And I'm a man who abhors listening to a song on repeat, but that's a post for another time. (Hear a live cut of it by watching the above video.)

At a time when you can hear most records before their "official" release date because of mp3 leaks or fan recordings of road-testing material, I seem a rare breed. I actually wait until the day I can thumb through the liner notes while listening.

But I'm waiting for June 10 like a pup in Pavlov's pound. The clock striking midnight will unleash a tidal wave of pitbullian drool I can't control. I won't camp out in front of the record store. That would be excessive. But I'll probably be there when the store opens.

After playing the SXSW festival last month, many tracks from Urges found their way to YouTube. What a shock.

I won't watch them, I thought. I'm going to wait to have the new record in my hands and listen to the songs for the first time that way.

Yeah, right. And President Bush is the most eloquent, well-spoken statesman this country has ever known. (Sorry, G-Dub.)

My willpower vanished when the offer to download "Urges" for free appeared in my e-mail in-box. "Do I want a free track?! Does Conor Oberst sound like a timid, quavering, cow-eyed Nebraska dude?"

If "Urges" is any indication, I'll like the record. The band continues to distance itself from its country-from-outer-space roots, — a phase I love — expanding on the sleeker production heard on 2005's Z. The song's little keyboard stroke during the verses is brutally catchy, and singer Jim James croons in falsetto.

I am champing at the bit for Urges. My weekly new release entry for June 10 should be temporarily renamed "This Week, Nick Will Buy ... ."

I'll have to resist the evil urges to listen to the rest of it before the drop date.

---

R.I.P. Danny Federici. This one's for you, Phantom Dan. *plays "Hungry Heart"*

'You Can't Roll a J on an iPod'

Australian singer/songwriter John Butler (you may recognize the name from the John Butler Trio) has been seen on stage before with a "Support Your Independent Record Store" T-shirt.

Good sentiment. So good that now there's a whole day for it.

Saturday is Record Store Day. Who decided this, I'm not really sure, but, hey, whatever. (Actually, it was indie record store owners.)

In the Bay Area, Metallica will be doing an in-store autograph session for 400 at Rasputin Music in Mountain View. They haven't done an in-store since Jason Newsted was in the band.

A little closer to Solano County, Amoeba Records in San Francisco and Berkeley have live shows and giveaways planned all day. And that's only a couple in the Bay Area.

See the full list of participating stores. The artist quotes are OK, but Shelby Lynne's stands out: "You can't roll a joint on an iPod — buy vinyl!" Ha!

OK. Seriously. Get out there. Even if it isn't April 19. It's a tiresome drum beat throughout the last decade to hear that album sales are declining. But it's true. And it doesn't hurt the big stores as much as it affects the indies.

Think about it this way: Shopping at an independent record store is like smoking. It makes you look cool. OK. Maybe that's a bad analogy. Let's try again. This time, a story:

I once knew a girl who had a sticker for Louisville store ear X-tacy on her car. Her stock rose immensely the second she told me that. Aside from the goodness of keeping it indie, record-store style, it gave her a story. There's no story in, "Yeah, it's a Best Buy sticker. You've never heard of Best Buy?! They're everywhere." It was, "Yeah, when I was riding horses in Kentucky, there was this store ... " See? Better already. And way less snarky.

If you have such a store in your town, recognize it as a vital part of the lifeblood of your music community. They sell the records the big stores don't — hell, many still sell vinyl records — and they're generally staffed by knowledgeable folks who enjoy working there as opposed to someone assigned to that department.

I live closest to a store in Vallejo. I frequent so often, the staff recognizes me. When they recently changed shelves, I noticed. I'm not suggesting you should have this kind of relationship with your local independent record store.

However, I am advocating a record-buying experience you're not as likely to get at a big store. So, bye bye and buy Gary "U.S." Bonds — or whatever better suits your musical preference that's available at your local indie record store.

Dude. Sweet.

Sites Nick's friends brought to his attention that you should check out:

Pandora. My buddy, Dusty, showed me this. It creates a streaming audio playlist for you based on one song/artist. This is insanely cool and you need to check it out for yourself. I typed in My Morning Jacket. First, it played MMJ's "Off the Record." Then an acoustic cut of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees." I was sold on its goodness then and there. Dude. Sweet. (Edit: Loses points for not being able to skip back and forth through tracks more easily, though.)

