R.E.M. - Murmur UHD (2014 - Musica alternativa e indie) [Flac 24-192]

R.E.M. - Murmur UHD (2014 - Musica alternativa e indie) [Flac 24-192]



One listen to the eerie ambience in the first 10 seconds of "Radio Free Europe" and it becomes clear R.E.M. were onto something when creating their debut album.

From the electric folk rock-ish guitar riffs to the oddly dance-able drum beat to frontman Michael Stipe's mumbled statements to the overall artfully punk vibe of the song's performance, it was the perfect underground rock song, each contradicting and unvarnished element somehow finding ways to complement each other element.

By refusing to have typical late 70's/early 80's rock song features (namely, no synthesizers or attention-seeking guitar solos), Stipe's refusal to sing with much clarity, keeping lyrics difficult to understand, and of course the famed murky production, R.E.M. inadvertently created what we now know as alternative rock, or at least their variation of it that happened to set the precedent for the lion's share of much alternative and indie rock to follow.

Most of Murmur seems like a folk album that came from a parallel world. Then again, R.E.M. were always adventurous rock geeks, determined to have it their own quirky way. Other prime examples of this spirit include the English/French lyrics of "Talk About the Passion" and the whispering pianos and sparse percussion of "Perfect Circle".

Heck, the lyrics themselves are a puzzle yet to be solved- even seemingly simple lyrics such as "oooh, we were little boys/oooh we were little girls" from "Catapult" make one wonder what the band was intending to say, if they were intending to say anything at all. Is it possible that the instruments themselves offer more insight?

The spidery guitar lines on "Catapult," performed with a delightfully punky weirdness and slightly creepy melancholy, seem to suggest that things in the past were not as simple or innocent as they seemed. Most traditional folk music is open to endless interpretation and whether or not R.E.M. meant to follow that path, the same can certainly be said about Murmur.

R.E.M. - Murmur UHD

Tracklist:

CD1

1. R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
2. R.E.M. - Pilgrimage
3. R.E.M. - Laughing
4. R.E.M. - Talk About The Passion
5. R.E.M. - Moral Kiosk
6. R.E.M. - Perfect Circle
7. R.E.M. - Catapult
8. R.E.M. - Sitting Still
9. R.E.M. - 9-9
10. R.E.M. - Shaking Through
11. R.E.M. - We Walk
12. R.E.M. - West Of The Fields

Playing Time.........: 44:03
Total Size...........: 1718,94 MB