Burning Down

I'm excited! Obviously I have their entire collection already (including books and DVD's) but I'm looking forward to other people's opinions. Thanks Rickenbacker!

Rickenbacker

I was actually planning on making two compilations; one of their IRS years stuff and another of their Warner Brothers stuff. Is that cool? The two halves are very different so I think this would be the best way to understand them. Also, you can download the "key tracks" by clicking them.

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rym
Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

Janszoon

Just a minor quibble but none of the members of REM were born or raised in Athens, all of them grew up elsewhere and moved to Athens in their late teens/early twenties.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Rickenbacker

You're right, had something else written and forgot to change the rest. Will fix. Thanks for the tip

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rym
Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

Dr_Rez

wuuuuuuuu thanks!

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*Best chance of losing virginity is in prison crew*
*Always Checks Credentials Crew*
*nba > nfl crew*
*Shave one of my legs to pretend its a girl in my bed crew*

Rickenbacker

Well here it is. R.E.M.'s debut full length record was released in 1983, shocking fans and critics with its masterful blending of Feelies jangle-pop and haunting lyricism delivered in Michael Stipe's austere mumble. For many, the buck stops here for R.E.M. With iconic songs like "Talk About the Passion" and "Radio Free Europe", Murmur is widely seen as the crowning achievement of the band and among the greatest and most significant debuts in music.

Mixed so that no instrument would stand out, Murmur may not reveal its excellence upon first listen. While the album certainly has its share of on-target and upbeat college pop songs a la Chronic Town, such as the undeniably catchy and equally indecipherable "Catapult" and the single "Radio Free Europe", which was re-recorded for the album at the request of I.R.S. records, Murmur's genius lies in the tracks in which the band steps back and sets their angst aside.

"Take a turn, Take our fortune"

Such is the opening line of "Pilgrimage", expertly delivered by a distant sounding Mike Mills, bassist and backing vocalist for the band. With this cryptic line, the song descends into a plodding bass-led masterpiece about none other than a two-headed cow. "Speaking in tongues/ it's worth a broken lip", Stipe sings. Perhaps there is a grain of truth to this statement. Murmur's lyrics may be nonsense when read aloud, but in the context of the album they fit perfectly. Unlike any other album up to that point, Murmur managed to be vocally overwhelming based not on the talent of the vocalist, but on the mystical nature of the lyrics. As such, Michael Stipe is a brilliant lyricist. Not in the conventional sense of course, but rather in his sheer ability to make a piece like "Pilgrimage" make some sense.

Murmur's diversity is exemplified in its experimentalism. Sure, Pilgrimage is wild for its mysticism, but even stranger still is the incredibly beautiful "Perfect Circle". It is easy to dismiss "Perfect Circle" as a simple slow ballad, but it is so much more than that. I may go far as to say that it's my favorite R.E.M. song, if only for it's stunning ability to convey so much with so little. Again, it's not hard to dismiss the song, but it's really one of the best out there. As with any good song, when given repeated listens, one notices certain aspects that you never realized before. The song begins with a hypnotic and accessible, yet strangely different sounding keyboard which is played throughout. Second, that chorus is absolutely gorgeous. "Standing two soon, shoulders high in the room"? That might be the most gorgeous line Stipe has sung even if only for it's delivery. Thirdly, the guitar comes in towards the end and the sound is incredible. Peter might be using an E-bow here. Not totally sure, but the effect is ethereal. Also, by the middle, the drum mix switches from left to right in this really cool way. Not sure how else to describe it. Anyway, it's a beautiful song, but much more than just that. That's what I really love about R.E.M.; their ability to create something beautiful that isn't... just another beautiful thing. Amazing.

All of this of course is not to dismiss the quality pop songs present on Murmur. "Shaking Through", "Catapult" and the stellar album closer "West of the Fields" are all highlights, and I still maintain that the single "Talk About the Passion" is the best pop song ever made. The string arrangement is fantastic, and the song is one of the few examples under I.R.S. Records that Michael's lyrics are (nearly) conventionally beautiful and his delivery clean and intelligible.

"Not everyone can carry the weight of the world"

That's a great lyric. And this is a great record. But what did you expect? It's Murmur! And it is every bit as great as it is hyped to be.

Key Tracks (Click to Download): "Pilgrimage", "Talk About the Passion", "Perfect Circle"

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rym
Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

Rickenbacker

no responses to the Murmur review... oh well. Up next:


2008 marked the 25th anniversary of Murmur, R.E.M.'s landmark debut LP, and thankfully for R.E.M. enthusiasts, I.R.S. Records was happy to reissue it. The 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Murmur includes the original album completely remastered, as well as a bonus disc containing a previously unreleased live show at Larry's Hide-Away in Toronto from 1983, prior to Murmur's release. The track listing is as follows.

