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Collapse into Now

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Collapse into Now
A black silhouette of R.E.M. (from left to right: Peter Buck, Michael Stipe, and Mike Mills) stand in front of a white background with yellow and orange lines. The words "R.E.M. / COLLAPSE / INTO / NOW" are written in black.
Studio albumby
R.E.M.
ReleasedMarch 7, 2011(2011-03-07)
RecordedNovember 2009 – September 2010
Studio
  • Hansa(Berlin)
  • Blackbird (Nashville)
  • The Music Shed (New Orleans)[1][2]
GenreAlternative rock
Length41:05
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
R.E.M.chronology
R.E.M. Live from Austin, TX
(2010) 		Collapse into Now
(2011) 		Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011
(2011)
SinglesfromCollapse into Now
  1. "It Happened Today"
    Released: December 20, 2010
  2. "Mine Smell Like Honey"
    Released: January 18, 2011
  3. "Überlin"
    Released: January 25, 2011
  4. "Oh My Heart"
    Released: February 1, 2011
  5. "Discoverer"
    Released: March 2011

Collapse into Nowis the fifteenth and final studio album by Americanalternative rockbandR.E.M.,released on March 7, 2011, onWarner Bros.Produced byJacknife Lee,who previously worked with the band onAccelerate(2008), the album was preceded by the singles "It Happened Today", "Mine Smell Like Honey", "Überlin"and"Oh My Heart".

Regarding the album's title, lead singerMichael Stipenoted, "It's the final thing I sing, the last song on the record before the record goes into a coda and reprises the first song. In my head, it's like I'm addressing a nine-year-old and I'm saying, 'I come from a faraway place called the 20th century. And these are the values and these are the mistakes we've made and these are the triumphs. These are the things that we held in the highest esteem. These are the things to learn from."[3]

As of September 2011, the album had sold 142,000 copies in the United States.[4]At the time of the band's breakup, bassistMike Millsnoted that the album's lyrical content contained "indications" that the band were planning to split.[5]In 2019, the band was more forthright on the hints they were making via the album: "That's the record where we put ourselves on the cover for the first time and I'm waving goodbye, andnobodygot it, "said Stipe in 2019." We were saying, 'This is it, sayonara, we're out of here.' "[6]

The band did not tour to support the album and therefore never performed any of the songs in concert, although Michael Stipe did play "Every Day Is Yours to Win" without R.E.M. for the Tibethouse Annual Benefit Concert.[7]

Background and recording

[edit]
A large hall with chairs along the edge
Berlin's Hansa Studios hosted recording sessions for the album as well as in-studio performances, which were filmed because the band knew they would not tour the songs fromCollapse into Now.

In 2008, while touring in support ofAccelerate,R.E.M. discussed the possibility of ending the band in the near future.[8]Entering the studio with producerJacknife Lee,the band began recording a final studio album, with the intention of "going out on a high note."[9]Regarding these initial discussions, bassistMike Millsstated, "We knew we had some decisions to make regarding our contract withWarner Bros.We had to make some decision about how to continue going forward as a recording unit, and if we still wanted to tour together. Oddly enough, I think that independently, we all arrived at the conclusion that this was such a great opportunity to walk away on our own terms, that we thought, 'Why not take advantage of it?' "[9]Buck later would state that the final decision to end the band came when Stipe remarked that "I need to be away from this for a long time." Buck suggested "How about forever?" and they thus decided to break up.[10]

Collapse into Nowwas recorded in four different cities:Berlin,Germany;Nashville, Tennessee;andNew Orleans, Louisiana,withdemoingtaking place at Jackpot Studios, inPortland, Oregon.Regarding the recording process, and the fact that it marked the conception of their final studio album, Mills noted, "We tried to enjoy it as much as possible and make it as fun as possible, but we’re not super-sentimental people in that sense. The only time we got really poignant was when we were working in Berlin, and they have a beautiful room there, Meistersaal, where we recorded seven or eight songs. There was no one there really except some friends, family, and significant others, and we knew that was probably the last time we would ever play together as R.E.M. That was a pretty fraught day. But it was fun."[9]

