A fine album. Certainly not worst. What I most love about it, if you don't vibe with a song, it's over before you know it! Brevity here was appreciated. I think it rocks pretty well, better melodies generally, still some weak Stipe lyrics and lazy "wows!" & "yeahs!" I like every track but Submarine

Very good, but...uh...Luka? AD? We need clarity here!

Late to reply. Yeah. Bummer hearing then, and now, though I like some songs well enough. But not one do I love. The album where I finally let go of identifying myself with them on. I knew I'd get the next one, but no longer emotionally wrapped up in it being good or not. Bittersweet. Inevitable.

He's been president for about 10 minutes. This is why people, or at least this person, cannot stomach watching CNN, or any cable news network any more. And I'm the target audience! Of course he has high approval right now. Let's see in about 6 months.

Those elbows last night certainly deserved Ts of not flagrants.

Fantastic!

It's depressing and inevitable. Had the prosection started immediately in 2021, or better yet, had McConnell been an honest patriot, we would likely be in a very different timeline.

6. They'd have been better off putting Bad Day in it. Anyway, sorry for the long thread but it's complicated for me. I almost never go back to this one, and it was the clear demarcation point for me. I never had the same zealous devotion, though I'll always love them.

5. It starts strong with The Lifting, a highlight for me. Reno is fun. As is Beat a Drum. And I'm in the minority I'm sure here but I love Chorus and the Ring. Yes it's inscrutable lyrically, but in this case he gets away it a la King of Birds style. But that's it. Imitation doesn't do it for me.

4. I just relistened and can't recall any memorable backing vox lines. He's always been the secret sauce. The album suffers mightily from their absence. Nor can I hum many of the melodies on these tracks. That is absolutely not the case for Up. But there are exceptions.

3. I can't understand most of what he's singing about here, and unlike the early albums, it matters now. Before his inscrutable lyrics were mysterious and irresistible. Now they are head scratching and...vain. His singing is less powerful, less vibrant, less nuanced and free. And where is Mills?

2. Where his absence on Up made that album deeply sad and beautiful, on here the sunshine vibes seem really forced to me. Sure there are still the trademark catchy melodies and, at times, piercing lyrics, but it drifts painfully into self indulgence. And Stipe's to blame mostly for me sadly.

1. So Reveal is a very difficult album for me to like, which I think I do? But I like all of REM and love lots of it. But this album, though sonically interesting and at times beautifully melodic, it's inscrutable and a bit tiresome. It hurts me to say it. I think they are further unmoored w/o Berry

Was about to finally chime in on Twitter when I saw you PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT and thought better of it. Glad to do it here...