R.E.M. Album: “Murmur (Deluxe Edition)”

Not too many bands over the last forty years or so have come out of the gate with an introductory LP with such a lasting impact as: "Murmur".

This record created something entirely different in 1983, it was rock as much as it was pop, and it wasn't even close to anything else released during the early eighties. The biggest kicker to the whole deal was that R.E.M. came from a small town in Georgia.

How in the world, can an album fit in between Molly Hatchet & Thriller? How can mumbled/mixed down vocals and chiming Rickenbacker guitars hold their own next to moonwalking and 27 minute jams of: "Whipping Post?" Well, R.E.M. was about unknown to everyone north of Richmond, Virginia and south of Jacksonville, Florida in early 1983, when IRS thrust this force onto a world of folks that were dying to be freed from the onslaught of drum machines and synths and crummy white-bread R & B, that at the time, seemed endless and unrelenting.

I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time on the coast of Virginia when this storm surged right at us. "Radio Free Europe" was already all over the good radio staions in southlands, and this single was very...well, it was great! The "Chronic Town" EP was in record stores with that bored gargoyle on a cool blue record sleeve. Something really different was happening here, catchy songs and an air of freshness was blowing out the pomp and excesses of the 1970's.

Disc One: "Murmur"

The big issue here with the 1983 recording, will be of course the concern over the sound of this, the re-mastered edition of 2008. To my old ears, this version is not that much different from the original record. What is of notice, is the the bass guitar is punching and pounding at the woofers of my speakers. The bass drum is a force as well, {and I have always thought the drumming by Bill Berry, was about as great as it gets.} There is a bigger brightness and clarity to the guitars, and Michael has been brought up a little more forward out of the original mix. Yes, this is the same record that I listened to 25 years ago, but now it is a whole lot BIGGER.

Out of the 35 or so songs that the band brought to the studios to use for this project, they did indeed pick 12 unique and timeless pieces to present their music to an unsuspecting world. "Pilgrimage", "Laughing", "9-9", "Talk About The Passion" "West Of The Fields" and "Catapult" are timeless gems and mature works for a band of two and a half years running. There is an updated, and more fully formed version of: "Radio Free Europe" here that is a bit different from the original single version of two years earlier. This album comes alive in the new mix, as it has been rescued from a swampy kudzu landscape under a railroad trestle.

Disc Two: "Live In Toronto {1983}"

Between 1980 and 1983, R.E.M. spent more time on the road than they would ever attempt again. First near Athens, then into South & North Carolina and Tennessee. They performed in small towns that had never hosted a big-name rock band. Word spread quickly that this was a band to see perform live. Dates in California, New York and Boston followed over the next two years. By summer of 1983, R.E.M. entered Canada for the first time and played their first show in Toronto at Larry's Hideway.

There are 16 songs on the live CD and it clocks in at 57 minutes. This is taken from the 60 minute FM radio broadcast of the show. Over the past two and a half decades, bootlegs of this night have appeared in LP, cassette and CD formats. The set opener: "Wolves, Lower" isn't on here, this CD starts at the opening of: "Laughing" and there is no sign of "Moral Kiosk" on this as well. This was a good night, but the cover songs that normally comprise a big part of R.E.M.'s live work are not a part of this show, because the FM market was hearing strictly band composed material, a proper strategy to win over a new audience.

Live R.E.M. in the early eighties is a raw punk driven force of noise and frantic energy, that is very fun to be a part of. Getting to pogo infront of one of those low stages, in sweaty clubs and dancehalls with a few hundred other lucky souls, {my night was: Virginia Beach in The Pavilion, with the Dream Syndicate as openers, on a hot summer night in 1984.} was a concert highlight, that is very difficult to forget.

The live CD is great to have in much improved sound quality over the boots, but when you realize what was not included here, you will be begging for more complete shows from 1981-1985 to see the light of an official release. Most of: "Murmur" is here, as is most of: "Chronic Town" also included are: "Harborcoat" & "7 Chinese Bros." from the then unreleased second LP: "Reckoning". This is a fine document of one of hundreds of nights on the road from the band's early days together, but I could go for listening to tapes of about 99 more shows from the first five years, and be very happy indeed!

This record was one of the very best released in the eighties {as was: "Reckoning" & "Fables Of The Reconstruction."} A bunch of groups that came after R.E.M. owe them a lot of thank's, for all those miles they traveled on back roads throughout the south with Jefferson at the wheel of that old station wagon. We got lucky here with this great band in 1983, this is what got a lot of us through the eighties...real music!

FIVE STARS!!!

