Search - R.E.M. :: I'll Take Rain

A Cry In The Rain

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 06/30/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In 2001, when R.E.M. released the album: "Reveal" fans and music critics were divided right down the middle. Was this R.E.M. at their most beautiful, or the summit for all things; wimp-rock?



This single release from Germany features three songs from Reveal, and as they don't flat-out rock and rattle the sitting room windows, they are highly crafted and commendable pop/rock music.



"I'll Take The Rain" is an elegant piece of music that is far from the puckish sounds that the band created in the eighties. Acoustic guitars, set the tone here, and Michael sings as if he is a ghost from another era in time. Spry keyboards, and some very haunting electric guitars help to establish the tone and mood on this pretty song of sorrow.



"32 Chord Song" keeps to the colors and textures of the first track, and extends the dark feelings that underline this music. This song is not available elsewhere, and even with it's sweeping and graceful tone that has a Brian Wilson type feel about it, at this point you need to be lifted from all this despair.



The two selections at the end of this disc, raise the tone slightly above the somber tone set at the start of this CD. "She Just Wants To Be" and "I've Been High" are a bit more electric than the first two offerings, they both want to rock out, and "She Just Wants To Be" almost makes it there. These final two songs were filmed for Australian television, before a small studio audience. A live clip of "I've Been High" can be played in video format on your computer.



This CD, doesn't contain heavy duty rock, but if you like your music a bit more mellow and subdued, this CD will suit that atmosphere quite perfectly.

Four Stars."