Starting today for the new year Sundays will be classic debut album Sunday. These are first albums by a group or singer. In some cases the debut album is the best the group or singer will ever do. To kick off Classic debut album Sunday is a album that some consider one of the greatest debut album by a rock group ever. The classic debut album for today is Murmur (1983) by band R.E.M. Murmur is the debut album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1983 on I.R.S. Records. Murmur drew critical acclaim upon its release for its sound, defined by singer Michael Stipes cryptic lyrics, guitarist Peter Bucks jangly guitar style, and bassist Mike Mills melodic basslines. Its amazing how fresh and distinctive Murmur sounds nearly 25 years after its release. This was R.E.M.s first masterpiece and every music fan should have a copy of this album in their collection and listen to it regularly. It really is that good and that important. If you listen to their debut EP Chronic Town first, its clear that the band was holding back a bit when they recorded that EP. Dont get me wrong, Chronic Town is great fun, but Murmur is far more advanced. Its like the band jumped directly from Algebra to Calculus. The experimentation on Chronic Town is still here (that thunder noise on We Walk is really the sound of balls on a pool table) but its dialed back just a touch so the album doesnt sound naive and gimmicky. Michael Stipes lyrics (when you can hear them) improved tremendously between the two albums. And while all of the songs on Chronic Town sounded similar, the band purposefully gave each and every song on Murmur its own distinctive flair -- from the country-twinged Talk About The Passion to furious rave-ups like Moral Kiosk and 9-9 to folk rock numbers like Catapult and Shaking Through to the nursery-rhyme charm of We Walk. There are no defined musical boundaries here. Most of the songs on Murmur were written pre-Chronic Town and tucked away for the bands first full length album. Two songs (Radio Free Europe and Sitting Still) had been released as a single before Chronic Town was released. Radio Free Europe, largely at the record labels request, was remade for Murmur, while Sitting Still was basically the same track. Two more songs (9-9 and Shaking Through) were originally recorded for Chronic Town, but were set aside for Murmur. Another song (Pilgrimage) was a demo that the band liked enough to put on the album as-is. Peter Buck claims the band knew exactly how they wanted the album to sound like, right down to the track order, before they even entered the studio. I dont know if thats true, but its apparent the band was well-prepared for their first album. Nearly everything is turned upside down here. This is why Murmur was so revolutionary. Most groups put the lead singer and lead guitar at the forefront -- here you hear Berry and Mills more clearly than Stipe and Buck (maybe because Berry and Mills were more accomplished musicians than Stipe or Buck). Most groups follow that strict verse-chorus-verse song structure. Here, you have several unique combinations -- like a verse-bridge-chorus, or something like Pilgrimage, which starts with Stipe shouting the chorus from a distance. All of this, coupled with Stipes mysterious vocals, gives Murmur its unique feel. It really is fascinating stuff. Despite all of this mystery and deception (or maybe because of it), Murmur really grabs your attention and just doesnt let go. I cant listen to Perfect Circle (which is still probably the most beautiful song R.E.M. has ever recorded) without getting a tear in my eye, or We Walk without smiling and bobbing my head back and forth. Moody, mysterious and charming -- Murmur is simply an astounding piece of music. Radio Free Europe is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. Radio Free Europe was released as R.E.M.s debut single on the short-lived independent record label Hib-Tone in 1981. The song features what were to become the trademark unintelligible lyrics which have distinguished R.E.M.s work ever since. The single received critical acclaim, and its success earned the band a record deal with I.R.S. Records. R.E.M. signed to I.R.S. Records in 1982. I.R.S. asked R.E.M. to re-record Radio Free Europe in 1983 for their debut album, Murmur. The band agreed, because they had felt that theyd improved significantly since the original 1981 sessions. The new version has some slightly different lyrics and a slower tempo, and is not as well-liked with the band as the original; indeed, the liner notes for the 1988 compilation album Eponymous (which the original Hib-Tone version is featured on) stated that Mike and Jefferson think this one [referring to the Hib-Tone version] crushes the other one like a grape. Peter Buck has also stated that he [didnt] think we captured