In comparing the record to the band's previous release,Accelerate,Mills noted that the band, "wanted this new one to be more expansive. We wanted to put more variety into it and not limit ourselves to any one type of song. There are some really slow, beautiful songs; there are some nice, mid-tempo ones; and then there are three or four rockers."[2]He has spoken about the album's theme, saying: "It's more of a personal record than a political one. Current events do come into our mind when we write, but the themes here are more universal."[11]

The album features guest appearances byPatti Smith,Pearl Jam'sEddie Vedder,Peaches,Lenny KayeandJoel Gibb.[2][12]

According to Michael Stipe, the album contains "one of the onlyautobiographicalsongs of my entire career as a songwriter, in the opening track, 'Discoverer'. It's a song of discovery. It's about realizing that the city offers you this unbelievable potential and opportunity; all the things you are looking for in your teens and your twenties. That's what New York offered me. "[13]

Release and promotion

[edit]

To promote the album, the band releasedmusic videosfor each song on the album, featuring directors such asJames Franco,Sam Taylor-Wood,Jim Herbert,and lead singerMichael Stipe.[14]Stipe notes that: "The idea was to present a 21st-century version of an album. What does an album mean in the year 2011, especially to generations of people for whom the word album is an archaic term? An album for me as a teenager in the '70s was a fully formed concept. It was a body of work from an artist I liked or trusted or who excited me..[...] I wanted to present an idea of what an album could be in the age ofYouTubeand the Internet. Not fromKanye West,not fromLady Gaga,not fromBeyoncé;they've got their place. This is what we do. We put together and sequenced the strongest body of work that we could possibly come up with in this moment in time and put it onto this record. "[3]

During promotion, the band stated that it had no intention of touring to support the album, withPeter Buckciting in an interview withNMEthat "it does seem like we've toured a lot in the last eight or ten years. To some degree it felt like we'd just been doing kind of the same thing we did last time. You just don't really want to repeat yourself in that way." He also stated that touring doesn't help album sales and concluded, "It seems like less and less people are buying albums, so do what you want."[15]

Complying with their resolution of not engaging in a new tour, R.E.M. officially disbanded as a group in September 2011, six months after the album was released.

For 2011'sRecord Store Day,the band releasedR.E.M. Three—a package of three7 "scontaining each of the commercial singles for the album.

After being out of print for several years, the vinyl LP edition was re-pressed in 2023.[16]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.0/10[17]
Metacritic71/100[18]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[19]
The A.V. ClubB+[20]
The Daily Telegraph[21]
Entertainment WeeklyB[22]
The Guardian[23]
The Independent[24]
Mojo[25]
Pitchfork6.8/10[26]
Rolling Stone[27]
Spin8/10[28]

According to the review aggregatorMetacritic,Collapse into Nowreceived "generally favorable reviews" based on aweighted averagescore of 71 out of 100 from 37 critic scores.[18]

Pitchfork's Matt LeMay stated that "Collapse into Nowalso hosts some unlikely successes of its own; in spite of its discouraging title, "Mine Smell Like Honey" overcomes a water-treading verse and ascends to a truly a majestic classic R.E.M. chorus, complete with soaring Mike Mills backing vocals and jangling Peter Buck guitars. "Walk It Back" alone is worth the price of admission here, a gorgeous and enveloping song that takes a step back from the album's dense arrangements and gives Michael Stipe's vocals room to resonate... This album is host to more such complexity than anything since 1998'sUp,butCollapse Into Nowstill sounds like the work of a band caught between old habits and new adventures. "[26]

Josh Modell ofSpinwrote that "(h)ere... they discover the glow of middle age, warmly acknowledging the past—hello again, Peter Buck's mandolin—while realizing that the present can feel just as comforting...Collapsemostly sounds like a familiar friend—reliable in all the best ways, but still capable of quietly insinuating surprises.[28]

Track listing

[edit]

