Around the same time The White Stripes were in high school, one of my co-workers called R.E.M.’s Murmur “the greatest garage rock album of all time.”
Say what?
I initially thought garage rock meant loud, dissonant guitars. Bands like The Stooges and MC5 were garage. R.E.M. was too arty. Too melodic. The only thing that seemed to make Murmur “garage” was that its low-tech sound made it seem like it was recorded in a garage. And even with its earthy sound, Murmur sounded like it was recorded instead in a shed.
But the definition of garage rock is as varied as college or alternative rock. According to Wikipedia, the term “garage rock” came from the fact that most of those bands sounded like amateur musicians playing in a garage….but that a lot them were hardly novices. So, in essence, anything that doesn’t sound like a Pink Floyd epic or a Kraftwerk album could be garage rock.
Murmur is a certifiable classic, although it probably isn’t R.E.M.’s most consistent album (that honor, arguably, goes to Automatic for the People). It’s not that Murmur is uneven in terms of quality, but that instead the four most amazing songs are stacked on the first side of the album. The instant anthem “Radio Free Europe” is as galvanizing as other leadoff tracks such as The Clash’s “Clash City Rockers” or The Sex Pistols’ “Holidays in the Sun.” If Peter Buck’s melodic guitar and Bill Berry’s clean percussion obscured Michael Stipe’s voice there, though, Stipe gets his moment as his vocals are at the center of the beautiful “Pilgrimage.”
The few thousand people who purchased Murmur in 1983 listened to a new sound that would define college radio for the next 25 years. The only thing is that the sound wasn’t really new. “9-9” and “West of the Fields” had some late 60s-70s elements like The Faces and even The Beach Boys involved, yet while Stipe’s mumbled delivery may have played a part, songs like “Talk About the Passion” and “Catapault” were both familiar and totally new at the same time. Like other great full-length debuts, Murmur has a sound that you can’t quite put a finger on.
The sophisticated sound on Murmur didn’t mean R.E.M. lacked a soul. Stipe, who up until that song had sang in a slightly jostled and high-pitched tone, activates a sustained baritone that makes “Perfect Circle” one of the most unlikely sexy songs to emerge from college rock.
Mike Mills’ bass is the only instrument that tends to get overlooked in Murmur. He would later take a more high-profile role in subsequent releases. It’s not that Mills’ playing is unremarkable in Murmur, it’s just that he does such a good job supporting Berry and Buck that it’s hard to define a high point.
Like U2, R.E.M. would slowly gain in popularity, not reaching their commercial peak for another decade. In that time, the band would continue to evolve in its songwriting and musicianship. But still, it seems that regardless of their releases, Murmur sounds like a template that has been used for each of their albums.
