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From:R.E.M. , A&M ,
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User Rating: Amazon Sales Rank:#6313 |
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2 of 2 customers found the following review helpful:
they just did it, 2006-02-24
I have no idea or any great interest in how this record impacted listeners in 1982. the point is that the good tunes still hold up today as vital and thoroughly engaging. Their early albums were a bit inconsistent (maybe this one less so) but right from the off when they hit it they really hit it. My favourite track by a landslide is "West of the Fields". The drum and base find a groove that is mesmerising; as far as i'm concerned one of their absolute best tracks; just so good - although I must confess to having no idea as to what the song is about (laughs). I suspect the clue is in the album cover. The other tracks I still really get off on after many years are sitting still, 9-9 and shaking through. They carry interesting beats and melody with delightful vocals that still sound fresh today. Talented bunch.
2 of 2 customers found the following review helpful:
a wonderful, magical record , 2006-01-25
What a wonderful, magical record this. I was in college when REM appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and caught the indie rock world (which at the time was kind of in a loud SST (Black Flag, Meat Puppets) and Minneapolis (Husker Du, Replacements, etc.) frame of mind, somewhat by suprise. REM quickly became darlings of this world, in part by invoking and evoking some of the quieter, more introspective, elements of music past, particularly the mid 60s folk-rock era of the Byrds and the Lovin' Spoonful. Anyway, this is a record filled with wonderful, hook filled tunes, solid, tasteful playing (particularly by guitarist Peter Buck) and some rather good vocalizing by the then long haired, introverted singer Michael Stipe. In the end product, REM created an iconic record, which like A Love Supreme, Sgt. Pepper, Blonde on Blonde, What's Going On, Rocket to Russia, and Never Mind the Bollocks, is both of its time and transcendent of it, as well.
6 of 6 customers found the following review helpful:
A Really, Really Great Album. You Should Buy It and Listen To It., 2005-12-11
Murmur is arguably the most important American record of the 1980s. It is seen by many as the birth of alternative rock. I can't quite agree with this assessment, but R.E.M.'s debut was literally music to the ears of music fans who couldn't quite relate to post-punk, new wave, and the MTV pop of the early 80s. Seemingly out of nowhere came a record with a rustic, acoustic feel, at a time when electric guitars were wiry and robotic, and synthesizers were on the verge of becoming a lead instrument. One might say that Murmur was to the early 80s was The Band's first LP was to the late 60s. And the fact that Murmur reached #36 on the Billboard Top 200 is a testament to the size of the market that R.E.M. was able to tap (not that that was their intention).
At the risk of making a potentially politically incorrect statement - a concern that I am sensitive to - I would say that R.E.M. were the founders of alternative rock in the same way that Columbus was the one who discovered America. While Murmur certainly sounded different than anything released in well over a decade, I still cannot help but give The Feelies' debut Crazy Rhythms the distinction of being the first alternative record. To me, Crazy Rhythms sounds different enough than what came before it, but enough like what came after it to merit this distinction. In other words, alternative rock was already there, but not many people knew about it. This is where R.E.M. comes in. As I said before, although Murmur had no apparent target audience and practically no commercial viability, it still reached the Top 40. Hence, the importance of Murmur - like that of Christopher Columbus - is immeasurable.
Murmur is a fascinating listen. It sounds like something unearthed from a spot where such a thing has no earthly business being. R.E.M. was influenced by artists from across the punk (The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Television) and pop (The Byrds, Big Star, The Soft Boys) spectrums, but managed to avoid sounding too much like any of them. This is a case of so many influences perfecting the sound. Like the best albums by the bands they loved, Murmur marks a point when music starts to sound differently. Perhaps the most obvious case of this is that after this album, lyrics could be not only be cryptic, but the vocals themselves unintelligible. The songs on Murmur - like the songs on Crazy Rhythms - do not seem to be about anything. "Perfect Circle", for example, is a fine case of how R.E.M.'s lyrics are more significant in terms of how they are said rather than what the actual words are (eg, "Standing too soon/Shoulders high in the room"). And while R.E.M. was a minimalist band at heart, producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon succeeded in adorning the songs without swallowing them whole, such as in the waltz-like feel of "We Walk".