it the way we did on the single. Original producer Mitch Easter also commented on the re-recording, saying it was more pro, but a little too sedate. The re-recorded version of Radio Free Europe was the first single from Murmur. It was the first R.E.M. single to reach the charts, peaking at number 78 on the Billboard singles chart and remaining on the chart for five weeks. The song also reached number 25 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart. With more distorted guitars, this song could be a straight-up punk rock number. Instead, the driving clean electric guitar textures offered a new and enigmatic sound in 1981. Picking licks from chords (as opposed to strumming), guitarist Peter Buck harkens back to the 1960s folk-rock of the Byrds, but the insistent rhythms and urgency of the track has more to do with punk rock than the rock & roll traditionalism of other Byrds-inspired roots-rockers like Tom Petty. Pilgrimage ---- Although never more than an album track, Pilgrimage has remained one of R.E.M.s most beloved early songs, always appearing near the top of internet fan polls and the like. Its also one of the songs most responsible for the groups early reputation for arty obscurity, as its easily the most arty and obscure song on Murmur. The song opens with a distant, barely audible keening wail from Michael Stipe, eventually revealed to be the key line of the chorus, Take a turn, take a fortune, played through some kind of distortion. From that opening, the song leads into a Mike Mills bass riff, doubled by Pete Buck on the low strings of his guitar and accented by Bill Berrys heartbeat bass drum and off-kilter, hollow-sounding tom hits. Buck in particular has always asserted that R.E.M. were hugely influenced by some of the British post-punk bands (Wire and the Soft Boys in particular), but Pilgrimage is one of the only songs on which that influence on the bands own music is particularly noticeable; the song has the clipped, cerebral feel of the UK post-punk scene, particularly in the tension and release of the on-a-dime shifts between the tightly wound verses and the soaring, ecstatic chorus. Lyrically, Pilgrimage has always attracted a lot of attention because while the lyrics are basically gibberish, as was Stipes wont at the time, theyre peculiarly evocative gibberish with hints of religious mystery. Regardless, the mixture of lyrics and music makes Pilgrimage one of the most fully-formed and unique songs on Murmur. Laughing ---- Although they probably arent thinking of this song in particular, Laughing is just the sort of early R.E.M. track that folks have in mind when theyre parodying (lovingly or otherwise) the R.E.M. sound. Pete Bucks guitars chime, ring, jangle and all those other reviewer clichés that have accompanied his playing style since 1982, and after an off-kilter, post-punky opening, Mike Mills bass and Bill Berrys drums slink shyly into the background. Over all of this, Michael Stipe mumbles a set of lyrics that even for him are remarkably incoherent; that is, when you can make them out. In several interviews, Stipe has mentioned that one of his inspirations for this song was Virgils Aeneid, specifically the story of Laocoon, the mistrustful Trojan who said Beware of Greeks bearing gifts and as a result got himself and his two sons smooshed by a sea serpent courtesy of Poseidon; this fairly pretentious lyrical concept is made even more so by the fact that the first line of each verse both positively butchers the pronunciation of his name into something closer to loo-WOK-cue-ohn instead of la-OH-ko-on and mistakenly refers to him with a female pronoun. The other lines are even more obscure and difficult to make out, making Laughing one of the most purely incomprehensible songs by a band whose reputation for lyrical obscurity was mostly fairly overrated. However, its such a remarkably pretty song, with a chorus that sounds filled with romantic longing even though its entirely inscrutable, that the opacity of the lyrics is finally beyond the point. Talk About the Passion is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single released from its debut album Murmur in 1983 and a live performance at Larrys Hideaway, Toronto, Canada, from July 9, 1983 was released on the 2008 Deluxe Edition reissue of that album. This song failed to follow up on the success of Radio Free Europe released earlier in the year, as it did not chart. Talk About the Passion is a hunger song, although the only direct reference in the song is to empty mouths. Michael Stipe has stated, Talk About the Passion was a song about hunger but the lyrics werent clear enough. The video, made in 1988 and featured on the compilations Pop Screen and When the Light Is Mine, made this meaning of the song more explicit by showing images of homeless people and