Maps of Music

Murmur (1983)

Where the lyrics of Murmur take you, and where it was really made.

The bridge on the album cover was approved for demolition, and a replacement bridge now stands in its place.

Key places

Sessions begin at Reflection Studios (1983)

Recording site Reflection Sound Studios — R.E.M. entered Reflection Studios in Charlotte on January 6, 1983 to start recording with Easter and Dixon. Recording was completed on February 23, 1983. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Drive-In Studios, Winston-Salem (1983)

Recording site Drive-In Studios — Drive-In Studios in Winston-Salem is listed among Murmur's recording places in the source. The source gives no date for this session. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The trestle on the cover, Athens (1983)

Album cover Murmur Trestle — The trestle pictured on the album cover belonged to the Georgia Railroad line into downtown Athens and became a local landmark. Plans to demolish it met public outcry. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Debut studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M.
• Released April 12, 1983 by I.R.S. Records
• Recorded in the winter of 1983 at Reflection Sound Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Produced by Don Dixon and Mitch Easter
• Recording completed February 23, 1983
• Known for cryptic lyrics by Michael Stipe, jangly guitar by Peter Buck, and melodic bass by Mike Mills

Background

• R.E.M. began preparing for the album in December 1982
• I.R.S. first paired the band with producer Stephen Hague, who had a higher profile than previous producer Mitch Easter
• Hague's emphasis on technical perfection did not suit the band
• Hague added keyboard parts to the completed track without the band's permission
• The band asked to record with Easter; I.R.S. agreed to a tryout session that recorded 'Pilgrimage'
• After hearing the track, I.R.S. allowed the album to be made with Dixon and Easter

Recording

• Much of the material had been tested on preceding tours
• The band avoided rock clichés such as guitar solos or then-popular synthesizers to give the album a timeless feel
• Bill Berry insisted his drums be recorded in a drummer's booth, a practice then considered antiquated
• Dixon and Easter took a hands-off approach and only fixed very substandard vocals
• Buck's Fender Twin Reverb was 'dead', so Easter's Ampeg Gemini II was used on every song except 'Pilgrimage'

Cover

• The front cover shows a large quantity of the noxious weed kudzu
• Kudzu grows so rapidly that it overtakes the landscape and kills other plants by shading them

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe, all University of Georgia students
• Released the single "Radio Free Europe" in 1981 on the independent label Hib-Tone
• Signed with I.R.S. Records in 1982

Members

• Michael Stipe (lead vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass, vocals), Bill Berry (drums) until 1997
• Bill Rieflin served as touring drummer from 2003 until his death in 2020

Career

• Breakthrough hit "The One I Love" in 1987 from Document; signed with Warner Bros. in 1988
• Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992) made them leaders of alternative rock
• Continued as a trio after Berry left in 1997
• Broke up in 2011 after selling more than 90 million albums worldwide
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2024

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone called the album 'epochal' and gave it four out of five stars
• Reviewer Steve Pond felt the album fulfilled the promise the band had shown on Chronic Town
• Pond wrote that the album reveals a depth and cohesiveness that the EP could only suggest
• Jonathan Gregg of Record described it as a splendid little film noir of an album, austere but rich in implication
• Gregg praised the band's distinctive twitchy, restless dance beat
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album a perfect score
• Rolling Stone named it its Best Album of 1983, beating Thriller, Synchronicity and War

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone ranked it 197th in its 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
• It kept that position in the 2012 list and was raised to 165th in the 2020 revision
• Rolling Stone placed it eighth on its 1989 list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s
• Dan Weiss of Paste Magazine wrote in 2016 that Rickenbacker arpeggios and punk met through songs like 'Radio Free Europe'
• Paste listed it sixth among the best debut albums in 2023
• Radio X included it in its 2025 list of the 25 best indie debut albums of the 1980s
• Andrew Earles highlighted 'Laughing' and 'Sitting Still' in his book Gimme Indie Rock

Records

• Reached number 36 on the Billboard album chart
• The re-recorded 'Radio Free Europe' was the lead single and reached number 78 on the Billboard singles chart that year
• Sold about 200,000 copies by the end of 1983, below expectations according to I.R.S.'s Jay Boberg
• Certified gold by the RIAA in 1991 (500,000 units shipped)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The initial tape edition (catalogue number CS 70604) lists a Velvet Underground cover as its final track, but the track is not on it; later printings fixed this
• A rumour said that cover was meant for Murmur but cut so that all tracks would be original and the band would avoid a royalty cut; the band later distanced itself from the rumour
• Stipe asked friend Neil Bogan to contribute lyrics to 'West of the Fields', a rare instance of R.E.M. co-writing
• Buck's amplifier was 'dead', so Easter's Ampeg Gemini II replaced it on every song except 'Pilgrimage'
• Buck said in 2002 that I.R.S. was 'mind-boggled' by the album's positive reviews, especially in the British press, before R.E.M. had toured the UK
• In 2003 VH1 named Murmur the 92nd greatest album of all time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

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