SIDE A
1. Radio Free Europe – 4:06
2. Pilgrimage – 4:29
3. Laughing – 3:59
4. Talk About The Passion – 3:22
5. Moral Kiosk – 3:32
6. Perfect Circle – 3:31
SIDE B
7. Catapult – 3:56
8. Sitting Still – 3:19
9. 9-9 – 3:04
10. Shaking Through – 4:31
11. We Walk – 3:01
12. West Of The Fields – 3:22
Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, R.E.M were one of the hugest bands in the world. Arbitrary though such classifications are, they could be said to be the most ‘pure pop’ act I have yet covered here. But for their more than 30 year history, they were consistently excellent. I will always have a particular sweet spot for R.E.M as they were, alongside such acts as Split Enz and The Shadows, one of the first artists I really became an active ‘fan’ of as a teenager. I had grown up taught the ways of the classic artists and so was always engaged, but in my early teens and not yet introduced to Progressive Rock, as I started to make my own independent decisions, it was the sustained artful quality of R.EM.’s big hits that filled my early iPod shuffle as much as anyone.
The fact I am going right back to their raw and rough first album, amidst a whole noble discography, suggests certain implications that aren’t really true as relates to R.E.M’s journey as a whole. Out of the University town of Athens, Georgia, they quickly became darlings of the college scene. They were the ultimate popular student band, not sufficiently weird and underground as to be alienating but just enough to be cool, while making great music. Lead singer and always cutting edge iconoclast laureate Michael Stipe in particular brought a certain visual, vocal, lyrical and philosophical style to proceedings. Their unique sound, melodic but still energetic, danceable but still with a rebellious punk edge, captured the college generation in Georgia and then beyond perfectly. They became THE defining 80s version of what would grow into alternative rock, influencing all who came after, from Nirvana to Radiohead and beyond. But of course, as the story so famously goes, they supposedly ‘sold out’. A pair of monstrous hit records in 1991’s Out Of Time and 1992’s Automatic For The People drove R.E.M to international stardom, and many of their artsier fans to dismay.
I am not focusing on Murmur out of any overwhelming sense of loyalty to the ‘edgy’ Version 1 of R.E.M. This album makes my list because it is just damn good and stands up so well, even moreso when considering that it is a debut work. I find much of their remaining 80s material does not maintain the same consistent balance of memorable melody, pulsing driving energy and sense of the new and unique. The idea that they (or any band, but R.E.M in particular) ‘sold out’ in some transformative singular way is absurd. Their sound was naturally transitioning away from their jangly beginnings into a harder edged but more crisply produced alternative rock setup by the late 80s. Furthermore, after the two major hit albums they continued to make constant creative shifts, exploring new territory and, in the late 90s in particular, meandering into the occasionally esoteric.
Their 1983 debut LP Murmur through it all, after a very close race with at least a couple of other noteworthy works, still stands up for me as the greatest overall R.E.M album. From start to finish it is fun, tuneful, busy and sonically unlike any other of theirs, or anyone else, before since. It is an astonishing and sudden burst into life for a rookie band. They were fresh off an abundance of early touring to refine their act and a promising debut EP Chronic Town and its excellent early anthem Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars). But that such a statement would come so quickly and decisively couldn’t have felt on the cards as 1983 dawned.
Early and alternative though this is, many years before mainstream success, and despite (or perhaps because?) of its understated sound, Murmur was and is adored. It received many effusive reviews and was voted Rolling Stone Magazine’s album of 1983, a notable achievement for a young American band that had never been to the UK or had a sound that in any way resembled any British music of the time. It has since been included in many retrospective lists of must have and must listen albums. The key to this reputation, as alluded to earlier, is a new and unique sound that was fresh and interesting but not too challenging. Each band member brought their own distinctive approach to their work. Guitarist Peter Buck patented a famous jangly sound. The influence of 60s folk rock legends The Byrds is clear, but Buck’s tone doesn’t quite reach for the same melancholy. His work is regularly dexterous, fast and happy. He and drummer Bill Berry provide much of the driving energy. Berry’s is a consistent and disciplined sound somewhat reminiscent of Joy Division’s Stephen Morris, with a ton of hi speed hi-hat tempo but maximum efficiency and no extraneous filling. The darker and more mysterious balance comes from Mike Mills, who functions like a lead guitarist often, bringing a lot of melody to proceedings on his Rickenbacker bass, and of course from Stipe. His lyrics are impenetrable and cryptic, and often unintelligible. Stipe sings in an often slurred style and is buried in the mix in such a way that isn’t so much frustrating as aesthetically captivating.
On top of this instrumental sound, R.E.M also brought a very punk philosophy of directness, economy and avoidance of cliche, which had been further satiated by their bad experiences in the early days of trying to record the album. The result was a determined and bitter dedication to steadfastly avoiding established rock tropes like guitar solos, romantic imagery and then in vogue synthesizers.
