Tommy Blogg CriticTalk: R.E.M. - Accelerate

I may not be the best critic persay, because you know immediately whether I like an album (or movie or book, etc.) but even though I might be biased in my liking of R.E.M., I got their latest album, Accelerate, this weekend.

Accelerate does not attempt to hide what it really is;
a fast-paced rock record.
R.E.M. has always been a rock band by definition, and I think that that point is made clear with their most-televised single, "Supernatural Superserious", which re-introduces you to these rock lovelies, with their first album since "Around The Sun" which was released in 2004. With a career spanning almost 3 decades, R.E.M. has managed to keep their rock ethic at the forefront of what they were doing. From a small Athens indie band, to the poster children for what music really is meant to be, these guys have been at the top of their game for quite some time now. Even with the lack of drummer Bill Berry, who had to quit the band after some severe health issues (after 17 YEARS!), REM has managed to make this uptempo alternative record a major occurence. Even though "Around the Sun" managed to make a small "murmur" (It's a REM pun :P) on what I like to call the "Tommy Jam Scale", which is scored from 0.5-10.0 (1/2 - 10) which counts every 1/2 number as well as whole numbers, Here is how The Tommy Blogg CriticTalk Rating System works;

You will have the 1-5 Tommys, and their rating on the TJS Tommy Jam Scale. Now let's see how R.E.M. - Accelerate sized up;