BlackCabSessions.com. My friend, Sean, texts and asks if I've never seen this. It's exactly what it sounds like — "Hey, let's pile the band into the cab and drive them around London and ask them to play their songs." Neat concept. Dude. Sweet.

Internet Archive. My friend, The Associated Press, wrote stories a few years back about how the Grateful Dead didn't want its fans' recordings distributed for free by the site. Then the members changed their minds. There are now more than 4,000 Dead shows there. Oh, and there's, like, 1,000 other bands there, too. Some of it streaming, all of it downloadable audience-taped live performances. Did I mention free? This one gets a: Dude. Super. Freakin'. Sweet.

This Week, Nick Would Buy … #19

Thrice, The Alchemy Index, Vols. III & IV (Vagrant)

Irvine rockers known for complex time signatures and a willingness to experiment deliver the second of two planned installments in the Alchemy Index series, with parts three and four focusing on the air and the earth.

The adventurousness is said to continue, particularly on Vol. IV, where "Come All You Weary" is the only song that is either plugged in or featuring a full drum kit.

The first two volumes, which touched on fire and water, turned in a top 25 debut last fall in the band's debut for Vagrant. The songs leaked to the Internet last week, and the full record is streaming at the band's MySpace page.

If I Were Really Rich ...
— Everclear, The Vegas Years (Capitol) — Cover compilation album ranges from Tommy Tutone to Tom Petty. What happened to these guys?
— Ours, Mercy (Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy) (American) — Finally emerging from its incubatory molasses, the Rick Rubin produces New York alt-rockers third platter.

Others
— Air, Moon Safari: 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition [2CD/DVD] (Astralwerks)
— Alkaline Trio, Remains (Vagrant)
— American Princes, Other People (Yep Doc)
— Apocalyptica, Worlds Collide (20-20/Jive/Zomba)
— Joseph Arthur, Crazy Rain [EP] (Lonely Astronaut)
— Asia, Phoenix (Frontiers/EMI)
— Frank Black, Svn Fngrs (Cooking Vinyl)
— Brian Jonestown Massacre, My Bloody Underground (Suma)
— Mariah Carey, E=MC² (Island)
— Children of Bodom, Blooddrunk (Spinefarm)
— The Clash, Live Revolution Rock [DVD] (Sony Legacy)
— Dark Lotus, Opaque Brotherhood (Psychopathic)
— Erasure, Live at the Royal Albert Hall [DVD] (Mute)
— The Kooks, Konk (Virgin)
— Kottonmouth Kings, The Kottonmouth Xperience, Vol. 2 (Suburban Noize)
— Lady Antebellum, Lady Antebellum (Capitol)
— M83, Saturdays = Youth (Mute)
— James McMurty, Just Us Kids (Lightning Rod)
— Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, The Best of Both Worlds Concert [CD/DVD] (Disney)
— Opeth, Still Life [Re-Release] (Peaceville/Snapper)
— Phantom Planet, Raise the Dead (Fueled by Ramen)
— Frank Sinatra, Sinatra at the Movies (Capitol)
— Soundtrack, Juno B-Sides: Almost Adopted Songs [Digital only] (Rhino)
— The Swell Season, Live From The Artists Den [DVD] (The Artists Den)

Time is on Their Side

You haven't seen Mick Jagger's lips until you've seen them five stories tall.

Maybe that's not the most important thing to take from Martin Scorsese's Shine a Light, but it certainly is a memorable part of seeing the film in an IMAX theater.

Despite my long-standing grudge that concert films ultimately serve as a cruel, two-hour reminder that I'm not actually at the show, Shine a Light was not without its charms.

Scorsese intersperses old interview footage between the songs, often to humorous affect. When a youthful Jagger is asked about the Stones longevity in footage from 1964, he says the group has "at least one more good year." Seconds later, we see the same man 42 years later, shooting across the stage like a pinball, showing more verve than performers half his age.

Despite celebrating the Stones' longevity, the film's set list — culled from two nights at New York's Beacon Theater in 2006 — includes nary a tune from the group's past 20 years. Considering the band was on tour supporting its 2005 record, A Bigger Bang, this is especially suspicious.

