FEATURE:
Talk About the Passion
R.E.M.’s Murmur at Forty
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A very important…
IN THIS PHOTO: R.E.M. in 1983/PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Walter
anniversary is happening soon. On 12th April, R.E.M.’s debut studio album, Murmur, is forty. The legendary band from Athens, Georgia began work on the album back in December 1982. The I.R.S. label paired R.E.M. with producer Stephen Hague. The sessions did not go too well. More technical and keener on the band doing multiple takes, R.E.M. asked if they could resume producing alongside Mitch Easter. He produced their debut E.P., Chronic Town. I.R.S. agreed a sort of try-out/trial session between R.E.M. and Easter. They travelled to North Carolina, where they recorded with Easter and his producing partner, Don Dixon. They worked on the song, Pilgrimage. After I.R.S. heard that recording, they allowed R.E.M. to work with Easter and Dixon. The producers were quite hands-off with the band. Following the bad recording experience with Stephen Hague, that approach yielded an album that is considered to be one of R.E.M.’s best. It is one of the truly great debut albums. Songs such as Radio Free Europe, Talk About the Passion and Perfect Circle are classics. I will bring in a couple of reviews for the legendary Murmur. Before that SLANT discussed the evolution of R.E.M. on their debut album, and how Murmur sat alongside other music released in 1983:
“With their first full-length release, Murmur, R.E.M. dumped the trademark jangle-pop of their lo-fi debut EP, Chronic Town, for much bleaker themes. Singer Michael Stipe took on a more cerebral socio-political stance, his distant tone casting an elusive cloud over the album’s cultural criticism. The opening line of “Laughing” (“Laocoon and her two sons/Pressured storm tried to move/No other more emotion bound/Martyred, misconstrued”) is an early indication that Murmur’s pleasures aren’t of the simple kind—its gloomy maxims about pilgrimage, spiritual sacrifice and lost time are smartly humorous and satirical.
“Talk About The Passion” finds Stipe at his most compassionate, describing a struggle to overcome despair with lyrics that are at once empathetic and pessimistic (“Empty prayer, empty mouths, talk about the passion”).
At the time, most of the folksy songs on Murmur didn’t fit within pop radio’s limitations—these were songs to be listened to, not just danced to. Despite its urgent, Chronic Town-like guitar licks and clickety-clack percussion, “Radio Free Europe,” the album’s only toe-tapper, offers up some of the most playful yet pointed political sarcasm of the band’s career. Inspired by the Radio Free Europe radio station (funded by the U.S. to promote institutional values to countries behind the Iron Curtain), Stipe’s propaganda-hating self-rule is passionate, pointed and biting without sacrificing the rhyme and ingenuity of his lyrics: “Beside defying media too fast/Instead of pushing palaces to fall/Put that, put that, put that before all/That this isn’t fortunate at all”.
One of the most distinct and notable elements of Murmur is how it does not fit in with everything around it. By 1983, there were some many synthesised and plastic sounds. Along came a band that were doing something genuinely different. Sounding more natural and original than almost anyone on the scene, it is no wonder Murmur made an impact and was so well-regarded upon its release. Retrospective reviews have been hugely positive. This is what CLASH wrote in their feature about Murmur in 2013. They looked at the album’s impact on its thirtieth anniversary:
“R.E.M. was undoubtedly one of the first American bands to take the underground to the mainstream. At a time when popular music seemed destined to be awash with lustrous and synthetic production, they formed one of several pockets of bands across the country attempting to provide an aural antidote.
And, after the type of relentless touring that is almost nostalgic within today’s music culture, they triumphed. With the release of their debut album, ‘Murmur’, they created a blueprint that opened the doors to a new wave of equally deserved acts acquiring wider audiences.
After an incompatible demo session with the established producer Stephen Hague, the band reverted back to Mitch Easter, alongside his friend and co-producer Don Dixon, who had worked on their earlier ‘Chronic Town’ EP.
The result of their efforts was a record free of constraints. Peter Buck’s rhythmic guitar is stripped of cliché and conventions, intertwining with Mike Mills’ melodic baselines, and punctuated by Bill Berry’s drum beats. It is not surprising to hear that much of ‘Murmur’ was recorded first take.
