In Review Quick Hits: The Raconteurs, REM, The Sword. Black Tide, Meshuggah

THE RACONTEURS
Consolers of the Lonely"Consolers of the Lonely" is pretty much an extension of last year's White Stripes triumph "Icky Thump"; also recorded in Nashville, all very loose sounding and fun. It's also notice served that what was kind of cool in the White Stripes' intimate setting absolutely shreds with the backing of a full band. Lyrically, there may not be any tracks as poetic as, say, 'You Don't Know What Love Is'. But, when the monster riffs of 'Five on the Five' and 'Attention' smack you in the skull, there simply isn't much need for fancy wordplay. There's also much more stretching out to be heard, as a veritable smorgasbord of instruments get their due (including fiddles, banjos, horns, etc.).

Throw in a good old fashioned murder ballad (album closer 'Carolina Drama'), a swampy country stomper ('Old Enough'), an obscure seventies rock cover ('Rich Kid Blues') and the freakishly electric dance rock inferno of lead single 'Salute Your Solution', and you've got something for everyone. The best part is that it doesn't sound like a half n' half mix of Jack White and Brendan Benson songs (as the previous album, "Broken Boy Soldiers", did); it's the sound of two songwriters in a room cranking out ideas and having a blast. And creating a damn fine record in the process.

8 GREAT
Release Date: March 25, 2008 • Third Man/Warner Bros.

REM
AccelerateLet's forget about "Around the Sun", and how awful it was. In fact, let's forget "Reveal" and how awful it was, too. Hell, let's just pretend that "Accelerate" is REM's first record in twelve years. When health concerns prompted the band to move on without original drummer Bill Berry, it's as though he drove his band mates out to the middle of nowhere, dropped them off, and sped off into the night, leaving them lost in a frozen tundra of keyboards and string sections. At first, they were weary but still excited to be in new, unfamiliar territory (the decidedly sombre "Up", my submission for Most Ironically Titled Album Ever Award). After a while, they started to become comfortable out on the tundra, and even tried by times to make it feel like home (the soundtrack submission 'The Great Beyond', "Reveal"'s first single 'Imitation of Life', the unearthed early-career throwaway 'Bad Day'). Problem was, no one was fooled by these mirages of a band that still rocked. They were, after all, still on the tundra and, try as they might, the blandness wasn't going anywhere. So slowly, they trudged onward, looking for escape from this deliriously boring place. The epic journey out of suckdom almost killed them; if "Around the Sun" didn't sound like a band sucking wind on one knee, I lost my ears in a horrible fire.

So here we are, twelve years later, and we answer the knock on the door to find REM, clothes tattered, egos bruised, asking for a place to crash. You'd be forgiven for slamming the door in their faces, but you'd also be a fool. Think about it; REM was stuck on the tundra for TWELVE FUCKING YEARS. It's no surprise that they're pissed off, looking for vengeance and rocking out like their lives depend on it. At a shade under 35 minutes, "Accelerate" is a rapid dose of vintage REM, from the punk overtones of 'Living Well is the Best Revenge' and 'Horse to Water' to the muscular new wave flashback of 'Man Sized Wreath' and 'Supernatural Superserious'. It's not all upbeat, but the slow tunes are much more reminiscent of "Automatic for the People" era tunes than those of the last three albums. In fact, the only real knock on "Accelerate" is that it's such a return to form it sometimes sounds too calculated to be genuine.

At the end of the day, I recommend that REM be forgiven even if "Accelerate" is a contrived effort to buy back the fans who left them in droves over the past twelve years. The way I see it, if I were stuck on the tundra for over a decade, I'd be rocking out too. Because, above all, I'd be really fucking glad to finally be home again. And if "Accelerate" is any indication of what's to come, then I'm really fucking glad to have REM finally come home again.

7 GOOD
Release Date: April 1, 2008 • Warner Bros.

THE SWORD
Gods of the EarthThe Austin metal gods return with a more sloppily produced, less Sabbath-inspired disc. The result is still more thrilling than most modern metal, but I hoped for better. Don't get me wrong; I dig the faster tempos and the riffs are still monstrous. I just expected they'd be leaving all other metal bands bloodied in the killing fields and eating the innards of the genre itself by now.



6 OKAY
Release Date: April 1, 2008 • Kemado


BLACK TIDE
Light from AboveIf you've been waiting for the sign that power metal's triumphant return is jumping the shark, here it is. A band of teenagers with an unmoving devotion to both Dragonforce and Motley Crue and about as much songwriting talent as the security guy working either of those bands' concerts, "Light from Above" sounds like that album of early recordings and demos that gets unearthed about five years after a band makes it big. Where most bands grow and mature before getting their debut on shelves, Black Tide has been swept up, packaged ever so neatly and thrown into the spotlight far too soon.

But, that's the way fads go; remember the 90's, when grunge exploded and record labels snapped up every Nirvana prototype they could find? A group of teenagers with little actual talent were signed to a contract in 1995, releasing a trite, immature (but loud) album and becoming famous before evolving as a band, making better music, and losing their entire fan base. Congratulations, Black Tide. You are the new Silverchair.


3 BAD
Release Date: March 18, 2008 • Interscope



MESHUGGAH
obZenMeshuggah takes a lot of shit from "true" metalheads because they started out as a thrash band, evolved musically, surpassed most other metal bands in musicianship, and slowed down the tempo. For shame! On "obZen", some of the thrash elements are back without sacrificing the awesome prog-inspired riffage, shredding vocals or Tomas Haake's sheer lunacy on the kit. But, because it's not the first album and they've gained a high profile within the genre, the new album sucks. If that's the "true" metalhead's perspective, I'll be a "poser" and listen to this awesome new Meshuggah album while you stay stuck with your one dimensional metal. But just so you know, I'm a total music whore for life and that includes metal, so chances are I was listening to Slayer and Annihilator (hell, even Cannibal Corpse and Deicide) before you were born. Seniority rules, and so does this album.


8 GREAT
Release Date: March 7, 2008 • Nuclear Blast