LP Review: Murmur by R.E.M.

R.E.M.
Murmur
IRS; 1983

My Rating: A (92/100)

Best Tracks: "Radio Free Europe", "Laughing", "Talk About the Passion", "Catapult", "Sitting Still"

Not with a bang but a murmur.

TRACK NOTES

"Radio Free Europe" (5/5)

• One of the best rock and roll tracks ever.
• One of the great things about this track is the diverse instrumentation that sort of hides in the background.
• Also, the tempo is fixed from the sloppy 7" version.
• This is what it feels like to ride a rock and roll wave for a few minutes.
• Witness.

"Pilgrimmage" (4.5/5)

• Murky.
• "Two-headed cow"???
• Cool use of the vibes in the background.
• You know, Berry’s drum beat almost sounds techno. Weird.

"Laughing" (5/5)

• Pretty acoustic work.
• That’s a gorgeous melody.
• This is an archetypal Stipe "mumble-core" cut. Does he ever even sing the word "laughing?"

"Talk About the Passion" (5/5)

• The "other" hit from the album.
• I love how the music gets all clean at the chorus.
• Excellent bridge on this one. Sort of psychedelic.

"Moral Kiosk" (4.5/5)

• OK, now we’ve got some post-punk.
• Mills’ background vocals on the chorus sound weird.
• Brilliant bass work by Mills too.

"Perfect Circle" (4.5/5)

• I think this one really foreshadows the sound of Fables.
• Pretty piano.

"Catapult" (5/5)

• "Did we miss anything?"
• Love the guitar/bass interplay on this song.
• Marr/Rourke ain’t got nothin’ on Buck/Mills.

"Sitting Still" (5/5)

• This was the b-side to the "Radio Free Europe" single.
• It’s one of their brilliant early cuts. Amazing chorus.

"9-9" (4/5)

• The only "not great" track on the album
• But it’s still really good post-punk.

"Shaking Through" (5/5)

• Do Stipe’s lyrics make any sense here? Are they even intelligible?
• Amazing melody again.
• Nice fade-back funk piece on the tail-end.

"We Walk" (4.5/5)

• If nothing else, catchy and fun.
• Sounds like someone fell when they got up the stairs onto the landing.

"West of the Fields" (4.5/5)

• Another cool post-punk cut.
• Maybe not QUITE the closer one would hope for, but still pretty great.

ALBUM NOTES

• Murmur states the obvious: REM was destined to be a great band. You hear it in Stipe’s soaring and fluid vocal melodies. You feel it in the precision and angularity of Buck’s and Mills’ playing. You find it in the songs, which sound effortless and organic but never overwrought or immodest. These guys were CHANNELING something back in the early 80’s.
• Murmur cuts against expectations. It definitely rocks, but it’s also muddy and unyielding. For every "Radio Free Europe" you get a "Pilgrimage", for every "Catapult" you get a "Perfect Circle." The record sounds like the kudzu on the cover looks. Both REMs are present here: the rock band that would fill arenas and the artsy troupe that would be the face of the alternative nation. 
• You won’t find many records from 1983 that don’t sound dated. Murmur goes beyond that though, into the realm of timelessness that only a few bands have ever achieved.

ATTRIBUTES
Cohesion (5/5)
Concept (5/5)
Consequence (5/5)
Consistency (4.5/5)
Songs (4.71/5)