Around the Sun

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This article is about the R.E.M. album. For the Jeff Watson album, see Around the Sun (album).
Around the Sun
File:R.E.M. - Around the Sun.jpg
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)Perfect Square2004		 Around the Sun
(2004)		 iTunes Originals – R.E.M.
(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
Source Rating
Metacritic 56/100[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 2/5 stars[2]
Blender 3/5 stars[3]
Entertainment Weekly B−[4]
The Guardian 2/5 stars[5]
NME 6/10[6]
Pitchfork Media 5.2/10[7]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[8]
Slant Magazine 2/5 stars[9]
Spin B–[10]
Uncut 4/5 stars[11]

Around the Sun is the thirteenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in October 2004 on Warner Bros. Records.

Description

"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.

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 has sold 2 million copies worldwide and 232,000 units in the U.S.[12] This is less than R.E.M. had previously sold in the first week of an album's release while in 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's 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." [13] The album's songs were largely excluded from the band's live setlists after the release of Accelerate.

Reissue

In 2005, Warner Brothers 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

R.E.M.
Additional personnel
  • Chris Bilheimer: Packaging
  • Oswald "Wiz" Bowe: Assistant Engineer
  • Jimmy Briggs: 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: Musician
  • Kirk McNally: Assistant Engineer
  • Q-Tip: Musician
  • Bill Rieflin: Musician
  • Hahn Rowe: Musician
  • Ken Stringfellow: Musician
  • Javier Valverde: Assistant Engineer
  • Bob Whittaker: Technical Assistance

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[14] Gold 35,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[15] Gold 10,000
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[16] Gold 20,000
Germany (BVMI)[17] Gold 100,000
Italy (FIMI)[18] 2× Platinum 200,000
Sweden (GLF)[19] Gold 30,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[20] Platinum 40,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Gold 210,000[22]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[23] Platinum 1,000,000

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

Charts

References

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External links

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Preceded by German Media Control Chart number-one album
October 13, 2004		 Succeeded by
Zurück zum Glück by Die Toten Hosen
Preceded by
Dieci stratagemmi by Franco Battiato
 Italian FIMI Chart number-one album
October 14, 2004		 Succeeded by
Greatest Hits by Robbie Williams
Preceded by UK number one album
October 16–22, 2004		 Succeeded by
10 Years of Hits by Ronan Keating
Preceded by
Reise, Reise by Rammstein
 Austrian Chart number-one album
October 17, 2004		 Succeeded by
Reise, Reise by Rammstein
Preceded by
Reise, Reise by Rammstein
 Swiss Music Chart number-one album
October 17–24, 2004		 Succeeded by
Greatest Hits by Robbie Williams
Preceded by
Reise, Reise by Rammstein
 European Top 100 number-one album
October 23–30, 2004		 Succeeded by
Greatest Hits by Robbie Williams
Preceded by Swedish Chart number-one album
October 28, 2004		 Succeeded by
The Change
by Marie Fredriksson
Preceded by Norwegian VG-lista Chart number-one album
42–43, 2004		 Succeeded by
One Day You'll Dance for Me, New York City
by Thomas Dybdahl

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  13. ↑ Harrison, Shane. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jun 16, 2008.
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