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

X-axis

  1. "Discoverer" – 3:31
  2. "All the Best" – 2:48
  3. "Überlin"– 4:15
  4. "Oh My Heart"(Buck, Mills, Stipe,Scott McCaughey) – 3:21
  5. "It Happened Today" – 3:49
  6. "Every Day Is Yours to Win" – 3:26

Y-axis

  2. "Mine Smell Like Honey"– 3:13
  3. "Walk It Back" – 3:24
  4. "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter" – 2:45
  5. "That Someone Is You" – 1:44
  6. "Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I" – 3:03
  7. "Blue" (Buck, Mills, Stipe,Patti Smith) – 5:46

Personnel

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R.E.M.

Additional musicians

Smith singing with a guitar and Kaye playing guitar onstage
Punk iconPatti Smith(left) and her long-term guitar playerLenny Kaye(right) contributed toCollapse into Now—they are pictured here in 2007.

Technical and design

Charts

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Certifications and sales

[edit]
Certifications and sales forCollapse into Now
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[61] Gold 30,000*
Spain — 5,446[a]
United Kingdom (BPI)[63] Silver 60,000^

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

Notes

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  1. ^Spanish sales as of March 2011 according toPROMUSICAE.[62]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Doyle, Tom. "Athens' Favourite Sons Throw Away the Manual".Q.January 2011.
  2. ^abcGoodman, William (November 3, 2010)."R.E.M. Tap Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith for Next Album".Spin.RetrievedNovember 27,2010.
  3. ^abInterview with Michael Stipe.Interview Magazine. 2011.
  4. ^"R.E.M. Breaks Up After Three Decades, Thanks Fans for Listening"Bloomberg.comRetrieved 2011-09-26
  5. ^Fricke, David(September 26, 2011)."Exclusive: Mike Mills on Why R.E.M. Are Calling It Quits".Rolling Stone.Straight Arrow Publishers Company, LP. Archived fromthe originalon September 27, 2011.RetrievedSeptember 26,2011.
  6. ^"R.E.M. - Monster Talk with Michael Stipe & Mike Mills, plus hosts Adam Scott & Scott Aukerman"– remhq,YouTube,November 22, 2019
  7. ^Flaming Lips, Michael Stipe, The Roots and Patti Smith Rock for Tibet - Rolling Stone
  8. ^Dombal, Ryan (2011-11-21)."Interviews: R.E.M. | Features".Pitchfork.Retrieved2012-01-01.
  9. ^abcHyden, Steven (2011-11-16)."R.E.M.'s Mike Mills | Music | Interview".The A.V. Club.Retrieved2012-01-01.
  10. ^Young, Alex."Peter Buck explains R.E.M.'s decision to break up, and why they won't reunite".Consequence of Sound.Retrieved16 March2016.
  11. ^Greene, Andy (November 4, 2010)."Mike Mills On New R.E.M. Disc With Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder".Rolling Stone.Archived fromthe originalon November 6, 2010.RetrievedNovember 27,2010.
  12. ^"Collapse Into Now Release Date Set for March 8".R.E.M.HQ. December 15, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon December 19, 2010.RetrievedDecember 17,2010.
  13. ^[1]ArchivedMay 8, 2011, at theWayback Machine
  14. ^Itzkoff, Dave (2011-03-03)."Pop Song 2011: The Video for R.E.M.'s 'It Happened Today'".The New York Times.Retrieved2011-03-06.
  15. ^"REM's Peter Buck reveals reasons behind reluctance to tour | News".Nme.Com. 2011-03-10.Retrieved2012-01-01.
  16. ^"Around The Sun & Collapse Into Now – Back on Vinyl".R.E.M.2023-05-16.Retrieved2023-05-16.
  17. ^"Collapse Into Now by R.E.M. reviews".AnyDecentMusic?.RetrievedDecember 28,2019.
  18. ^ab"Reviews for Collapse into Now by R.E.M."Metacritic.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  19. ^Erlewine, Stephen Thomas."Collapse into Now – R.E.M."AllMusic.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  20. ^Murray, Noel (March 8, 2011)."R.E.M.: Collapse Into Now".The A.V. Club.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  21. ^McCormick, Neil(February 28, 2011)."R.E.M., Collapse Into Now, CD review".The Daily Telegraph.London.RetrievedOctober 20,2016.
  22. ^Harvilla, Rob (June 24, 2011)."Collapse Into Now".Entertainment Weekly.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  23. ^Simpson, Dave (March 4, 2011)."REM: Collapse Into Now – review".The Guardian.London.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  24. ^Gill, Andy (March 4, 2011)."Album: R.E.M, Collapse Into Now (Warner Bros)".The Independent.London. Archived fromthe originalon March 8, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  25. ^"R.E.M.: Collapse Into Now".Mojo(209): 96. April 2011.
