TORONTO - It's a remarkable thing when a band as big as R.E.M. can admit they're wrong.

And even more remarkable when they can embrace the challenge of setting things right. Such was the score when the seminal rock trio set about tackling their latest disc, the hard-driving "Accelerate," on the heels of their dismal and poorly received 13th disc, "Around the Sun."

While critics panned the 2004 release for being bland, it prompted R.E.M. to examine their modus operandi and decide on a radical new direction.

The next disc would be faster, shorter and louder.

"We deliberately set boundaries for how long we were going to be in the studio, and say: 'Look, it's got to be finished by this date,"' bassist Mike Mills said in a recent interview from Los Angeles.

"Certainly on the last record, on 'Around the Sun,' we tried to do too much. We tried to make a greatest hits record, and then go on tour, and then come back and finish a record. So the lesson we learned was: you need to focus on making the record and leave all those other distractions behind."

The change in tack resulted in a roaring disc of 10 cuts, clocking in at less than 35 minutes.

Early on, it was decided that fans would play a large role in shaping the new sound, with band members Mills, singer Michael Stipe and guitarist Peter Buck inviting several thousand people to a series of live concerts in Dublin under the auspices of a "working rehearsal."

Songs were unfinished and those who couldn't attend in person could watch online. Mills says the move gave them valuable input.

"I think 'Man-Sized Wreath' might not have been on the record if we hadn't played it" at the concerts, Mills says of the experience.

"We hadn't thought it was that good a song and, in that sense, the crowd reaction was very helpful and it encouraged us to pursue it further."

But that's not to say that the Athens, Ga., indie pioneers, who exploded into the mainstream with 1991's "Out of Time," are courting mass appeal by handing such power to an audience.

Mills insists the stunt was merely a way to open "the window into the process" of making records and not a search for approbation or validation.

"You can't be too precious about this," Mills, 49, says about the band's approach. Their other media projects have included the website supernaturalsuperserious.com, where people can take video footage and make their own R.E.M. music video.

"I mean, yes, in a way you only want people to hear the final, finished product - at the same time, sometimes you have to let things go. Letting go is one of the best lessons you can learn in life. And sometimes letting go of this preciousness is very helpful. Certainly for us, the way we wanted to do this record, it was all about being loose and having a good time. Being focused, yet loose. And that's what those live rehearsals did for us."

They recorded part of the disc in Vancouver, a West Coast city they enjoy spending time in, Mills says as the conversation dovetails into the current U.S. presidential race.

"I'm afraid that it's been very difficult to be optimistic in America for the last eight years, but you leave a lot of that baggage behind when you go to Canada," he says, noting the band's preference for Barack Obama as the next U.S. leader.

"This year has become hopeful, because either way we're going to get (current president George W.) Bush out of there. ... The only problem is Bush and those guys have messed it up so badly, it's going to take a long time to fix what they've done."

R.E.M. kick off their world tour Friday in Vancouver. They perform in Toronto on June 8.

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On the Net: remhq.com