Mike Mills: 'New R.E.M. LP best in decades'

R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills has claimed that the band's upcoming LP Collapse Into Now will rank among their most acclaimed records.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Mills insisted that the new album is comparable to 1991's quadruple platinum Out Of Time.

"We took the shackles off and wrote whatever sounded good - balls-to-the-wall rockers, slow sad songs, great mid-tempo songs in the tradition of R.E.M.," he said. "We had quality, top to bottom."

Mills also revealed that R.E.M. have not yet decided if they will launch a concert tour to support Collapse Into Now.

"We have the option of doing anything we want - and no pressure to do anything," he added.

Over the course of their lengthy career, R.E.M. have scored eight US top 10 LPs.

Collapse Into Now is released on March 7.