Review Summary: Tedious. Tedious. Tediouzzzzzzzz...
Recorded during soundchecks and in hotels whilst touring, New Adventures in Hi-Fi was touted to be a return to 'classic' R.E.M after the jarring Monster. Unfortunately, the album sounds a bit too much like it was recorded in hotel rooms and soundchecks. The muddy, indistinct production on offer here smears itself over every song. It blends and congeals into a nearly tuneless slab of dingy sound. Even Stipe's vocals fade back into the type of obtuseness not seen since Fables of the Reconstruction (an infinity better record).
Worse still, the album's songs seem to drag on forever. They have little variety or ambition and almost always soar past the five minute mark. Or at least they really feel that way. These fourteen songs take an eternity to wrap themselves up. It's never a good sign when you find yourself clock-watching during a record. "How long is this album? How many more songs are there? Will this thing ever end?!!" These thoughts always enter my head whenever I spin this LP.
Ah... It's such an awful thing to see. The once fantastic R.E.M who put out such amazing albums like Murmur, Life's Rich Pageant, Document and Out of Time are here reduced to sounding like a neighborhood pub band... And one peddling an album full of pappy B-side filler at that. At least the preceding and following records (Monster & Up) had some ambition. Misguided ambition certainly, as both are also quite dire, but ambition non-the-less. New Adventures in Hi-Fi just exists. It's just... Tedious.
Yet for some reason this unpolished turd is regarded as a good album. I have no idea why and it really bugs me (hence this review). Usually I can step back and see what appeals about a record. But with this LP I'm at a genuine loss. Sure, I'll throw my hands up and say E-Bow the Letter and Leave are great tunes. But two out of fourteen ain't bad. It's f*****g atrocious. R.E.M famously had a lot of rot in their latter career. New Adventures in Hi-Fi was not a reprieve from it but a deepening. Even though I love R.E.M as a band, this is a record I just cannot stand to listen to.