The disparate styles and sounds that merge to create the mural that Murmur is reflects the disparate backgrounds of the the band's members. Stipe was born in Decatur, GA, but formed his first band while in high school in St. Louis. Meanwhile, Peter Buck was born in northern California, Mike Mills in southern California, and Bill Berry in Deluth, Minnesota. Yet somehow, they were all able to come together at a party in Athens, GA, and henceforth be forever shrouded in the mythology of the American South. And of course, the irony is never lost on critics that the band's name refers to the state of sleep in which dreaming occurs, and thus their music and lyrics would forever be compared to the opaque, symbolic, non-linear images of dreamland.
Musically, Murmur delivers on the promise of the Chronic Town EP, with many of their trademarks firmly in place on the first single, "Radio Free Europe". Michael Stipe's voice isn't quite a drawl, but it has a nasally twang about it that gives it its edge. The arpeggios are invincibly crisp on "Talk About the Passion", and equally slinky on the rocking "Catapult" and "Sitting Still". On "9-9", the guitar richochets in between verses of Velvet Underground-like narration. And the rhythm section is nothing to sneeze at, either. Witness the thumping bass lines on "Laughing", and the footstomping beats of "Pilgrimage" and "Moral Kiosk". Then there is "Shaking Through", which is just beautiful, and "West of the Fields", a forceful closer to an almost flawless record.
R.E.M.'s debut LP was enough to convince skeptics and believers alike that there was probably nothing that the band couldn't do. Within five years, Rolling Stone would deem them "America's Best Rock 'n Roll Band", and few who were in the know would dispute the claim. Five years after that, R.E.M. would be America's biggest rock 'n roll band. Whether this was poetic justice or a travesty depends on your point of view. Either way, the band would always have its first half-dozen or so records to justify their worshipping audience and critical raves. With Murmur, they hit the ground running, and have kept moving, albeit a bit more slowly, for over 20 years since.
2 of 2 customers found the following review helpful:
Beautiful Beginning, 2005-10-08
When R.E.M. released its first full-length album, nobody else sounded anything like them. They were Southerners but this was not Southern Rock, the Rickenbacker guitar sounded a little like the Byrds but this wasn't folk, and while they immediately became Indie Rock standards, "Murmur" was more elegiacally beautiful than anything else labeled "Indie" at the time. "Talk About The Passion" and "Shaking Through" are beautiful songs, even if Michael Stipe's garbled lyrics cannot be heard clearly. Early R.E.M. still sounds timeless, like nothing before or after. This is as good a debut as any band has ever had, and a few more great albums, and several worthy records, would follow.
2 of 2 customers found the following review helpful:
THE best from rem - superior to automatic for the people, 2005-08-16
though i'd heard of this album, still being mainly a 70s classic rock listener, for a long time i never bought it. then one day i happened to see the album on a free music website. a couple of plays and inspite of the poor quality of the audio, i could easily sense the exceptional quality of music in the album.
now having bought/listened to murmur as well as other major albums by the band (on the strength of murmur), contrary to popular perception/opinion, i strongly feel that rem's first album is by far the best that they ever did. imo this album in its musical ingenuity far surpasses the much hyped automatic for the people. little surprise that it was this album which featured in rolling stones top 100 albums of all time.
where this album scores is the near inexhaustible supply of highly catchy tunes one after another - some playful, some meditative. each and every song is different, highly melodic and tuneful. there's a freshness and purpose in this work which was but natural in a highly talented band making their first record free from any expectations and pressure. and what a record it is! the song list is almost like a best of collection - pilgrimage, laughing, passion, catapult, sitting still, west of the fields etc.
truly one of the great albums of all time! pity that rem has never managed to achieve this level of musical brilliance after their debut effort. talk about peaking early!
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