Accelerate is the 14th album from R.E.M. – you know, that group of alternative-noisemakers from Athens, Ga., who’ve been doing and doing it well for, oh, 30 years.

This latest (and greatest) effort from R.E.M. only solidifies the fact that they’re a band who’s always marched to the beat of their drum – with or without Bill Berry. So far, it ranks among one of the best albums of 2008.

In all, Accelerate has 11 tracks and showcases R.E.M.’s myriad-genre soundscape. The first single, “Supernatural Superserious,” is a crisp-riffing ditty where vocalist Michael Stipe pines about the everyday pangs of the everyman and his post-adolescence. Other tracks on Accelerate beckon and pay homage to the band’s earlier Murmur days, circa 1983.

Standout tracks on Accelerate are “Horse to Water,” “Hollow Man” and “Sing for the Submarine.” The band even takes a swing or three at George W. Bush’s homeland on the track “Houston.”

Accelerate to your nearest record shop or file-sharing-program on April 1 and take in the auditory-goodness of R.E.M.’s latest album.