NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

The rock group R.E.M. is not only one of the best bands in America, it is also one of the most consistent. Since its debut in 1983, the band has released nine major albums, and every one has set a high standard; several, including Murmur (1983), Automatic for the People (1992) and Monster (1994), have become classics. The band's latest CD, New Adventures in Hi-Fi (out Sept. 10), is not great R.E.M., but it is good R.E.M., which is to say it's as thoughtful and well constructed as any rock release that's come out this year. While many bands revel in sloppiness and call it passion, R.E.M. performs its songs with professional precision. Lead singer Michael Stipe and his bandmates express their passion through dedication to their craft.

Monster sought to be loud and sexy, and Automatic for the People was soft and ethereal. New Adventures in Hi-Fi lies somewhere in between, rarely overbearing, occasionally lulling, steadily compelling. The first track, How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us, is the album's best song. R.E.M. may have achieved its fame as a rock band, but before it broke out of Athens, Georgia, and found mainstream success, it was a college-dance-party band. How the West Was Won, with its staccato, insistent, danceable rhythm, returns the band to its roots. But the song isn't simply clubland fluff; there are more than a few arty touches, including the sustained existential howl Stipe uses to punctuate the end of several passages.

The meaning of R.E.M.'s lyrics is usually enigmatic, and the songs are often constructed in an offbeat manner. On the new album, for example, Leave begins with an acoustic guitar dancing slowly with an accordion-like sound, before a blaring synthesizer, sounding almost like a police siren, kicks in. New Test Leper finds the band in a gentler mood. It's a soothing, meditative song that's tunefully and tastefully sweetened by a mandolin. A big rock number, Undertow, is an expansive and expressive crowd pleaser that the band played on its last concert tour.

Today R.E.M. finds itself at a crossroads. The band's tour in support of its last album, Monster, was problem-ridden: drummer Bill Berry suffered an aneurysm (he has since recovered), bassist Mike Mills underwent surgery for an intestinal problem, and Stipe developed a hernia. So far, no tour has been planned for New Adventures in Hi-Fi. The album is also R.E.M.'s last under its current deal with Warner Bros., setting the band free to renegotiate, N.B.A.-style, for a megacontract.

Yet despite such distractions, New Adventures in Hi-Fi doesn't sound like the work of a band in turmoil, performing with one eye on the charts because it is uncertain about its future. The secret to R.E.M.'s success over the years has always been its ability to remain focused on the music, regardless of outside pressures. Good bands hit and fade. Great bands, like R.E.M., endure.

--By Christopher John Farley