plus: Weezer [ tickets ], Missy Elliot, Megadeth, the Go-Go’s, Robert Cray, more.

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R.E.M. makes its return this week with the release of “Reveal” (Warner Bros.), the group’s 12th studio album in a career that spans two decades. The album--which is the follow-up to 1998’s “Up”--is the group’s second since the 1997 departure of drummer Bill Berry.

While making "Reveal," Michael Stipe (vocals), Peter Buck (guitar) and Mike Mills (bass) logged studio time in Dublin, Ireland; Vancouver, British Columbia; Miami, Fla.; and their native Athens, Ga. Additional musicians who recorded with the trio included singer-guitarist Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows), drummer Joey Waronker (Beck) and singer-guitarist Ken Stringellow (Posies).

“Imitation of Life,” the first single from “Reveal,” is currently the No. 2 track on trade publication Radio & Records’ triple-A national airplay chart.

R.E.M. just wrapped up a European promotional tour to help launch its new album, and is scheduled to perform on "The Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday (5/15). The band also has plans to give a free outdoor concert in Toronto on Thursday (5/17), which the band’s website is billing as “the only concert that R.E.M. is slated to perform in North America this year.”

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“Lateralus” (Zoo/Volcano) is the latest from Tool [ tickets ], and is the group’s first all-new studio effort in almost five years. The disc's first single, “Schism,” hit radio stations earlier this month and entered Billboard’s latest Mainstream Rock Tracks chart at No. 11.

The “Schism” video is due to hit television on Monday (5/14), according to the group’s official website.

Tool will mark the release of its new album with four small-venue, U.S. concerts that begin with a stop in Atlanta on Tuesday night (5/15). A tour of European summer festivals will follow.

The latest from Tool comes in the wake of last December’s “Salival," a 2-CD set that featured previously unreleased studio and live cuts from the group. "Salival" was packaged with DVD or videotape that contained the group’s four critically acclaimed music videos.

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Depeche Mode [ tickets ]’s “Exciter” (Reprise) hits stores the week, and is the group’s first collection of all-new material since 1997’s “Ultra.” The album’s first single, “Dream On,” is up six slots in the past week to No. 16 on Billboard’s latest Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Streaming audio samples from “Exciter”--as well as remixes of “Dream On”--can be found at the group’s official website.

In mid-June, the group will launch an extensive North American tour that will feature Poe in the opening slot. The group will then embark on a lengthy European tour in late August.

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Alt-rock favorite Weezer’s latest Interscope opus--featuring primarily green cover art--has already been dubbed “The Green Album” by fans and the media to distinguish it from the group’s 1994 self-titled debut.

“Hash Pipe,” the first single from the new album, has landed in the No. 2 spot on Billboard’s latest Modern Rock Tracks chart, up from No. 5 last week and No. 8 two weeks back.

Weezer’s new release is the follow-up to 1996’s “Pinkerton,” which was largely deemed a commercial failure in the wake of the success of the group’s first album, which has been certified triple-platinum, and featured the hits “Undone (the Sweater Song),” “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So.”

Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Weezer would headline the 2001 Vans Warped tour. The band has since announced that it does not plan to do so, and will instead either set out on a headlining tour of its own or sign on with another package tour.

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Missy Elliot follows her 1998 platinum release “Da Real World” (Elektra) with this week’s “Miss E … So Addictive.” The album features Elliot’s latest single, “Get Ur Freak On,” which is in the No. 4 slot on Radio & Records’ urban national-airplay chart.

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Dave Mustaine’s Megadeth releases “The World Needs a Hero” (Sanctuary). The heavy metal band is scoring on rock radio right now with “Moto Psycho,” which is up a notch to No. 22 on Radio & Records latest active rock national-airplay chart.

The group has lined up several in-store appearances and acoustic performances in Canada that will begin in Toronto on Tuesday (5/15), according to Megadeth’s official website.

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The reunited Go-Go’s are back with their first new studio album in 17 years, “God Bless the Go-Go’s” (Beyond). The album’s first single, “Unforgiven,” has made its way to No. 25 on Billboard’s Top 40 singles chart. The song was co-written by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, who also plays guitar and sings back-up on the track, according to the Go-Go’s official website.

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The Robert Cray Band will mark this week’s release of “Shoulda Been Home” (Rykodisc) with a U.S. tour that kicks off on Tuesday night (5/15).

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