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Around the Sun

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic56/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
BBCUnfavorable[3]
Blender[4]
Robert Christgau(2-star Honorable Mention)(2-star Honorable Mention)[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[6]
NME6/10[7]
Pitchfork Media5.2/10[8]
PopMatters[9][1]
Rolling Stone[10]
SpinAverage[11]
Village VoiceFavorable[12]

Around the Sun is the 13th studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in October 2004 on Warner Bros. Records.

Description

"The Outsiders" features a guest appearance by rapper Q-Tip. When the song is performed live, Michael Stipe carries out the rap, as he does on a later b-side release of the song.

"Final Straw" is a politically charged song. The version on the album is a remix of the original version, which was made available as a free download on March 25, 2003 from the band's website. The song was written as a protest of the American government's actions in the Iraq War.

Around the Sun is also the first R.E.M. album to contain a title track.

Commercial performance

Around the Sun generally received lukewarm reviews, and despite hitting #1 in the UK, it became their first studio album to miss the U.S. Top 10 (reaching #13 with 7 weeks in the Billboard 200) since 1988's Green and is still awaiting a gold record. As of March 2007, Around the Sun has sold 2 million copies worldwide and 232,000 units in the U.S.[13] This is less than R.E.M. had previously sold in the first week of an album's release while in their early to mid-1990s commercial peak.

Lead single "Leaving New York" became a UK Top 5 hit, with additional singles "Aftermath", "Electron Blue" and "Wanderlust" becoming minor hits there as well. Around the Sun did not have any singles success in the United States, however. It's the band's first studio album to fail to have a song chart on the Hot 100 since Fables of the Reconstruction in 1985.

After the release of their following album, Accelerate, guitarist Peter Buck said that for him Around the Sun "... just wasn't really listenable, because it sounds like what it is, a bunch of people that are so bored with the material that they can't stand it anymore." [14] The album's songs were largely excluded from the band's live setlists after the release of Accelerate.

Reissue

In 2005, Warner Brothers Records issued an expanded two-disc edition of Around the Sun which includes a CD, a DVD-Audio disc containing a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner, and the original CD booklet with expanded liner notes.

A remix of the song "Final Straw" appeared earlier in 2004 on the compilation album Future Soundtrack for America.

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

  1. "Leaving New York" – 4:49
  2. "Electron Blue" – 4:12
  3. "The Outsiders" (feat. Q-Tip) – 4:14
  4. "Make It All Okay" – 3:43
  5. "Final Straw" – 4:06
  6. "I Wanted to Be Wrong" – 4:34
  7. "Wanderlust" – 3:04
  8. "Boy in the Well" – 5:22
  9. "Aftermath" – 3:52
  10. "High Speed Train" – 5:03
  11. "The Worst Joke Ever" – 3:37
  12. "The Ascent of Man" – 4:07
  13. "Around the Sun" – 4:29

Personnel

R.E.M.
Additional personnel
  • Chris Bilheimer: Packaging
  • Oswald "Wiz" Bowe: Assistant Engineer
  • Jimmy Briggs: Assistant Engineer
  • DeWitt Burton: Technical Assistance
  • Jamie Candiloro: Engineer, Mixing, Musician
  • Alex Dixon: Assistant
  • Bertis Downs: Advisor
  • Thomas Roman Dozol: Photography, Cover Photo
  • Bryan Gallant: Assistant
  • Ted Jensen: Mastering
  • Patrick McCarthy: Producer, Mixing
  • Scott McCaughey: Musician
  • Kirk McNally: Assistant Engineer
  • Q-Tip: Musician
  • Bill Rieflin: Musician
  • Hahn Rowe: Musician
  • Ken Stringfellow: Musician
  • Javier Valverde: Assistant Engineer
  • Bob Whittaker: Technical Assistance

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[15] Gold 35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[16] Gold 10,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[18] Gold 20,000[17]
Germany (BVMI)[19] Gold 100,000^
Italy (FIMI)[20] 2× Platinum 200,000*
Sweden (GLF)[21] Gold 30,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[22] Platinum 40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] Gold 210,000[23]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[25] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Charts

References

  1. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Around The Sun". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-08-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Around the Sun". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  3. ^ Charles, Chris (2004-09-27). "Music - Review of REM - Around The Sun". BBC. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Around the Sun". Robert Christgau.
  6. ^ Doug Brod (2004-10-08). "Around the Sun Review | Music Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-01-14. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Mulvey, John (2004-12-03). "NME Album Reviews - REM : Around The Sun". NME. Retrieved 2012-01-14. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Deusner, Stephen M. (2004-10-04). "R.E.M.: Around the Sun | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  9. ^ Metivier, Michael (2004-10-18). "R.E.M.: Around the Sun < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  10. ^ Barry Walters (2004-10-10). "Around the Sun | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  11. ^ Hermes, Will (2004-11-15). "R.E.M., 'Around the Sun' (Warner Bros.)". Spin. Retrieved 2012-01-14. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ Franklin Bruno (2004-10-19). "Boys in the Well - Page 1 - Music - New York". Village Voice. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  13. ^ Gundersen, Edna (2007-03-11). "R.E.M.: A 25-year rockin' role". USA Today.
  14. ^ Harrison, Shane. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jun 16, 2008.
  15. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  16. ^ "Austrian album certifications – R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  17. ^ "Album Top–40: Uge 11 – 2005" (ASP). Hitlisten (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 2012-02-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  18. ^ "Danish album certifications – R.E.M. – Around the Sun". IFPI Danmark. Scroll through the page-list below until year 2005 to obtain certification.
  19. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (R.E.M.; 'Around the Sun')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  20. ^ "Musica: REM, domani a Roma la band di Michael Stipe" (in Italian). Adnkronos. September 9, 2005.
  21. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2005" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17.
  22. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Around the Sun')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  23. ^ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  24. ^ "British album certifications – R.E.M. – Around the Sun". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Around the Sun in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  25. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2004". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  26. ^ "australian-charts.com R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  27. ^ "austriancharts.at R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  28. ^ "ultratop.be R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  29. ^ "ultratop.be R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  30. ^ a b "allmusic ((( Around the Sun > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  31. ^ "danishcharts.com R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). danishcharts.com. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  32. ^ "dutchcharts.nl R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  33. ^ "finnishcharts.com R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  34. ^ "lescharts.com R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  35. ^ "Album Search: R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  36. ^ "italiancharts.com R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  37. ^ R.E.M.-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of Around the Sun by R.E.M." oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 2012-01-25. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  38. ^ "charts.org.nz R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  39. ^ "norwegiancharts.com R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  40. ^ "portuguesecharts.com R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  41. ^ "swedishcharts.com R.E.M. - Around the Sun" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  42. ^ "R.E.M. - Around the Sun - hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  43. ^ "Chart Stats - R.E.M. - Around the Sun". UK Albums Chart. Archived from the original (PHP) on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2012-01-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  44. ^ "Austriancharts.at - Jahreshitparade 2004". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  45. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2004". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  46. ^ "Rapports annuels 2004". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  47. ^ "JAAROVERZICHTEN - ALBUM 2004". Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  48. ^ "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 2004" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  49. ^ "Årslista Albums – År 2004". Swedish Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  50. ^ "Hitparade.ch - Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2004". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  51. ^ "The Official UK Albums Chart - Year-End - 2004" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-01-25.
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