It worked for Faith No More. It worked for Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Even a novelty collaboration with Run DMC revitalized Aerosmith's waning career in the 80's. Ever since The Clash and Blondie experimented with hip hop during its halcyon days, the genre has fascinated alternative rockers. But when R.E.M. drafted rapper KRS-1 to appear on the kitschy "Radio Song" - and effectively ruined their 1991 album Out of Time - one would think they learned their lesson. Well here we are, 13 years and six albums later, listening to Q-Tip drop the embarrassing final verse of "The Outsiders" from R.E.M's newly released Around the Sun. And we're wondering what's worse: watered-down adult-contempo rhymes like "They don't get it, I want to scream/I want to breathe again, I want to dream/I want to float a quote from Martin Luther King/I am not afraid, I am not afraid, I am not afraid," or that the inoffensive cameo isn't even the album's blandest moment?

R.E.M. should thank their patient fans. Following the crippling departure of drummer Bill Berry and the release of 1998's experimental and divisive Up, we kept faith; we knew R.E.M. would eventually get their act together. Then came 2001's Reveal, which-while boasting the infectious single "Imitation of Life"-was similarly reserved and exceedingly boring.

But we continued to keep the faith. That meditative reservation had triumphed in spades before; maybe the band had another Automatic for the People in them? But with Around the Sun, R.E.M. has reached its dullest plateau yet. It is lifeless and sterile, drab and innocuous. It is enough to upset the most devoted fan, if it doesn't put him to sleep first.

It's an even bigger shame considering that when the iconic alt-rockers released the internet freebie "Final Straw" earlier this year, we rejoiced. Later featured on MoveOn.org's Future Soundtrack for America compilation, it was a "Working Class Hero"-inspired protest narrative, in the same vein as their overtly-political 1987 album Document. And now, it is Around the Sun's glorious centerpiece, a mournful, Proletarian-folk battle cry, featuring frontman Michael Stipe's most biting lyrics in years: "Then I raise my voice up higher/and I look you in the eyes/and I offer love with one condition/with conviction, tell me why, tell me why."

Unfortunately, the rest of the album follows an entirely different blueprint. The first single and album opener, "Leaving New York," is a droning slice of mid-tempo, new-age kitchen-counter existentialism, abetted by Stipes' tired, passionless vocals and bandmates Mike Mills and Peter Buck's drudging instrumentation. Like the rest of Around the Sun, it features little of the electronic flourishes and unexpected structures found on its two predecessors, and while it would be hard to declare Up and Reveal successes, they at least challenged us. "Leaving New York" is predictable, morose and hookless. This is adult pop, and it is downright boring.

While "Final Straw" is a heartfelt, humanized anti-war testimonial, Around the Sun's other stabs at political commentary fall flat. "We're armed to the teeth, born a little breech/blue-plate special analysts, cells and SUVs/We can't approach the allies 'cuz they seem a little peeved," sings Stipe in the meandering "I Wanted to be Wrong," chiming in but failing to distinguish his voice from the myriad of celebrities and musicians who have spoken out in the past year. And perhaps it's appreciated; it's just not convincing.

"Around the Sun" brings to close a disc with about as much bite as a toothless chihuahua. Sure, the music has matured with the audience, but it's hard to imagine most fans digesting trite new-aged lines like, "I want the sun to set me free/I want the truth to set me free/I want the followers to lead/With a voice so strong it could knock me to my knees," without a blink or shudder.

Stipe, Mills and Buck led one of the most dynamic careers of the 80's and 90's, but with Around the Sun, they only further their descent into irrelevance. Can we still hope for salvation come next album? Even faith has its limits.