The album, and R.E.M’s whole career in terms of studio LP releases, wastes no time, jumping straight in with their iconic first hit Radio Free Europe. The quiet dark percussive intro immediately captures the mysterious mood of the album, before Bill Berry’s unique drum sound launches proceedings. Unusually, this lead single and biggest hit is actually one of the grungier and least jangly tracks on the album. Buck’s simple direct guitar part, matched by the energy and tempo of the piece, has a bit of a punk vibe to it, as do the power chords in the chorus. But that energy is the key and carries the song to new heights. Mills includes some superb trebly basslines in the build-up to the chorus, and Stipe’s vocal is one of the more emotive and sonically clear on whole album.
Knowing Radio Free Europe as well as I did meant that my first listening experience of this album started with that familiarity. That left me waiting with anticipation for the first new sounds, and none make a bigger statement than Pilgrimage. From my very first listen I adored this piece, sometimes my favourite on the album, and knew the whole album was going to be a good time. It is a simple, almost silly sounding piece. It opens with a pained extremely distant Stipe bellow, but up front is an awesome bass riff to launch the song. Once the band joins, there is an almost novelty sound, so jaunty is the riff and direct is Bill Berry’s one-two drum walk. But beyond that so much interesting is happening. As Stipe sings, Buck backs him with a crisp simple and low guitar figure, and Berry provides a conga-like melodic drum accent on his tom-toms. From there the band break into an uplifting and driving chorus. It is a song of the most simple structure and melody but with a beautifully rich palette of fun sounds, left, right and centre.
Laughing is yet another monumental highlight. It opens supremely, with an introductory drum figure giving way to the most rocking and superb of all Mills’ many great basslines on the album. The most notable and brilliant element of Laughing is its dynamics, with Stipe and Buck measured in their respective quiet vocals and spidery guitar arpeggios, juxtaposed against off-beat attacks for emphasis led by Berry. Next comes another of the single releases and more famous tracks on the album, Talk About The Passion. It says so much about the quality of this album, and about that mighty first three tracks, this this almost feels like a weaker track for me. Certainly it is a bit of a relaxing break from the relentless dynamism of the opening salvo. The opening riff is famous and fabulous, and the way it one-twos dramatically into each chorus is lovely, but otherwise this is quite a sleepy slower song, reflecting the slight country influence in this Georgian band.
Moral Kiosk is the weakest on the magnificent first side of the record. It is another energetic rocker, most notable for its opening which is a discordant dirge, Buck aggressively sawing away with some unorthodox chords. The sixth and final track on the first half may be the strongest, though its tough to know amidst such quality. Perfect Circle is truly gorgeous, perhaps the most purely beautiful and elegant track of R.E.M’s alternative 80s era, when their tendency was to high tempo jangly fun and edge. In the 90s they often demonstrated their capacity for sweet tender melancholy. Perfect Circle proves they always had the ability, but it is a particularly strange kind of beautiful. The main riff, rendered in the most beautifully crystalline fashion on a double-tracked electric piano, has an off-kilter feel achieved by slight delay on one of the tracks. It creates the most perfect quintessential R.E.M otherworldly mystery, always feeling like the piano and rhythm track are slightly detached from each other. But somehow it always just about stays together and fits in place and is constantly satisfying.
Side B is a lot more uniform, with similar jaunty jangle pop tracks. The opener Catapult is probably the best and most loved, opening with a rich low Mills bassline before Buck comes in with a very Andy Summers style simple high few-note contribution. The reserved verse gives way to a more uplifting chorus where Buck’s chords and Stipe’s vocals elevate matters. Sitting Still is maybe my personal favourite of this set, with a danceable and happy Buck-jangly verse initially. This contrasts with the most aggressive chorus on the record, as Buck chugs away in a punk style and Stipe lets himself go with a raw and rough vocal.
9-9 is quite messy, in a cool proggy way. Like most on the album it has a fun and energetic chorus but otherwise is a whole bunch of chaos, unmemorable when not listening but super awesome when enjoying. Mills’ intro somehow calls both back to a Joy Division style sound, and forward to some of the bass intros in dark future metal like Tool. It is so ominous, then gives way to an intro and verses full of stop start chaos and Buck abandoning all semblance of melody, scratching around discordantly. Shaking Through is a contrast, reverting back to absolute jangliness from Buck, driving an overall fun sounding dance track, though typically Stipe muddies it with perhaps his most mumbled performance on the whole album.
We Walk is maybe the most underrated personal favourite on the album for me. It harks a little bit back into a Pilgrimage space where things are always jangly, but instead of a high energy dance kind of approach, they’ve gone into a space so carefree sounding as to almost appear childish and novel. It is a very cute song, with Stipe higher in the mix, and some lovely major chords from Buck contrasting with the album’s sweetest arpeggios. That just leaves a final burst of pure energy in West Of The Fields, another kind of dance-punk dirge, functioning as a simple fun coda to end the album in a nice summarising fashion.
Hoss Album Reviews 