Rating
2.5

Like many live albums, R.E.M.’s Live at the Olympia is “for the fans.” Recorded at Dublin’s Olympia Theater in 2007, the two-disk, 39-track cut features (then-unreleased) tracks from Accelerate, R.E.M.’s newest record.

The album’s first disc starts strong with “Living Well is the Best Revenge,” a fast-paced song about fame and enemies that even make Morrissey jealous. The energy doesn’t slow down, and the band seems happy — not reluctant to still be together in order to just make money.

The main problem with the album is a serious lack of classic R.E.M. cuts. No “Losing My Religion,” no “Orange Crush,” no “Everybody Hurts,” not even “Man on the Moon.” In fact, there almost isn’t a single song from In Time, R.E.M.’s “best of” album. Isn’t that the point when you see or hear a band live? As such, shouldn’t they have some classics?

But lead singer Michael Stipe says this isn’t a show. It’s a rehearsal or “experiment in terror,” as he says. So in a way, this is really, really just for the fans — and hardcore groupie stalker fans at that.

Listening to Stipe’s strange idiosyncrasies is the album’s saving grace. In between songs, his speaking voice is full of a weird, creative human-ness you can’t get on an R.E.M. studio album. He bares his soul.

Regardless, Live at the Olympia isn’t interesting, at least not to the radio-friendly R.E.M. listener.