Bad Day

With ‘Reveal’ proving not to be the anticipated masterpiece, the first new track from REM’s forthcoming Best Of needs to go that little bit further to convince us they’ve still got it. Which it does, well almost. As with ‘Imitation Of Life’, ‘Bad Day’ finds the band in upbeat mode, Peter Buck jangling furiously alongside a playful Michael Stipe and harmonising Mike Mills. It’s good, but my first impression is that it sounds a little too like ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’ for comfort. I can’t help but wonder how it will fare when placed next to the highlights of Green, Out Of Time and Automatic For The People. But then it may just be a grower.