My original CD of Murmur had been fatally scratched after 20 years of use, so I knew it would have to be replaced at some point. The remastered version gave me the perfect excuse to replace the disc, but I will admit that I was originally put off by the steep price. Still it was more palatable to kick in a few extra bucks for something that was actually new and improved rather than just replacing what I already had. And I have to say, I am actually glad that my original CD got ruined because the remastered version far exceeded my expectations. First of all, the sound is unquestionably clearer than the original CD. You especially notice improvements with the percussion and the weird background noises that are so much a part of this album's atmosphere. Don't expect that you will suddenly understand every word that Stipe sings, but the vocals are also noticeably clearer. Like some other reviewers, I also suddenly found myself singing the songs out loud because I was so swept up in the new dynamism of this recording. Second, the concert on the second disc is a rare view into the early concert style of R.E.M. that I unfortunately missed out on. There is a real vitality and joy in their style that is infectious and the venue is clearly very small, bringing the listener back to an era that will never be repeated. True, there are some occasional wrong notes and rare feedback, but considering that the concert dates back to the band's earliest college radio days, you wouldn't expect or want it to sound completely polished. The sound quality of the concert disc is also surprisingly good. It is also interesting that the songs here already look forward to Reckoning and one even waited for Life's Rich Pageant for its album release. True R.E.M. connoisseurs will not be disappointed! Hopefully this album will be followed by similar releases from the IRS years. It will be a tough wait for the re-release of Life's Rich Pageant...

R.E.M. has always been my favorite band of all times and I was very intrigued to listen to a remastered edition of this album (one of its best I must say). Well, as soon as I pushed play on my stereo I started singing all the songs and dancing a little bit all around my bedroom. It seems that this songs are timeless everytime I listen to them. They just get better and better!!! I knew back in the early 90s (when I first listened to Murmur) that R.E.M. would be a band I would love for many years. So, now that I listened to it again I just confirmed what I thought back then. God bless R.E.M.

Raw, direct and unique sounding "Murmur" hearlded a new band that had arrived with a sound that while influenced by others (such as The Soft Boys, The Byrds, etc.)still featured a band with their own strong identity. "Murmur" isn't necessarily the best REM album but it's a brilliant debut nonetheless. Producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon take a no frills approach to recording the band eschewing any fancy studio trickery to just capture the honest sound of the band in the studio.

This remaster sounds better than the original U.S. CD (and similar to the vinyl if my memory serves we well)with stronger bass evident in the master and better clarity. While it isn't the best remaster out there (I prefer the MFSL Gold disc)it's probably the best version I've heard outside of the Japan for Japan CD issued years ago (which, sadly, I no longer have). I am a bit disappointed that the original Hip-Tone single of "Radio Free Europe" wasn't included as a bonus track but that is available on the best of collection "Eponymous" (and it may also be available on other compilations as well).I would also have liked their EP "Chronic Town" remastered as well )but since it is available on the "Dead Letter Office" compilation, it'll probably be reissued at some point as well so can understand that)but that's a minor complaint.

The real reason to get this if you already have a good sounding edition of this album is the second disc. It features a July 9, 1983 concert performed in Toronto, Canada at Larry's Hideaway. The show captures the band in a strong performance totally lacking self consciousness but filled with self confidence. The band races through material from their first album, their EP (released before the first album) and "7 Chinese Bros." that would end up on the band's second album.

It's a terrific show and hopefully as they expand the REM reissues (assuming CDs aren't dead by then)we'll see further live shows that document the band around the time of the respective albums. The CD is issued in a cardboard holder with a plastic sleeve to protect it. Photos are inside on each panel of the gatefold sleeve. Inside is a poster of the cover with a number of brief essays on the making and marketing of the album.

Highly recommended for fans of the band.

There are some albums which are simply perfect. The songs themselves may or may not be perfect on their own, but taken together, they form something that's much greater than the sum of its parts. It's easy to forget how perfect some albums are. This is especially true for albums which I've known for awhile, where I've seen the artist in question perform songs from those albums time and again.

I recently received R.E.M.'s re-issue of "Murmur" as a birthday present. I discovered R.E.M. when I was in college, the song I remember catching my attention was `World Leader Pretend'. I quickly acquired their back catalogue, and loved Murmur from the first notes of `Radio Free Europe'. That first copy of "Murmur" got scratched beyond all recognition in my car stereo, and I lost its replacement when I lent it to a friend who never returned it. The third copy is safely ensconced on my shelves at home.

I haven't done a side-by-side comparison of my old copy and this newly-remastered release, and I probably won't. My memory tells me that this sounds better, and I'm okay if my memory isn't completely accurate. I'm enjoying listening to this and hearing things that I didn't hear before -- either due to my own inattention, or perhaps forgetting about it, or maybe it really is the new mastering. Stipe's vocals stand out more (but not so much more that they sound out-of-place), the guitars jangle in ways that they never jangled before. And every second of the album feels perfectly crafted.

Then, just when it can't get any better, it does. It does so in the form of a live show, just a few months after the album's release. You hear early versions of songs that would be released later, like `Harbourcoat' and `7 Chinese Bros', as well as blistering live versions of `Talk About the Passion' and `We Walk'. My favourite moment on the live disc is `There She Goes Again'. In all, this show grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go for an hour. It is perfect.

I could come up with complaints about this album. Why didn't they include, say, the "Chronic Town" EP? Why not give us the whole show (which has long been available in bootlegging circles, and opens with a rendition of `Wolves, Lower' that simply must be heard to be believed)? And I get those complaints, kind of. After all, I certainly wouldn't mind more. But then I listen to this album, as it stands, again. Tacking on extra tracks would have broken the spell. I might have gotten more, but that wouldn't've been better.