images of a warship, ending with the caption, in 1987 the cost of one destroyer-class warship was 910 million dollars. As their name indicates, R.E.M. explored the realm of the subconscious; the music and lyrical content of Talk About the Passion is as dreamy as almost any of their songs from this period. Michael Stipe sings a mix of English and French lyrics with a vaguely religious commentary: Empty prayer, empty mouths, talk about the passion/Not everyone can carry the weight of the world..bien du temps? In a few simple lines, repeated folk-song style, Stipe manages to conjure up a few different layers of meaning, which can be interpreted in a variety of ways. The very idea of talking about any sort of passion, especially the religious sort -- the Passion of Christ, and/or deeply held religious beliefs -- conveying such ardor, is almost impossible and ultimately incomplete and insufficient, as is the case with writing about music. And Stipes few lines go further, indicting those who talk the talk with religion, but do not live it. For years Stipe would not print or discuss his lyrics in detail, wisely leaving them as open as possible to all, equally valid interpretations. Bucks arpeggio Rickenbacker guitar sound, building the song on ringing riffs and layered guitar parts, was the foundation for their neo-folk-rock sound. With lush acoustics and Byrds-y electrics, overdubbed cello samples weaving in and out, the production and arrangement, by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, are richly orchestrated and full of atmosphere, but spare and light enough to breathe. 1960s pop is clearly the main touchpoint here, with echoes of the Left Banke and Velvet Underground as well. But R.E.M. was pioneering a new post-punk sound that, while unique, had parallels in similar sounds from rootsy, neo-psychedelic groups on the West Coast and college rock bands in Northeast cities like Boston. But countless others followed in the wake of R.E.M. and copped the sound of Talk About the Passion and other songs from the masterful landmark Murmur LP (1983). Moral Kiosk ---- One way that R.E.M. integrated their many various and sundry influences on their early records was to offset their more angular moments from verses with warm, folky choruses. Listening now to a song like Moral Kiosk, one is stuck by how dated it sounds. This is rare, as many of R.E.M.s songs, even the production, holds up pretty well more than 20 years after the fact. But these distinctly vintage 1980s elements in the songwriting, arrangement, and production are partially what keeps Moral Kiosk, while still a fun listen, from enduring as one of the bands classics. Like another song from their seminal debut Murmur LP (1983), Catapult, and Harborcoat, from Reckoning (1984) Moral Kiosk alternates between two different approaches on the verse and chorus. While Catapult toggled from a warm, Byrds-like verse and a more jarring, staccato chorus, the latter two songs take the opposite tract, juxtaposing stilted new wave/art rock rhythms and melodic whimsy with a more down-to-earth, folky, and traditional chorus. One minute Michael Stipe sings a pop-folk melody in a rich voice, evoking Gene Clark, the next he is singing/chanting an almost Adam Ant-type of vocal hiccup. It is the sound of a band rectifying such seemingly disparate influences. But it is just this unique blend of contemporary and traditional components which makes R.E.M. a great band; they are open-minded record collectors who filter it all into their own art. It is just that Moral Kiosk is skewed a bit too far to one side -- one that is stale and outdated. Such are the chances one takes when experimenting with new sounds, rhythms, and so on. Talking Heads similar fusions, and most of R.E.M.s other amalgamations stand the test of time better. Even Stipes characteristically enigmatic lyrics come off as more forced and sophomoric on Moral Kiosk than with his usually idiosyncratic, though inspired songwriting: They scratch the scandals in the twilight/She was laughing like a Horae/Put that knee in dour landslide/Take this step to dash a roving eye/Its so much more attractive inside the moral kiosk/Inside, cold, dark, fire, twilight. While you must commend him for the effort, words like kiosk and horae are difficult ones to make sound musical, especially in the same segment. Perfect Circle is an R.E.M. song and is the 6th track from their 1983 debut album Murmur. It is one of the few R.E.M. songs for which the band has attributed the writing primarily to one member of the band rather than sharing the credit. Like many songs from Murmur, Perfect Circle has a sound typified by unusual instruments and recording techniques. The song opens with Honky tonk piano, a style more associated with ragtime and early country music than the college