<copy><![CDATA[It is seven years since drummer Bill Berry quit REM, yet the fact that he is not on their new album, Around the Sun, seems to be as much a defining aspect of the music as the continuing presence of Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills. When the band completed 1998ΓÇÖs Up, their first post-Berry album, Stipe commented that ΓÇ£Bill, by his absence, was very present on this recordΓÇ¥. On Around the Sun, the bandΓÇÖs attempts to reshape their working relationship without BerryΓÇÖs input are still apparent: Stipe admits the bandΓÇÖs dynamic is the subject of I Wanted to Be Wrong, one of the recordΓÇÖs most haunting tracks. The chemistry of a successful rock band is a strange and (occasionally) wonderful thing. The close and long-standing four-way relationship shared by the original members of REM saw them emerge from a host of indie also-rans to release a series of phenomenally successful albums, along the way creating songs, such as Losing My Religion and Everybody Hurts, that remain etched in our consciousness. In many bands, the very essence of the group is the dynamic among members, the interplay of characters, the conflict of tastes. This equation can be so finely balanced that when a member chooses to leave (or dies), the group can simply find it impossible to continue, as in the case of Led Zeppelin, who called it a day soon after the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. Similarly, it is easy to imagine that if any member of U2 chose to hand in his notice, the rest would be unable to continue, since the very heart of the group seems to reside in perpetual conflict: the experimental tendencies of Bono and the Edge are perfectly weighted against the straight-ahead rock aesthetic of Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton. When Berry left REM, the others quickly decided that they didnΓÇÖt want to stop, which left them two options: replace him or continue as a trio. Replacing a band member can be tricky. The Rolling Stones got it right in 1969 when they replaced Brian Jones with Mick Taylor, whose bluesy guitar became a vital component of their most creative and successful era; they got it horribly wrong in 1976 when Taylor was replaced with the Keith Richards lookalike/soundalike Ronnie Wood, ushering in several decades of gradual decline. (Alternatively, you could argue that having a drinking/riffing buddy for Richards may have helped to keep the band together for all these years of lucrative touring.) Continuing without a key member is also tricky. The Libertines are currently facing up to this problem, as Carl Barat looks determined to keep the band going without Pete Doherty, unless Doherty can kick his various addictions. Doherty has suggested that Barat canΓÇÖt legally do this, but ΓÇô in the short term, at least ΓÇô any appearances Doherty makes in court are unlikely to be dealing with the rarified details of intellectual property. REM were quick to acknowledge how difficult it was to adjust to the change in line-up. ΓÇ£Every single thing was completely different,ΓÇ¥ guitarist Peter Buck told MTV after the band had finished making Up. ΓÇ£We spent a lot of time scratching our heads, going: ΓÇÿWhat do you think we should do now?ΓÇÖΓÇ¥ What they chose to do was work without a drummer, building up tracks using drum machines. Missing the obvious musical relationship with a drummer, Mike Mills played less bass, shifting onto keyboards, and UpΓÇÖs synth-heavy sound was born, an intriguing new background for some of StipeΓÇÖs best lyrics, including the accurately titled At My Most Beautiful. The albumΓÇÖs mixed reception might have inspired the band to see if the new REM could still sound like the old REM on 2001ΓÇÖs Reveal; but it couldnΓÇÖt. Instead, a summery, poppy version of the old sound emerged on powerful songs such as Imitation of Life. Now, on Around the Sun, another REM template appears, and again itΓÇÖs one that couldnΓÇÖt possibly have developed with Berry in the band. If someone played you the new album and told you it was a Stipe<br>solo release, youΓÇÖd believe it. Of the three defining REM sounds, StipeΓÇÖs voice, MillsΓÇÖs harmony and BuckΓÇÖs distinctively chiming guitar, the latter pair are almost completely missing. Stipe layers his own backing vocals against his lead voice. The music seems almost exclusively slow, meandering, and reluctant to intrude on StipeΓÇÖs singing. Oddly, this is precisely the opposite of how REM started out. Back then the shy Stipe hid mumbled vocals in the jangling instrumentation at an almost inaudible level. Now, blessed with one of the most instantly recognisable voices in modern music, he bestrides the mix like a diva.<br> <br> So, is this the definitive stamp of post-Berry REM? Almost certainly not. REM have always tended to react against the sound of each album (sometimes dramatically so, as in 1994 when the crushingly riff-heavy Monster followed the quiet, reflectively crafted Automatic for the People of two years earlier). Interestingly, it took the quartet REM 10 years to hit their creative peak; if the trio follows a similar pattern, the next couple of albums should be even better. Keep listening.The featured tracks are from the following albums:<b>Imitation of Life</b> Reveal<b>At My Most Beautiful</b> Up<b>Everybody Hurts</b> Automatic for the People<b>Losing My Religion</b> Out of Time]]></copy>
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<quote><![CDATA[If someone leaves the band, is it<br>the end or merely a new beginning? Around the Sun shows how REM have faced the change, says Mark Edwards]]></quote>
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<caption><![CDATA[Standing in the place where they were: REM not long before Bill BerryΓÇÖs departure]]></caption>
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<quote><![CDATA[The Rolling Stones got it right with Mick Taylor, and horribly wrong with Ronnie Wood]]></quote>
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<caption><![CDATA[Berry (pictured right) was integral to the sound that REM developed as a four-piece]]></caption>
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<caption><![CDATA[Pleased to meet you: Mick Taylor (second from left) with the Rolling Stones during their great, early ΓÇÖ70s period]]></caption>
<note><![CDATA[ Dezo Hoffmann / Rex Features]]></note>
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<caption><![CDATA[StipeΓÇÖs vocals dominate the new REM album]]></caption>
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<caption><![CDATA[WhateverΓÇÖs happening to the Libertines? Barat (second left) and Doherty (far right) have a turbulent relationship and seesaw career]]></caption>
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<caption><![CDATA[As a trio, REM often veer between experimentalism and crowd-pleasing stock-in-trades, yet Around the Sun follows neither pattern]]></caption>
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