Rem - Murmur
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Free Music Notes for Murmur
Free Music Review: You're like a Geisha Doll
Hit: 5 Stars
When looking at the best debut albums of the '80s, "Murmur" is surely quite a contender. After more than 20 years, its still hard to believe that this was R.E.M.'s first full length, preceded only by the "Chronic Town" EP. In an era of dated new wave albums that nobody would recall in a few years, this little known band (at the time) offered something truly unique and special in their music. "Murmur" almost seems to hint at the spirit of the new wave music at the time, yet this music is of so much more substance. It truly deserves a genre of its own; I call it "alternative folk" for a chuckle. As R.E.M. freaks already know, it was not a commercial breakthrough, but it was a college rock and alternative/indie hit. Give it just a couple listens and it's not hard to see why. "Murmur" is the sound of a band arriving fully formed on their debut, showing an impossible combination of self-confidence and innocence in their music. Both musically and lyrically, this album is not easy to label or comprehend immeadiately, but this is it's beauty and intent. "Murmur" means something different to every music fan who hears it, yet one reoccuring tale I've noticed with some reviewers is how much this album meant to them as a college student/young adult trying to find their footing in the world. That is most likely what it means to me. The songs "Sitting Still" and "Shaking Through" can represent two different attitudes any young person can have toward reaching their future dreams, depending on their outlook and dedication. I love the meaning these songs have for me and the beauty of the lyrics is how they can be interpreted ambigiously. One of my favorite lyrics is "You're like a Geisha Doll"-a loving compliment to someone that means only what you want it to mean to you. It's something a child would say, but this is the kind of childlike innocence that is all over "Murmur." Many people found this kind of music guiding at the time (and others still do today), allowing hope for future music that prided a spiritual value over a commercial one. The fact that this sublimely innocent album was R.E.M.'s first only makes matters even more eerie. All tracks are significant, but especially look out for "Perfect Circle," which is undeniably a perfect song.Free Music Review: Now Murmur sounds better than ever
Hit: 5 Stars
Recently I purchased Murmur on compact disc, and ever since then this album just keeps gravitating to my CD player. This album was the breakthrough debut for R.E.M., and many have viewed Murmur as the standard by which subsequent R.E.M. albums are compared. I never quite appreciated that until now. As a teenager, I owned all the R.E.M. albums of the 80's, and my definitive favorites were Life's Rich Pageant and Document. I liked Murmur, but the album just didn't move me as much as these other two. However, after repeatedly spinning my new CD version of Murmur, I wonder how I overlooked the scope of treasures on this album. These songs sound more fresh and invigorating today than they did twenty years ago. Every single song on this album is excellent! I feel like only now have I "discovered" the true rewards of R.E.M.'s debut.
As demonstrated on Murmur, at a young age R.E.M. were experts at crafting a song. Each track on this album perks the listener's interest with compelling rhythms, careful instrumentation, unpredictable lyrics, and passionate vocal and musical performance. The cumulative result is a transcendent, high octave, high energy ride through a variety of musical territories.
We could consider the album a "Pilgrimage" in which we're "Shaking Through" an area "West of the Fields" until losing our way. "We Walk" ahead only to make "A Perfect Circle," "Laughing" at ourselves because we're back where we started. We spend twelve hours, "9-9," right there, "Sitting Still," enjoying our "Talk About the Passion" of a place we've never visited, someplace called "Radio Free Europe." Finally we "Catapult" out of that "Moral Kiosk" and conclude our journey.
Almost followed that, didn't you? That's the way it is with Michael Stipe's lyrics and R.E.M.'s music. Just as things seem to make sense, there's a change direction, and you're left to develop your own conclusions about where you were, where you are, and where you're about to go. Such trickery is part of the appeal to R.E.M.'s music: you can make these songs into whatever you want them to be.
It's an exceptional album that still sounds great twenty years after its release. R.E.M.'s Murmur is one of those albums. I unequivocally recommend it.
Free Music Review: -Talk About the Passion-
Hit: 5 Stars
This album holds a chapter in the Coming of My Age, etching raw, distinct & sometimes portentous hieroglyphics upon the walls of the deep caverns of my Past. (An extraordinary feat, really- considering that one cannot much at all decipher the deep, soul-baring lyrics contained herein). Yet this album was originally released without any written lyrics - and I don't even know (nor do I care) if ever there have been any since inscribed for the public. For I've come to know by heart what every song here sounds like it's saying. And, truly, that is enough. It's pure poetry: a depiction of enigmatic Heaven at its lushest, I must say.