rock scene of which R.E.M. was a member. Two pianos were recorded, and the slightly out-of-sync sound and reverb achieve a detached otherworldly effect. The song also features Peter Bucks 12 string guitar. Right in the middle of Murmur, amidst all the cool Rickenbacker jangle and impenetrable fuzz, sits the simple and lovely Perfect Circle, one of the most perfect songs R.E.M. ever recorded. The melody is based on a Mike Mills piano figure, which producer Mitch Easter recorded twice, once on a concert-quality grand piano and once on an out-of-tune upright, and overlaid, so that the tune sounds ever so slightly wrong. The lyrics are as close as Michael Stipe ever got to clear in the bands early days, which means basically that the individual words are basically unintelligible (is the chorus standing to sink shoulder-high in the gloom? If so...huh?), but the mood of wistful nostalgia is crystalline. Pete Buck has said in numerous interviews that the tunes genesis was in a scene he saw once while on tour in the bands early days, of a bunch of kids playing ball in the park as the sun was going down, trying to get in one more game before night fell. Stipe demurs, hinting that the lyrics are more personal to him, but that image of children playing in the gathering dark fits so perfectly with the beautiful and sad tune that its impossible to detach. Catapult --- Rumbling bass chords begin this angular, art-folk-rock song. R.E.M. somehow managed to combine elements of Wire, Television, the Velvet Underground, and the Byrds into a unique blend that sounded perfectly natural, with warm two-part harmonies over rhythmically disjointed guitar riffs, prominent bass chords, and pounding tomtom drums. If musicians are, in part, products of their record collections, then we can be thankful that R.E.M. -- who, like many great bands, started off as avid record collectors -- had such eclectic and broad tastes. From the bands debut LP, Murmur (1983), the critically lauded, dreamy classic that made big waves on college radio, Catapult takes the form of a traditional pop song, with an introduction, followed by a standard verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/verse/chorus arrangement. But the song sounds absolutely fresh, even 20 years hence. This is due in no small part to lead vocalist Michael Stipes idiosyncratic and often unintelligible lyrics and evocative, melancholy melodies. Stipe is at his enigmatic best with such lines as Ooooo, we were little boys/Ooooo, we were little girls/Its nine oclock, dont try to turn it off/Cowered in a hole, opie mouth/We in step, in hand, your mother remembers this/Hear the howl of the rope, a question:/Did we miss anything? Did we miss anything?/Did we miss anything? Did we miss anything?/Catapult...March could be darker. Stipe sings the chorus in a call and response with bassist/vocalist Mike Mills, a typical practice for the band. The chorus is effervescent, with Peter Buck playing staccato chord riffs that actually sound a little like a horn section part, stabbing rhythmically. This intermingling of punk rock and contemporary influences with folk, and other traditional songwriting elements -- along with Stipes extraordinarily poetic lyrics -- is was what made R.E.M. so unique and influential. Countless bands co-opted elements of R.E.M.s style. Murmur auspiciously heralded a promising new band with exciting new sounds, one that would go on to be one of the most popular rock-based acts for the next two decades. Sitting Still-- One of the earliest songs R.E.M. ever completed (an early version of this song is the flipside of the 1981 single of Radio Free Europe), Sitting Still is mostly notorious for what Michael Stipe is far from alone in considering the most egregiously obscure and unintelligible lyric hes ever written. For the record, he claims the first line in the chorus is Up to par and Katie bar the kitchen door but not me in, which he cheerfully admits is completely meaningless. Other than that, this song unfortunately tends to be overlooked, a particular shame since its the closest thing to a conventional rocker in R.E.M.s early catalogue. Pete Buck particularly shines on Sitting Still, doing a cool call and response with Stipes lead vocal on the verses, answering each disjointed line with a chiming folk-rock riff. This is also that rare early R.E.M. song where Mike Mills and Bill Berry pull together in the manner of the standard rock and roll rhythm section, locking together to push the song forward. In that respect, its obvious to see why it was chosen as the flip to the odd, arty Radio Free Europe: Sitting Still is a big part of the bands statement of purpose, the song that says, See, we can play regular pop songs, we just choose not to.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 20:19:12 +0000