For those of you that have not headed over to REMHQ yet, R.E.M. is offering up their first song off their upcoming album ‘Collapse Into Now’ free for download.
 
I am inkling for the thoughts of providing a correspondence this time around among peers in the blogosphere about the new album. One such person is Matt Marrone, who for the past, I do not know how many years has been cheering on the Cheating Yankees which has allowed for his mind to get warped.  
 
What he is, is a fan of R.E.M., I can say that much. I am hoping that we can create a verbal correspondence and maybe others will join in as well. I would encourage you to follow Matt on Twitter as well as myself or if you are a Facebook fan I will be posting updates to both blogs on my REMring Facebook Page.
 
Dear Matt,
 
First I want to send my public condolences for the fact that you lost out in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes. I see that the Yankees of course are thinking forward with the thoughts of signing Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Carlos Zambrano, on top of the fact they got Larry Rothschild in there too as a pitching coach.  But enough about the Skankees.
 
Word on the street indicates that you like the new song. Well we need to talk to you and have an intervention with some good hand claps if possible.
 
At what point do we ask ourselves, well, at least they are still playing instruments and singing music?  Should I somehow appreciate the current tunes they are playing now. Do you remember when Monster was released? Do you remember the first tune that was heard on the radio? ‘What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?’ Just go back in your notes and compare the lyrics for the first couple lines of both songs.
 
"What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your Benzedrine, uh-huh
I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed
I thought I'd pegged you an idiot's dream
Tunnel vision from the outsider's screen
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
 
Now this is interesting. A song about some nut that attacks Dan Rather and starts screaming “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”. Brilliant in the fact that the song is a hard rocking song and from the listener’s point of view, 15+ years later, I am still wondering what the fuck Mr. Stipe is talking about.
 
This is what made him so brilliant. And this song among others as I am well aware of is what made you a huge R.E.M. fan to begin with. Do you have your huge Monster punching bag somewhere? You would know that I would sit and defend that album as one of the great albums of the decade for the mere fact that nothing else sounds quite like it.
 
But then we get this…
 
Hey baby, this is not a challenge
It just means that I love you as much as I always said I did
I was wrong. I have been laughable wrong, sandpaper, paper mache, chalk and hung out wet.
 
I am not really sure what the sandpaper has anything to do with it other than the fact that ‘Sandpaper Catheter’ would be a great band name (although I cannot take credit for this as it was discoverered during a night of heavy drinking amongst friends).
 
But really we almost have a letter written by a forelorned lover over a simple incident of not putting down the toilet seat and getting mad for getting blamed for it. How does this make some great rock song?
 
Now I admit that we should give them credit for a couple things, one being the ability to download and listen to a song for free.  Of course, this was a bit of a surprise and kudos for the band thinking forward and using this type of marketing to get people into the band because the obvious point is to create some interest and a mailing list perhaps so that they can keep fans informed of the latest offerings for ‘Collapse Into Now’.
 
However, when you do that, you need a great song to go along with it. Discoverer is not that great song but a song written for the lowest common denominator, which I guess works due to the fact that I did not have to pay to get a copy of it, i.e. Why should I complain, the song is for free? defense. 
 
There were some good points. I loved Bill Rieflin’s drums on the song, although, I just wish that they were mixed a little better so they were more prominent.  I thought the guitar work was interesting but the subject matter of the song just left me wanting more.
 
Should we even discuss the chorus? “Naa Naa Naa Naa”
 
The verses just seem to pile up on each other and Michael doesn’t sound smooth in his delivery but we have another “Shouting” song.
 
This is not the rock and roll tune that makes me want to get excited about this album. This is the rock and roll tune that says to me that they are looking forward to playing huge festivals.
 
Just the slightest bit of finesse
Might of made a little less mess
 
Are they writing this for customer service manuals?
 
Lastly, I do not want to hear from you that this reminds you of some classic R.E.M. album. Classic R.E.M. albums sound unique from the others which is what makes them classic and has allowed them to “Redefine” their sound. However, if they planned on trying to reproduce albums like Green and Hi Fi for this album, I can only say that they should have called it “R.E.M. By Numbers”.
 
I would hope that you have spoken to your shrink about the debacle with Cliff Lee that you would be able to give an honest opinion about this song. 
 
 
Sincerely,
 
"Clap Clap Clap"
 
Your Biggest Fan