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Murmur is the first full-length album released by Athens, Georgia post punk and pop band R.E.M..
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 post-punk 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 lend to the mystery and depth of the music, and could lead one to imagine Stipe a person who might prefer the library to the spotlight in a rock arena. Though Murmur is a much-respected 1980s album, little about it would foreshadow the huge popularity that would eventually find R.E.M. In 1983, they were made for the glory days of College radio and to be enjoyed by the intellectual coffee-house crowd.
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 indie I.R.S. Records. The cover art features sepia-toned photos of a trestle and weedy vines growing 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 artwork is truly evocative of the sound of the band, and true to Stipe's delivery of the lyrics. The photos of the band are blue as well, and present four young men who look more like college intellectuals than the rock stars they would later become.
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.
Initially reaching #36 upon its release in the US, Murmur was certified gold in 1991. In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Murmur the 92nd greatest album of all time.
Track listing
All songs were composed by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.
- "Radio Free Europe" - 4:05
- "Pilgrimage" - 4:30
- "Laughing" - 3:57
- "Talk About the Passion" - 3:22
- "Moral Kiosk" - 3:32
- "Perfect Circle" - 3:30
- "Catapult" - 3:55
- "Sitting Still" - 3:17
- "9-9" - 3:03
- "Shaking Through" - 4:29
- Includes a brief untitled instrumental after the song's conclusion
- "We Walk" - 3:01
- "West of the Fields" - 3:16
- Published by Night Garden Music Administered throughout the Universe by Unichapell Music, Inc.
Personnel
- Don Dixon - Producer, Engineer
- Peter Buck - Guitar
- Mitch Easter - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
- Mike Mills - Bass, Drums
- Michael Stipe - Vocals
- Bill Berry - Bass, Percussion, Drums
- Carl Grasso - Album art
- Bertis Downs
- Jefferson Holt
