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Rating: It's like a two-story house missing the stairs.
1983: Minor Threat disbanded, Spielberg was all hyped up about the Oscar nomination thanks to the alien that made bikes fly, the first CDs were starting to emerge (goodbye tapes), and I was quietly in my father's balls while all this was happening, and R.E.M. were giving life to their greatest splendor.
Murmur is psychedelic, it's punk, it's pop, it's alternative, it's impressive the way Stipe's voice in "Radio Free Europe" makes me feel good, and a few tracks later "Perfect Circle" makes me feel bad... The beginning of regret is the beginning of a new life, "9-9" R.E.M. Post-Punk.
After Murmur, R.E.M. would go on to produce historic albums and create huge global hits, but... there's always a but. The true "maturity" they left entirely here, in Murmur. Try to grasp what I mean, not that an "Automatic for the People" is bad or "Monster" is worth nothing, absolutely not! They genuinely paved the road backward, for instance, Radiohead started with dull and harsh things only to end up with albums full of sonic and lyrical maturity, Murmur is an album that few listen to, that few fully understand.
When I think of this album, an aphorism by Baudelaire comes to mind: "But love, for me, is nothing but a bed of nails on which to feed these cruel females.”
Afterwards, things would become beautiful but "pop" all here, they left a treasure with a map, as if to say "if you read our albums well and take a few steps back, you'll find gold."
By the way, Spielberg did not win the Oscar.
Tracklist and Samples
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Other reviews
By ste84
R.E.M. have made indie rock a source of inspiration for many bands (see Nirvana).
'Talk About The Passion' deals with the conditions of the homeless: Michael Stipe sings of 'empty prayers' and says that 'no, no one can bear the weight of the world'!
By Stipe88
Recorded in January 1983, Murmur is the album that sets the guideline for the entire subsequent production of the Athens group.
An album I would recommend everyone to buy, for the historical importance it had for the group and for the American underground.
By Rax
A folk-rock that supports, in the verses, sorrowful melodies which never descend into whininess, and then explode into unexpected choruses of extraordinary beauty.
Murmur is a surprising testament to the talent of the four from Athens in constantly rewriting the same song in new ways.
