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Murmur (album)

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Untitled

Murmur is the first full-length album released by Athens, Georgia alternative rock band R.E.M..

Details

Released in April 1983, Murmur was preceded by the Chronic Town EP the previous year. Murmur's sound characterized the quieter, introverted side of the first wave of alternative rock in the U.S.A.. The sound was new at the time, though not stepping beyond the constructs of traditional rock music. The guitars have a bright ring like chimes that brought on comparisons to The Byrds, and the bass guitar has the bright punchy sound of the Rickenbacker favored by Mike Mills. As the most experienced musician in the group, Mills carries much of the melodic element of the music on the bass, contributing to the moody sound of early R.E.M. albums. Also contributing to this sound is the distant singing of Michael Stipe whose obscure lyrics, sung indistinctly, lend to the mystery and depth of the music. Although more conventional, Murmur also owes a debt to the post-punk movement, with one or two tracks like "9-9" discernibly influenced by Gang of Four. Though Murmur is a much-respected 1980s album, and remains a fan favorite, its popularity did little to foretell the enormous success R.E.M. would come to have, which would come with 1987's Document and "The One I Love".

The atmospheric and stylistic success of Murmur owes much to the mix, with prominent bass and vocals diminished into the mix, similar to that favored by post-punk band The Psychedelic Furs on their first two recordings. The album was produced and engineered by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, recorded in Charlotte, North Carolina, and released on Miles Copeland III's I.R.S. Records. Among the songs that R.E.M. was playing at their shows at the time, they chose twelve for the album. "Radio Free Europe" and "Sitting Still" had already been released as a single on the local Hib-Tone label but were re-recorded for Murmur in slower tempo. The change shows clearly that R.E.M. had almost completely abandoned punk music stylings by this time. Six other songs —"Permanent Vacation," "Ages of You", "All the Right Friends," "Mystery to Me," "Romance" and Lou Reed's "There She Goes Again"— were recorded but not given a final mix. Some of them would eventually show up on b-sides and are collected on CD on the Eponymous, Dead Letter Office, And I Feel Fine... compilations and the Perfect Square concert DVD.

The cover art features sepia-toned photos of a trestle and kudzu vines covering the ground and nearby trees. The song titles are written over the brown tones in blue, rendering them almost unreadable, particularly with "Moral Kiosk" cutting vertically through the titles.

The trestle featured on the album's cover, originally part of the Georgia Railroad line into downtown Athens, has become something of a local landmark. Plans to demolish the trestle, now commonly referred to as the "Murmur Trestle," met with public outcry. On October 2 2000, the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission voted to save the trestle.[1]

Initially reaching #36 upon its release in the U.S., Murmur was certified gold in 1991. In 1989, it was rated #8 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. Template:RS500 [1] Also in 2003, the TV network VH1 named Murmur the 92nd greatest album of all time. Pitchfork Media named Murmur the 5th best album of the 1980s. It was Rolling Stone Magazine's Best Album of 1983 beating Michael Jackson's Thriller, The Police's Synchronicity and U2's War.

Murmur was played in its entirety on the final night of R.E.M's 11-month tour in support of the album Green, followed by Green in its entirety. That show, at Atlanta's Fox Theatre on November 13, 1989, marked the final time that many songs from Murmur appeared in the band's set.

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

Side One
  1. "Radio Free Europe" – 4:06
  2. "Pilgrimage" – 4:30
  3. "Laughing" – 3:57
  4. "Talk About the Passion" – 3:23
  5. "Moral Kiosk" – 3:31
  6. "Perfect Circle" – 3:29
Side Two
  2. "Catapult" – 3:55
  3. "Sitting Still" – 3:17
  4. "9-9" – 3:03
  5. "Shaking Through"1 – 4:30
  6. "We Walk" – 3:02
  7. "West of the Fields" – 3:17

The IRS Years reissue

On January 26 1993, EMI (which owns the I.R.S. catalogue) re-released Murmur with four bonus tracks:

  2. "There She Goes Again"
  3. "9-9" (Live)
  4. "Gardening at Night" (Live)
  5. "Catapult" (Live)

The track "There She Goes Again" can be found on Dead Letter Office.

Notes

1 Includes a brief untitled instrumental after the song's conclusion

Personnel

Additional personnel

References

  1. ^ "Murmur Trestle Information", Athens-Clarke County Online. Retrieved August 17 2006.

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1983 The Billboard 200 36 (30 weeks on chart)

Single

Year Single Chart Position
1983 "Radio Free Europe" Billboard Mainstream Rock 25
1983 "Radio Free Europe" Billboard Pop Singles 78

Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – U.S. Gold October 10 1991

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murmur_(album)&oldid=190221491"