Whilst its sound would go on to inspire the likes of Nirvana and Radiohead, ‘Murmur’ is something of an anti-rock record. It took elements of folk and country and added pop sensibilities to create a sound that was unique yet highly accessible to those who heard it. Above all else, it is the carefully crafted subtleties within it that have made it such a highly referenced influence of such acts.
Easter and Dixon experimented with unusual recording methods, which created an air of mystery to the album’s sound. The curious buzzing sound that introduces ‘Radio Free Europe’ was achieved by filtering Mike Mills’ bass through a noise gate, whilst the intermittent dull thud on ‘We Walk’ was a slowed-down recording of Bill Berry playing pool.
This atmosphere was accentuated by Michael Stipe’s indistinct vocals. The songs’ lyrics are often indecipherable, yet his unique style still manages to capture the listener’s attention at the right moments, as demonstrated on the exclaimed delivery of ‘Catapult’. Nothing heard on ‘Murmur’ happened by accident.
Upon returning home, there was a joint consensus of positivity. “I can remember thinking, ‘God, I can’t wait until everyone hears this’,” recalled Peter Buck some years later. “It was so different – it didn’t sound like us live, and it didn’t sound like anything else that was coming out.”
Thankfully, both public and critics agreed, and upon its release, ‘Murmur’ went on to overshadow its more established competition. This lo-fi, low budget debut topped Rolling Stone’s Album of the Year poll, succeeding over the expensive production of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’. R.E.M. was catapulted into the public eye and continually evolved during a career that spanned almost three decades.
After all this time, their debut stills holds the intrigue and excitement it had all those years ago. At a time when sound can often be secondary to image, ‘Murmur’ is a testament to the success of originality in music”.
I would recommend great articles like this. They give insight and background to a classic. I am going to end with a review from Pitchfork. In 2008, for the twenty-fifth anniversary of Murmur, a Deluxe Edition was released. Although R.E.M. sadly broke up in 2011, I hope the band members recall their debut fondly. It is one of the best albums of the ‘80s, and a remarkable debut from a band who would release a few classics through their career:
“There's a historical component to Murmur that often gets lost: In 1983, R.E.M. sounded unique. No bands were combining these particular influences in this particular way, which made this debut sound not only new but even subversive: a sharp reimagining of rock tropes. Twenty-five years and 14 albums later, our familiarity with R.E.M. means that Murmur has lost some of what made it revolutionary upon release. Fortunately, rather than collecting obligatory bonus tracks and outtakes-- most of which would have overlapped with Dead Letter Office-- the set includes a second disc documenting a show in Toronto from July 1983, just after the album's release. It marks the first time a full R.E.M. show has been released on CD (LIVE, from 2007, was culled from two nights in Dublin), and judging by the intensity with which the band run through old and then-new songs, it could have held its own as a separate release.
It's startling to hear some of these songs stripped down to their four basic elements, with no keyboard or guitar overdubs. Likewise, it's a bit odd to hear only polite applause after "7 Chinese Brothers", which would appear on Reckoning a year later, and surprising to hear people scream for "Boxcars" and a cover of the Velvet Underground's "There She Goes Again" (which they play) and especially "Shaking Through" (which they don't). Live, Stipe deploys an even wider arsenal of vocal tics: vamping on "Just a Touch", growling the chorus of "Talk About the Passion", and sing-speaking through a jaw-dropping "9-9", all while Mills' backing vocals soar overheard and Buck's guitar chimes reliably on every song. Because they were known primarily as a live band, and because they built their identity as such when the industry avenues of promotion failed them, this live disc, much like the remaster, goes a long way toward re-creating for listeners the context in which R.E.M. introduced themselves and making these familiar songs once again excitingly unfamiliar”.
A sensational and impactful debut album from the much missed and beloved R.E.M., Murmur is forty on 12th April. I know there will be celebrations and articles written about it closer to the time. I wanted to get in there and highlight a brilliant work. Their 1983 debut is a supreme, smart, memorable, enigmatic, powerful, and compelling album from…
THE Athens group.