Around the Sun

Around the Sun
Studio album by R.E.M.
Released October 5, 2004 (2004-10-05)
Recorded Early 2003 – early 2004
Genre Alternative rock
Length 55:21
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Pat McCarthy, R.E.M.
R.E.M. chronology
Perfect Square
(2004)		 Around the Sun
(2004)		 iTunes Originals – R.E.M.
(2004)
Singles from Around the Sun
  1. "Leaving New York"
    Released: September 27, 2004
  2. "Aftermath"
    Released: November 29, 2004
  3. "Electron Blue"
    Released: February 28, 2005
  4. "Wanderlust"
    Released: July 11, 2005
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic56/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[4]
The Guardian[5]
Los Angeles Times[6]
NME6/10[7]
Pitchfork5.2/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
SpinB−[10]
Uncut[11]

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 album was released in two editions: CD only, and a limited-edition box set with the CD and fold-out posters by 14 different artists illustrating the songs.[12]

"The Outsiders" features a guest appearance by rapper Q-Tip. When the song was performed live, Michael Stipe carried out the rap, as he did 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.

This is the first of only two R.E.M. albums to include a title track (the second being its follow-up, Accelerate).

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 had sold 2 million copies worldwide and 232,000 units in the U.S.[13] This is less than R.E.M. had sold in the first week of an album's release while at 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 was 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 Bros. 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

Additional personnel
  • Chris Bilheimer – packaging
  • Oswald "Wiz" Bowe – assistant engineer
  • Jim Briggs III – 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 – guitar
  • Kirk McNally – assistant engineer
  • Q-Tip – musician
  • Bill Rieflin – drums, percussion
  • Hahn Rowe – musician
  • Ken Stringfellow – keyboards
  • Javier Valverde – assistant engineer
  • Bob Whittaker – technical assistance

Certifications

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

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Charts

References

  1. ↑ "Reviews for Around The Sun by R.E.M." Metacritic. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Around the Sun – R.E.M." AllMusic. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert (November 2004). "R.E.M.: Around the Sun". Blender (31): 140. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  4. ↑ Brod, Doug (October 8, 2004). "Around the Sun". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  5. ↑ Lynskey, Dorian (October 1, 2004). "REM, Around the Sun". The Guardian. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  6. ↑ Hochman, Steve (October 3, 2004). "Poignant words, passable music". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  7. ↑ Mulvey, John (December 3, 2004). "REM : Around The Sun". NME. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  8. ↑ Deusner, Stephen M. (October 4, 2004). "R.E.M.: Around the Sun". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  9. ↑ Walters, Barry (October 10, 2004). "Around the Sun". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  10. ↑ Hermes, Will (November 2004). "R.E.M.: Around the Sun". Spin. 20 (11): 112–15. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Stars And Stipes". Uncut (90): 100. November 2004. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  12. ↑ "New Releases". MTV News. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  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. Archived October 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  15. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  16. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter R.E.M. in the field Interpret. Enter Around the Sun in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen. 
  17. ↑ "Album Top–40: Uge 11 – 2005" (ASP). Hitlisten (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  18. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (R.E.M.; 'Around the Sun')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  19. ↑ "Musica: REM, domani a Roma la band di Michael Stipe" (in Italian). Adnkronos. September 9, 2005.
  20. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2005" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  21. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (R.E.M.; 'Around the Sun')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  22. ↑ "British album certifications – R.E.M. – Around the Sun". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Enter Around the Sun in the search field and then press Enter.
  23. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2004". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  24. ↑ "australian-charts.com R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  25. ↑ "austriancharts.at R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  26. ↑ "ultratop.be R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  27. ↑ "ultratop.be R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  28. 1 2 "allmusic ((( Around the Sun > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  29. ↑ "danishcharts.com R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). danishcharts.com. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  30. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  31. ↑ "finnishcharts.com R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  32. ↑ "lescharts.com R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  33. ↑ "Album Search: R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  34. ↑ "italiancharts.com R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  35. ↑ 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." Check |url= value (help). oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  36. ↑ "charts.org.nz R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  37. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  38. ↑ "portuguesecharts.com R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  39. ↑ "swedishcharts.com R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  40. ↑ "R.E.M. – Around the Sun – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  41. ↑ "Chart Stats – R.E.M. – Around the Sun" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  42. ↑ "Austriancharts.at –Jahreshitparade 2004". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  43. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2004". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  44. ↑ "Rapports annuels 2004". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  45. ↑ "JAAROVERZICHTEN – ALBUM 2004". Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  46. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 2004" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  47. ↑ "Årslista Albums – År 2004". Swedish Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  48. ↑ "Hitparade.ch – Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2004". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  49. ↑ "The Official UK Albums Chart – Year-End – 2004" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-01-25.
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