Amazon.com essential recording: Though critics swamped R.E.M.'s 1983 full-length debut with country-rock comparisons to the Byrds, Murmur sounds like no one else. The title is an apt description of Michael Stipe's singing style, although his smooth pop vocal mannerisms sweeten the enigmatic poetry. Like all great bands, R.E.M.'s individual parts (Peter Buck's ringing guitar, drummer Bill Berry's persistent thumping, and Mike Mills's unifying bass) are as interesting as the collective sound. The album-opening "Radio Free Europe" and "Talk About the Passion" endure as its radio singles, but the rest of the songs hang together well taken as a whole. --Steve Knopper
Need I say more than awesome! REM is constantly one of the best Rock n Roll bands ever. Spanning over three decades (more to come) and releasing so many CDs that I have an entire row of my CD rack dedicated to them, this is one of my favorites. You can really see how they became superstars after listening to this one. There's nothing else I can say but BUY THIS CD AND LISTEN TO IT UNTIL YOU WEAR THROUGH IT AND NEED TO BUY ANOTHER ONE.
Nightswimming I have been in North Carolina in the heat of midsummer and stood in the overgrown valley where there used to be trains at midnight; whistle blasting behind the voodoo woman's red and white cottage. It is the incredibly sweet ache of nostalgia for a memory you can only retrieve in soft-focused fragments. Some piece of yourself that you lost that will never return. That is what this album has always been to me.
Good Chemistry, Catchy Songs, Great Music Murmur was the R.E.M.'s first full-length debut (Chronic Town was their first -- an EP, after many years of performing in small clubs) and the timing was perfect. This Athens, Georgia band was what music fans needed as far as something different in the pop/music culture was concerned.
Michael Stipe's vocals are superb. He also writes most of the lyrics, though Peter Buck does contribute a lot and their chemistry together is one that doesn't come around too often. Their music was refreshing because it dangled somewhere between pop rock/mainstream music and the underground alternative rock, which later paved the way for many up and coming underground alternative rock bands.
They had amazing song writing skills, which can be heard on songs like "Pilgrimage" with bassist Mike Mills' interesting atmospheric beats and "Laughing" and "Talk About Passion", because they display Michael Stipes' sweet and appealing vocals. He has a voice you can't hate even though at times it can be a little mumbled. They soon became a favorite of the college radio circuit with this release. This album is definitely recommended because of the band's chemistry and ability to write emotional, catch,y yet on the "alternative" side, perfect rock gems.
Sound track to my Soul I love soo much music, across many decades, and styles. But at the end of the day, Murmur is my most favorite album of my life. I can't quantify that statement, or substantiate it, it just plainly IS. I saw them several times; reckoning, fables, then later on green. every show exquisite. BUT nothing, not as single musical moment can match a quiet, personal headphone listening to Murmur. It resonates through my soul. And I am glad. It was Soooo out of synch with the plastic fantastic world of that time, so bold, thrust so deeply my pea brain.
Odd too. No women I have shared my life with at various times has appreciated this. No friend. I have known none that have appreciated what Murmur is. But I find my friends on reviews like this. Its nice to know others recognized what this was, and remains even today. I have ripped it several times my self, but going to buy this version as its a deeper re mastering.
<3 all fans of Murmur. For you just know.
Amazing One of my favorite albums that I always seem to come back to. This was my first and REM album before getting hooked on them and getting Reckoning. It doesn't seem to have any weak parts. Starts strong with Radio Free Europe and then moves to my favorite part of the album, tracks 3 through 5. Overall, I highly recommend this album to any fan of REM, especially if you are just starting to get into them.
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