Leaving Was Never My POLLed: REM's "Around The Sun"

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I'm going to finally buy this thing tomorrow, if I can find it around town. It seems somehow wrong to do a poll on an album I've never even heard, but also weirdly appropriate - I think this is an album a lot of genuine certified REM fans never got. It'd be interesting to try and suss out why that was; were early reviews that bad? Was it a delayed verdict on Reveal? Opening single not a strong sales pitch? For me it was a little of all of those... I was living in Athens at the time and even there, there just didn't seem to be any enthusiasm on the ground for this record. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised - I've heard of people who really like it!

Poll Results

Option	Votes
"Leaving New York" – 4:49	11
"Wanderlust" – 3:04	2
"The Outsiders" (feat. Q-Tip) – 4:14	1
"The Ascent of Man" – 4:07	1
"The Worst Joke Ever" – 3:37	1
"I Wanted to Be Wrong" – 4:34	1
"Electron Blue" – 4:12	1
"High Speed Train" – 5:03	0
"Aftermath" – 3:52	0
"Boy in the Well" – 5:22	0
"Final Straw" – 4:06	0
"Make It All Okay" – 3:43	0
"Around the Sun" – 4:29	0

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 8 February 2009 00:05 (seventeen years ago)

The first vote for "Leaving New York", which will probably win by a landslide in this case.

― Geir Hongro, Sunday, 8 February 2009 00:15 (seventeen years ago)

The 2nd vote for Leaving New York. Their best song in probably 15 years.

― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 8 February 2009 02:39 (seventeen years ago)

(FYI, Still a week-ish to go on And Your Feet Are POLLing 'Cause The Earth is POLLing: REM's "Dead Letter Office")

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 8 February 2009 02:47 (seventeen years ago)

yeah I never bought this one. In honor of the dead I think I'll continue to stay away. I was bored of Reveal after a listen and I figured from the single ("Leaving New York") that this was going to be even less peppy. I guess I'll abstain from voting since all I know is "Leaving New York" and while it's ok, I may as well put on the Gin Blossoms which at least kick a little ass if I want a kinda morose sorta jangly pop song.

― Euler, Sunday, 8 February 2009 03:41 (seventeen years ago)

Ouch...

― ilxor, Sunday, 8 February 2009 04:05 (seventeen years ago)

This is surprisingly hard to find!

― Doctor Casino, Monday, 9 February 2009 02:17 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Friday, 20 February 2009 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

I dismissed this out of hand at the time of its release because what I heard seemed like a further descent after the dreariness of Reveal. However, more recently I've listened to it more closely and I must say, there are definite toons. "LNY" aside, you also have "Boy in the Well", "Aftermath" and "The Ascent of Man". The title track is also a grower. At the moment, I'd rate it significantly higher than both Reveal and Accelerate.

― Freedom, Friday, 20 February 2009 15:54 (seventeen years ago)

The consensus of negativity around it would also have contributed to my belated appreciation, I should further add.

― Freedom, Friday, 20 February 2009 15:56 (seventeen years ago)

This is surprisingly hard to find!

"As of March 2007, Around the Sun has sold 2 million copies worldwide and 232000 units in the U.S."

― Eazy, Friday, 20 February 2009 16:04 (seventeen years ago)

There's one more major record store in town that I haven't checked, but I suspect I'll never reach it before this poll closes. Buying was never my proud, it seems.

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 20 February 2009 18:52 (seventeen years ago)

I went with "I Wanted To Be Wrong", it was either that one or "Ascent of Man". I think I might like this better than Reveal, because Reveal has some obvious high points to get excited about. Around the Sun starts out kind of bland and restrained and stays there, so I had to work hard to find something to appreciate instead of just skipping the dull ones. That struggle sort of paid off...

Stipe is way to high in the mix and his vocal delivery seems really stilted for most of the album. "leaving was never my proud" makes me cringe and I can't get past it.

― brontosaur, Friday, 20 February 2009 22:54 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Saturday, 21 February 2009 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

That store was out too. Dang.

― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 21 February 2009 00:48 (seventeen years ago)

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