I was 16 in 1983. During that year, through a couple of Friends, I encountered a handful of albums that changed my life. I won't bore you with the list, but one of them was R.E.M.'s Murmur. Fans of "Alt-Country" and Uncle Tupelo would do well to go back and listen to the stripped down renderings on this album and find inspiration. After all, Peter Buck did produce an Uncle Tupelo album. This was the early unpredictable R.E.M. When Michael Stipe, often stoned and singing with his back to the audience, used his voice as an instrument. I defy anyone to decipher the complete lyrics of this album. The album will be released on November 25th. Here is a description from the R.E.M. Website:
The two-CD set features R.E.M.'s debut album, remastered, plus an additional disc with a previously unreleased concert recorded at Larry’s Hideaway in Toronto, three months after Murmur’s April 1983 release.
The 16-song live performance boasts nine of Murmur’s 12 songs, including “Radio Free Europe," three songs from the Chronic Town EP, early renditions of "7 Chinese Bros." and "Harborcoat," as well as “Just A Touch,” eventually a track included on R.E.M.’s fourth album, 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant. The live set also features a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “There She Goes Again,” which R.E.M. recorded in the studio for the b-side of “Radio Free Europe.”
Exclusive essays by producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, as well as former I.R.S. executives Jay Boberg, Sig Sigworth, Carlos Grasso round out the deluxe edition.
