I Wanna Go Back

Moby's Last Night and REM's Accelerate attempt to do what many artists always do: go back to their roots after dropping disappointing albums. I'm thinking of Neil Young's Freedom, a return to his late 70's sound after spending the 80's releasing dud's. Or Elton John's Songs From The West Coast, drenched in his piano rock of the early 70's after spending years teasing his fans with mediocrity. For Moby it's a return to his club sound after years going ambient. For REM, it's a return to short, quick albums that crank up the guitar's and soaring refrains after years of getting all pretty on us. REM's album is better than Moby's but there aren't a lot of classics on either. Moby's peters out at the 2/3 mark by going back to his ambient/new age sound. REM are more determined to make you forget Up and their other recent ho-hums by rocking out. It's better than the grunge influenced Monster, and Stipe's lyrics are back to making little sense. But Peter Buck's guitar's are the saving grace. How these albums will stack up with Play or Murmur only time can tell. But for now longtime fans can be comforted.