Latest CD releases reviewed

REM
Green ****
Out of Time **** 
Automatic for the People ****
Monster   **
New Adventures in Hi-Fi ****
Up **
Reveal **
Warner Bros

Cutting a broad against-the-grain swathe through the moribund US college rock scene of the early to mid 1980s, Georgia's REM quickly became the cult heroes to put your faith in. For the past 10 years, however - following their major label breakthrough with 1989's Green, consolidated in spades with 1991's Out Of Time and 1992's Automatic For The People - REM's tendency to charm the birds out of the trees with their folk/pop/rock hybrid has faded. The slide started with 1994's Monster, while some critics (not this writer) considered 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi a contrived and soulless mess. 1998's Up and 2001's Reveal were soundly criticised as being self-indulgent and weak compared to the albums of their earlier, glory days; last year's Around The Sun, meanwhile, was rightly regarded as the weakest album of their career. Repackaged in smart two-CD sets that feature Surround Sound mixes and DVDs (containing live performances and documentary films), REM's Warner Bros albums to date prove that even the cleverest, strangest and most devastatingly melodic of rock bands (and for a considerable time REM were unquestionably all three) can suffer from diminishing returns. www.remhq.com

Tony Clayton-Lea