If anyone was wondering how R.E.M. [ tickets ] went from the brooding, disappointing murk of 2004's "Around the Sun" to the urgent, clarion call, return-to-form of 2008's "Accelerate," you'll find part of the answer on "Live at the Olympia."

This two-CD, 39-song set is culled from the band's 2007 five-night engagement at Dublin's historic Olympia Theatre. These gigs were held not in the midst of a tour to promote an album, but while the band was in the middle of recording "Accelerate" with producer Jacknife Lee. The idea was to have the band hone the new material by seeing what worked and what didn't in front of a live audience. Hence, bassist Mike Mills' announcement at the album's start, "This is not a show," but rather, as R.E.M. termed it, the dates were "working rehearsals."

As a result, listeners are treated to the band working out the kinks in the new material, including an early version of "Supernatural Surperserious"--the first single from "Accelerate," then minus a chorus and known as "Disguised"--and a healthy helping of early chestnuts seemingly dusted off as inspiration. So there are no big hits like "Losing My Religion," "Man on the Moon" and "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)," but rather welcomed blasts from the past like "Second Guessing," "Gardening at Night" and "Driver 8," the songs that made us take notice in the first place.

Fans old and new will find plenty to enjoy here, as the band's core trio of vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, and Mills--augmented by drummer Bill Rieflin and guitarist Scott McCaughey--sound tight and hungry with only a few misfires. "Around The Sun" outtake "On the Fly" fails to take off, coming off like a hybrid of "Country Feedback" and "New Test Leper." And an attempt to salvage that album's "The Worst Joke Ever" live is futile, leaving the track dangerously close to living up to its title.

Following 2007's "R.E.M. Live," "Live at the Olympia" is R.E.M.'s second concert recording released in a mere two years, all from a band that once vowed it would never issue a live album. Nonetheless, it serves a valuable purpose as a document of one of this generation's best bands finding their way back on track. Welcome back boys, glad you found your way home.