His paintings are actually quite good

Stewart Lee thinks so too, as you'll see if DiS ever run my interview...

See I always think the criticism of REM is kinda unfair. I mean I accept that they lack the consistency they had from Green to Automatic (though you could argue they lacked that beforehand too) but there have been a number of fantastic songs since.

To name a few:

Crush With Eyeliner
I Don't Sleep I Dream
Let Me In
Walk Unafraid (which, depending on my mood can be my favourite REM song; on other days it's Everybody Hurts, World Leader Pretend or the Wrong Child)
At My Most Beautiful
Diminished
I've Been High
Disappear
The Outsiders (I accept I seem to be in a minority on that last one)

OK, I think they tend to release the wrong singles (tho' I actually really like Imitation of Life and Leaving New York) and I accept that Around the Sun was one-paced and seemed to be treading water.

But I still expect them to return to something resembling top form. I really enjoyed them live in Cardiff last week and even the more recent songs sounded great (making me wonder whether over-polished production may be one of the biggest issues) and new song "I'm Gonna DJ" suggests they still are capable of finding the energy that was slightly lacking on Around the Sun

I like Monster, too.
Seems to be the one most people dislike, though.
'Crush With Eyeliner', 'Let Me In', '...Kenneth': awesome stuff.

New Adventures is their best album - at least the best since they became the global superstars they are. Leave, E-Bow and others on there are adventurous and progressive.

The last album is pretty poor, but i liked Reveal in a 'fairly catchy but nothing new' kind of way.