Michael Stipe's lyrics are preternaturally intimate - and there's no telling where they'll fall for any given individual --
Being that as it may, there must needs be a subjective human appeal to every individual ear for this music. Thus, I shall give my own personal etching: a sole interpretation of "Perfect Circle," perhaps the most beautiful, poetic pieces contained on this album:
"Put your hair up, guiltily,
-Your love, then, gathers
On your sleeve-
You're shallow-figured
-Winners' Pay-
Your love, then, shatters
Way outa' place"
Standing to soothe shoulders high in the wind-
Standing to soothe shoulders high in the wind-
Standing to soothe shoulders high in the wind-
Pull your dress on -
And stay real close
Who might lead you
Where I left off?
A perfect circle of
Acquaintances and friends -
Drink another -
Coin a phrase -!
Heaven'll soothe shoulders high in the wind-
Heaven'll soothe shoulders high in the wind-
Heaven'll soothe shoulders high in the wind-
Try to win
To suit your needs
-Speak out, sometimes-
But try to win ~
~
Standing to soothe shoulders high in the wind-
Standing to soothe shoulders high in the wind-
Standing to soothe shoulders high in the wind-"
~
Truly, there is a charming allure to MURMUR: At once enigmatic and intimate, this is the subtle influence that drew REM so reticently into the limelight, so many eons ago. It's the force that now impels me to Talk About The Passion, and beyond...
Free Music Review: MURMUR of Genius
Hit: 5 Stars
REM are perhaps the most eclectic band of the later 20th century. Understandably, they are most well-known for there numerous pop hits, and indeed their pop skills are well documented with classics ranging from "Loosing my Religion" to "It's the End of the World as We Know It" to "Everybody Hurts". However, on their debut album "Murmur", either they were somewhat unconfident in their ability to write pop lyrics or they decided to ignore this gift, for not only would none of the songs on the album have a good place on mainstream radio but it takes many hours of listening to figure out what Michael Stipe is saying. Is this a bad thing? No, decidedly not. In the first place, have you listened to mainstream radio recently? And if one is unable to hear what Stipe is saying, that merely makes his voice another instrument thrown in the mix, weaving his way through the harmony. R.E.M. seems defiant in their attempt to create something no one has ever heard before. And they succeed.To begin with, look at the cover of "Murmur". It is what appears to be a sepia-toned shot of a swamp. On the back is what is probably a viaduct or something. The liner notes feature blue-toned photos of the band looking rather depressed. Add in the name, "Murmur", and you get the mysterious, arty, semi-depressed, almost world-weary mood that carries the album, perhaps best illustrated when in "Talk About the Passion", Stipe sings "Not everyone can carry the weight of the world. Combien de temps?" This random bit of French (no, I will not translate) is part of the subtle genius that makes up the album. Take for example the chorus of "Moral Kiosk", which seems to merely be a string of vowel sounds. Or the thunder at the end of "We Walk". What's up with that? And the drums at the beginning of "Catapult"; they are so cool.
So what, in fact, is "Murmur"? Merely that: a murmur. The only defining characteristic of these twelve songs is they are so unlike what came before and what has come since. Peter Buck's guitar, Mike Mills's bass, Bill Berry's drums, Michael Stipe's voice combine to form a sound as impossible to label as it is to duplicate. Beautiful, surreal, original, poetic. What more do you need?
Free Music Review: The Test Of Time
Hit: 5 Stars
I know for sure that this CD stands the test of time because I just bought it and heard it for the first time in June 2005 and I love it. This is not a fond reminescence of the old days back in college.
I first got into REM with "Fables Of The Reconstruction" and bought every album until "Monster" (which singlehandedly eliminated my loyalty to the band). Somewhere along the way I also picked up "Reckoning", but as I grew disenchanted with the band after "Automatic..." I never acquired "Murmur". Until now. It actually didn't grab me on first listen (often the case with some of my favorite CDs). But after 10 listens, I know this will rank, along with "Fables..." and "Automatic...", with my favorite REM CDs.
Clearly the time spent honing their skills in Athens, GA paid off hugely in their first full length release. There are few artists in rock history that have produced such assured first releases. (Led Zeppelin springs to mind as one of the others). What really drew me in after multiple listens was the incredible musical textures of the songs. This may end up ranking among my favorite guitar albums ever, but not because of flashy pyrotechnics. It's the way Mike Mills, in almost every song, uses his guitar as counterpoint to the primary melody and, by doing so, creates an even more beautiful musical texture. Just listen to the fills he provides between Michael Stipe's lines in "Sitting Still". It's not about showmanship, it's about creating beautiful melodic music.
For that matter, Peter Buck also demonstrates inventive bass playing, much better than you should expect on such an early effort. Just check out "Radio Free Europe" or "West Of The Fields". REM was not a case of having a singer with some anonymous sidemen, this was a real working band that had something that was both "alternative" to the current mainstream, but that was also highly accessible.
Interestingly, after 10 listens I still have no idea what any of these songs are about. And I'm not sure I ever will. More interstingly, this music is so darned good that I don't care.