R.E.M. Collapse Into Now

4 stars out of 5 -- "COLLAPSE INTO NOW touches on all their favorite tricks: punk raves, stately ballads, piano accordion and the most mandolin they've put in one place since 'Losing My Religion.'"
Ranked #16 in Rolling Stone's '50 Best Albums Of 2011' -- "[A] stately summary of their folk-pop senescence..."
"COLLAPSE mostly sounds like a familiar friend -- reliable in all the best ways, but still capable of quietly insinuating surprises."
"[T]he acoustic lilt of 'It Happened Today' melts into a sweet, wordless coda powered by Mike Mills' epic harmonies..." -- Grade: B
3 stars out of 5 -- "The closing track, 'Blue', is a sonorous, sprawling and altogether seductive dirge, Stipe's distorted, distracted spoken monologue counterpointed by the backing vocals of Patti Smith."
Ranked #6 in Magnet's '20 Best Albums Of 2011' -- "[I]f you listen for signs of a band on its last legs, you'll come up empty."
Billboard (p.40) - "As positive as it is poetic, COLLAPSE INTO NOW rolls all of R.E.M.'s varied sonic adventures into a concentrated 41 minutes of mostly short, tight and fat-free songs."
3 stars out of 5 -- "'Walk It Back' is a beautiful pregnant pause of a track, and 'Uberlin' finds Stipe's stream of consciousness flowing still."