Songs of the Week: R.E.M.’s “Collapse Into Now”

Well this is exciting: “Collapse Into Now,” the new release from R.E.M, is streaming in its entirety at NPR until its official release on March 8.

The page comments are a mixed bag of yeas and nays, but I’ve listened to about half of it so far and have to agree it sounds like a return to the band’s early glory days. Bill Berry is still absent, but Patti Smith Eddie Vedder, Peaches and other guests make appearances.