1. Laughing
2. Pilgrimage
3. There She Goes Again
4. Seven Chinese Brothers
5. Talk About the Passion
6. Sitting Still
7. Harborcoat
8. Catapult
9. Gardening at Night
10. 9-9
11. Just a Touch
12. West of the Fields
13. Radio Free Europe
14. We Walk
15. 1,000,000
16. Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)

Overall, the live set is excellent. This show finds the band in a place where they don't feel they have to play any hits... because they didn't have any hits! The big problem with R.E.M.'s later, more orthodox live album "R.E.M. Live" is that it casts the band as a big successful rock band. Sure, the sound quality on R.E.M. Live is great, and the songs as good as they were in the studio, but somehow it doesn't feel "real". Live shows, even recorded ones, should feel "real", and this set is very, very real. Stipe, who at the time was known for his shyness, manages to engage the audience between songs as they shout out requests for obscure b-sides and the like. The audience here loves the band, and Stipe even comes out of his shell after some time to tartly respond "No, no, no, no, no!" after powering through a blistering "Radio Free Europe" when a group of people asks them to play "Shaking Through", an underrated Murmur classic. The Murmur songs sound incredible, as does the cover of the Velvet Underground's "There She Goes Again", the b-side to the re-released version of "Radio Free Europe". But even better than the Murmur and Chronic Town songs are those from their forthcoming album Reckoning. The recordings of "Harborcoat" and "7 Chinese Bros." are so filled with energy that it feels like the band is there. And of course there is nothing less than a stellar performance by drummer Bill Berry throughout.

By the way, the best part is where one fan yells out "BOX CARS!" and another yells out even louder "BOOOOOX CAAAAAAAARS!!"

Pure class.

Key Tracks (Click to Download): "There She Goes Again", "Seven Chinese Brothers", "Harborcoat"

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rym
Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

storymilo

^That was the first CD I ever bought on my own. I like it a lot, but the best part was the original album that came with it.

Rickenbacker

Speaking of which it gets a 0/10 for price. Mine cost nearly 35 dollars! Come on, I.R.S.! Ain't fair!

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rym
Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

Rickenbacker

When I was young, I listened to Reckoning. If someone were to ask me what music I liked, I wouldn't reply with the latest radio hit, or even that I listened to R.E.M. We all have those albums that we know so well; that we have listened to so many times that we can recite them in their entirety, note for note in our heads. For me, this was, and still is, this album.

I listened to Reckoning, and that was it. Pop songs would come and go, musical trends would rise and fall before my eyes, but Reckoning remained my musical rock for years through its sheer power to never age. Somewhat ironically however, Reckoning was not my gateway into good music, simply because I didn't see that there could be anything out there as good as it was (it would take a few years and one play through Automatic for the People before I realized that). Rather, Reckoning served as the album that I could fall back on whenever my musical faith was shaken. This was possible only because Reckoning is universal. Perhaps the most universal album ever. Now of course this doesn't mean that it appeals to everybody. However, I honestly believe that this album has something that, given enough time to reveal itself, everybody who listens to it will appreciate if not love. Now I understand how pretentious this may sound, but believe me I would never say this about any other album. To put it simply, if somebody asked me what music was, I would play them Reckoning.

So how did R.E.M. accomplish this? Conceptually, it is quite simple: Blend the experimental sound and thought provoking songwriting of Murmur with the pop sensibility of Chronic Town, Crazy Rhythms, and Loaded. Executing this would prove to be very risky however, considering how badly the idea could have gone. If the record leaned to much to either side it could have been a disaster. The solution, R.E.M. saw, was not to make a record full of "Talk About the Passion" rip-offs or to change their sound entirely, but rather to find balance and harmony between pop perfection and wild experimentalism. This is why Reckoning succeeds so much. If Chronic Town was a collection of five near perfect pop songs, then Reckoning is a collection of ten. But if Chronic Town ever suffered, it was because of the similarity in the sound of its songs. Reckoning's diversity gives it the edge, and saves it from ever aging or sounding dated.

The secret to Reckoning's sound is Peter Buck's guitar, which effortlessly offers trademark R.E.M. riffs song after song. Nearly every song on the record is built around killer Rickenbacker riff, which is aided by Berry's restrained yet powerful drumming. Mike Mills reveals himself for the first time to be not only a solid bassist, but an incredible backing vocalist and songwriter. Mills' harmonies on "Harborcoat", "Pretty Persuasion" and "Letter Never Sent" totally make the songs, and his contributions to the record as a songwriter are some of the best songs, most notably the countrified single "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", written about the town of Rockville, Maryland. Of course Michael Stipe has a lot to contribute as well, delivering stunning vocals throughout and writing songs the quality of which he has only rarely met such as the gorgeous "Camera" and his self proclaimed favorite song of the I.R.S. years "Time After Time (AnnElise), a song which Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus would jokingly call his "least favorite song" on Reckoning.

When most bands who release a debut album as incredible as Murmur do so, following it can be critical suicide. R.E.M.'s underrated follow up is even better, and from a songwriting standpoint, may be their best record ever. While not my favorite of theirs, if there is one R.E.M. album to get it would be Reckoning.

Key Tracks (Click to Download): "Harborcoat", "So. Central Rain", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"

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rym
Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed