Around the Sun
| Around the Sun | ||||
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| Studio album by R.E.M. | ||||
| Released | October 5, 2004 | |||
| Recorded | Early 2003 – early 2004 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 55:21 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Pat McCarthy, R.E.M. | |||
| R.E.M. chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Around the Sun | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 56/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Blender | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B− |
| The Guardian | |
| Los Angeles Times |  |
| NME | 6/10 |
| Pitchfork Media | 5.2/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | B− |
| Uncut | |
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.
"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.
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. 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." The album's songs were largely excluded from the band's live setlists after the release of Accelerate.
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