Artist: R.E.M.

Album: “Accelerate”

Release date: April 1

Label: Warner Bros.

REM’s newest effort, “Accelerate,” is as raw-sounding as the band’s first EP “Chronic Town,” released in 1982. Album opener “Living Well is the Best Revenge” slams into action with the distinctive arpeggiated style of Peter Buck ripping a short, fast and awkwardly pop-sounding anthem right out of 1995.

Notable tracks include “Houston” and its politically-motivated lyrics, like “If the storm doesn’t kill me the government will” and the media criticism of “Living Well Is the Best Revenge” through its lyrics, “Don’t turn your talking points on me, history will set me free / The future’s ours, and you don’t even read the footnote now! / So who’s chasing you? Where did you go? You disappeared mid-sentence.”

Fans of R.E.M.’s pre-1996 sound – when former drummer Bill Berry was still with the band – will be, yet again, disappointed with a band that is still a lackluster shell of its former glory. While this album aspires to the grungy, soulful punk that the band used to propagate, it falls short of that mark.

The album is, however, an improvement over the band’s recent work with former producer Pat McCarthy’s picky, staged sound. The band switched over to Jacknife Lee, who has previously worked with U2, Bloc Party and Kasabian. The change in style is immediately noticeable through the band’s efforts to go back to its signature edgy style.

– Rashah McChesney

Artist: Muse

Album: “HAARP”

Release date: April 1

Label: Warner Bros.

Muse’s music was always meant to fill stadiums. At last, that sound has been captured and canned for the masses on the English rock band’s second live release, “HAARP.” The CD/DVD combo was recorded and filmed at Muse’s two sell-out performances at Wembley Stadium last summer.

All of Muse’s staple singles are here – “Hysteria,” “Supermassive Black Hole” and “Time Is Running Out,” to name a few – but the setlist is fairly diverse. Matt Bellamy isn’t afraid to mix up his performance, either – he frequently indulges in guitar flourishes and improv jams.

After a lovely introduction from Sergei Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” suite, the trio rumbles out of the starting gate with the anthemic “Knights of Cydonia.” The highlight of the album is the one-two-three punch of old favorites “New Born,” “Unintended” and “Micro Cuts.”

The real reason to hear this collection is the masterful mix – longtime collaborator Rich Costey has done a great job of bringing every vocal harmony, drum hit and guitar riff to the foreground. The only disappointment is the disparity between the CD and DVD – the DVD has six extra tracks, but is conspicuously missing “Micro Cuts.”

– Thomas Grundmeier