  26. ^abLeMay, Matt (March 9, 2011)."R.E.M.: Collapse Into Now".Pitchfork.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  27. ^Sheffield, Rob(February 23, 2011)."Collapse Into Now".Rolling Stone(1125): 69–70.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  28. ^abModell, Josh (March 8, 2011)."R.E.M., 'Collapse Into Now' (Warner Bros.)".Spin.RetrievedJanuary 1,2012.
  29. ^"Australiancharts.com – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  30. ^"Austriancharts.at – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now"(in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  31. ^"Ultratop.be – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now"(in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  32. ^"Ultratop.be – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now"(in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  33. ^"R.E.M. Chart History (Canadian Albums)".Billboard.Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  34. ^"Danishcharts.dk – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  35. ^"Dutchcharts.nl – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now"(in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  36. ^"R.E.M.: Collapse into Now "(in Finnish).Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  37. ^"Lescharts.com – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  38. ^"Offiziellecharts.de – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now"(in German).GfK Entertainment Charts.Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  39. ^"Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2011. 11. hét"(in Hungarian).MAHASZ.Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  40. ^"Irish-charts.com – Discography R.E.M.".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  41. ^"Italiancharts.com – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  42. ^"コラプス・イントゥ・ナウ／R.E.M.-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック"[Highest position and charting weeks ofCollapse into Nowby R.E.M.] (in Japanese).Oricon.RetrievedJanuary 25,2012.
  43. ^"Charts.nz – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  44. ^"Norwegiancharts.com – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  45. ^"Oficjalna lista sprzedaży:: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart".OLiS.Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.Retrieved June 26, 2011.
  46. ^"Portuguesecharts.com – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  47. ^"Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100".Official Charts Company.Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  48. ^"Spanishcharts.com – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  49. ^"Swedishcharts.com – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  50. ^"Swisscharts.com – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  51. ^"Official Albums Chart Top 100".Official Charts Company.Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  52. ^"R.E.M. Chart History (Billboard200) ".Billboard.Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  53. ^"R.E.M. Chart History (Top Rock Albums)".Billboard.Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  54. ^"Jaaroverzichten 2011".Ultratop.RetrievedApril 25,2021.
  55. ^"Album-Top 100".Hitlisten.IFPI Danmark& Nielsen Music Control. Archived fromthe originalon June 9, 2012.
  56. ^"Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts".GfK Entertainment(in German). offiziellecharts.de.RetrievedApril 25,2021.
  57. ^"Classifica annuale 2011 (dal 27.12.2010 al 01.01.2012) – Album & Compilation"(in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.RetrievedJanuary 3,2024.
  58. ^"Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2011".hitparade.ch.RetrievedApril 25,2021.
  59. ^"End Of Year Chart 2011"(PDF).Official Charts Company.RetrievedApril 25,2021.
  60. ^"Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2011".Billboard.RetrievedApril 25,2021.
  61. ^"Italian album certifications – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now"(in Italian).Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.
  62. ^"Britney, 4.621 copias; Radiohead, 2.287".El Mundo(in Spanish). March 28, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 4,2024.
  63. ^"British album certifications – R.E.M. – Collapse into Now".British Phonographic Industry.
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