However, the Stones compensate with a mixture of rarities and hits. They close with a guns-blazing rendition of "Satisfaction." Earlier, Buddy Guy supplies Muddy Waters cover "Champagne & Reefer" with blues firepower aplenty, while guest appearances by Christina Aguilera ("Live With Me") and White Stripes/Raconteurs frontman Jack White ("Loving Cup") don't quite hit the mark.

This isn't Scorsese's first look at an artist in the twilight of his/their career. His 2005 Bob Dylan pic, No Direction Home, offered a sympathetic portrait of a young singer/songwriter who was unwillingly thrust into the mantle of "voice of a generation," a sensitive counterpart to the cool, snarky Dylan of Don't Look Back. Maybe Scorsese just wants to honor some of his favorite artists before he and they move on to the big rock show in the sky.

Age and defying it is an undeniable theme throughout Shine a Light. When you watch Keith Richards move around on stage and his face looks more worn out than a sock with holes, you're willing to gamble that the Stones probably don't have another 45 years in them. But, baby, you know the deuce is still wild — even without acknowledging any material from the latter part of their career, Scorsese's film shows how the Stones seem ageless.

R.E.M. to Reviewers: Don't Call it a Comeback

An honest yet comedic moment came last week when rock 'n' roll greats R.E.M. appeared on "The Colbert Report."

While interviewing the band, host Stephen Colbert mentioned the great critical reaction to Accelerate, the band's recently released 14th album.

"People are calling this your comeback album," Colbert said, referring to the murky reviews and lukewarm sales of their three albums since the departure of drummer Bill Berry in 1997. "When you hear people say that, do you want to tell those people to go f*** themselves?"

The audience laughed and so did the band. "There's a small part of me that kind of wants to say that," lead singer Michael Stipe finally replied.

It was a moment where humor revealed the truth. R.E.M. hasn't gone anywhere since its percussionist retired, though its records in the post-Berry era have gone largely unnoticed by the American record-buying public.

Around the Sun, the band's 2004 record, sold just under 250,000 copies in the band's home nation, despite moving 2 million copies worldwide. That speaks to the international appeal the group has maintained.

When America bailed on R.E.M., the group decided to bail on it. Maybe this is why Ireland and its people were so essential to the development of Accelerate.

The record's producer, Garret "Jacknife" Lee (an Irish lad) was recommended to the group by The Edge, the guitarist in U2 (which hails from Dublin, Ireland). Dublin's Olympia Theatre hosted R.E.M. for a five-night residency in 2007, the same venue at which R.E.M. Live was recorded two years earlier.

The Irish influence isn't apparent on the record, but these factors contributed to making Accelerate a robust blast of rock 'n' roll, especially its first three tracks.

Still, calling Accelerate a comeback ignores that R.E.M. has made a career out of shapeshifting. This is a band which, at the height of its popularity in the early '90s, showed pop chops (1991's Out of Time), beautiful sadness (1992's Automatic for the People) and fuzzed-out density (the underappreciated classic Monster) on consecutive records.

The word "comeback" also ignores the stellar material from 1998's Up, 2001's Reveal and Sun. Let there be no doubt — upon its first listen, Up sounded like a dissonant, alienating way to begin the post-Berry period. But further plays revealed its charms — "At My Most Beautiful" is a drippy, melancholic ballad that lives up to its title and ranks among the best songs R.E.M. has done. Reveal brought lead single "Imitation of Life," which would've fit seamlessly on 1988's gloriously poppy Green.

So Accelerate merely adds another wrinkle to their evolution, a new era for the ever-changing group. Ireland's Lee has them sounding tight, polished and rocking harder than they have since Berry's departure. Just hear guitarist Peter Buck blast out the riff which opens lead single "Supernatural Superserious" to know we've entered a new stage of the band's development.

Maybe the Irish connection helped charge R.E.M.'s rock 'n' roll batteries. Maybe it didn't. But however we got here, for the chamelion-like R.E.M., Accelerate marks an exciting new phase — not a comeback.

Update: Accelerate gave the band its highest American chart debut since Berry's departure, selling 115,000 copies to take the No. 2 spot on this week's Billboard chart.