Rating: NNNN
It seems like trouble for REM when Michael Stipe affects a Bryan Ferry whimper on the second song, I’ve Been High, but with the soundtracky All The Way To Reno they’re back on point. The elegiac Imitation Of Life is more than just a brilliant single, it’s a four-minute distillation of everything they’ve done right since Chronic Town. After that, even the Brian Wilson pastiches and avant after-thoughts are tolerable. Revival is better than their accountant’s most optimistic expectations. REM are playing a free show at the corner of Yonge and Dundas on May 17 at 12:15 pm.