History Music / Murmur

* NotChristianRock: "Pilgrimage" and "Talk About the Passion" both have religious-sounding titles, but their subject matter has more to do with personal quests than Judeo-Christian ones.

* NotChristianRock: "Pilgrimage" and "Talk About the Passion" both have religious-sounding titles, but their subject matter has more to do with personal quests that Judeo-Christian ones.

* EchoingAcoustics: Mitch Easter was closely influenced by Music/{{Kraftwerk}}'s production style, which translated to giving the album enough reverb and odd sound on the album to give [[Creator/FactoryRecords Martin Hannett]] a run for his money. The closer "West of the Fields" is a sterling example, as is "Pilgrimage", which opens with Michael Stipe's vocals processed to sound like he's singing from the other side of an orchestra hall. Interestingly, the sessions with Stephen Hague led to the latter outright attempting to get R.E.M. to sound like bands such as Music/JoyDivision and Music/{{The Cure|Band}}, but his heavy liberties with the studio recordings led to the band axing him, having already grown weary of his dictatorial production methods.

** "Radio Free Europe" has something to do with foreign affairs, although the impressionistic lyrics {{downplay|ed trope}} the protest angle.

* EchoingAcoustics: There is a lot of reverb and odd sound on the album to give [[Creator/FactoryRecords Martin Hannett]] a run for his money. The closer "West of the Fields" is a sterling example, as is "Pilgrimage", which opens with Michael Stipe's vocals processed to sound like he's singing from the other side of an orchestra hall. Interestingly, the sessions with Stephen Hague led to the latter outright attempting to get R.E.M. to sound like bands such as Music/JoyDivision and Music/{{The Cure|Band}}, but his heavy liberties with the studio recordings led to the band axing him, having already grown weary of his dictatorial production methods.

* EchoingAcoustics: There is a lot of reverb and odd sound on the album to give [[Creator/FactoryRecords Martin Hannett]] a run for his money. The closer "West of the Fields" is a sterling example, as is "Pilgrimage", which opens with Michael Stipe's vocals processed to sound like he's singing from the other side of an orchestra hall. Interestingly, the sessions with Stephen Hague led to the latter outright attempting to get R.E.M. to sound like bands such as Music/JoyDivision and Music/TheCure, but his heavy liberties with the studio recordings led to the band axing him, having already grown weary of his dictatorial production methods.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''Rest assured this will not last, take a turn for the worse.'']]

* ProtestSong: "Radio Free Europe" has something to do with foreign affairs, although the impressionistic lyrics {{downplay|ed trope}} the protest angle.

Understandably displeased with this environment, R.E.M. held out for the right to record with Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, two Southern musicians they knew and respected; Easter had already produced the band's earlier debut single "Radio Free Europe" from 1981 as well as ''Chronic Town'', and the good working relationship they had with him led the band to heavily prefer Easter over Hague. The resulting album became one of the seminal releases in JanglePop and AlternativeIndie in general.

Upon release, ''Murmur'' was met with overwhelmingly positive critical reception. ''Record'' magazine praised its enigmatic tone and rich composition, comparing it to a FilmNoir, while ''Magazine/RollingStone'' ranked it as the best album of 1983 and the eighth greatest album of the decade, complimenting its artistic advancement following ''Chronic Town'' and considering it the band fulfilling the potential they had hinted at on their earlier EP. The album's praise blindsided I.R.S., especially since a great deal of it came from the UK, where the label's distribution was comparatively scarce. [[Music/{{Green}} This would bite I.R.S. in the ass later down the road]]. The album was also a considerable commercial success for a band as green as R.E.M., peaking at No. 36 on the Billboard 100 and being certified gold by the RIAA (indicating sales of at least 500,000 copies) in 1991. While it didn't exactly make the Georgia quartet into mainstream superstars, it definitely put them on the map.

Since its release, ''Murmur''[='s=] acclaim has only increased: in 2009 the song "Radio Free Europe" was added to the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically important". The album was listed at No. 197 on the 2012 edition of ''Rolling Stone''[='s=] [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]], being bumped up to No. 165 on [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime2020 the 2020 revision]], and is currently the 69th-most-acclaimed album of all time according to Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums compendium of various critics' lists]]. Among fans, it continues to be regarded alongside ''Music/{{Document}}'', ''Music/{{Green}}'', ''Music/OutOfTime'', ''Music/AutomaticForThePeople'', and ''Music/NewAdventuresInHiFi'' as one of the band's finest works, with many going so far as ranking it as '''the''' greatest R.E.M. album. Needless to say, it continuously stands as one of the most beloved and important releases from the first wave of AlternativeRock.

* GratuitousFrench: "Talk About the Passion" has "Combien de temps?", which -- as Peter Buck noted in the liner notes for ''Eponymous'' translates to "How much time?"

* WordPureeLyrics: Stipe has flat-out said in interviews that "Sitting Still" literally ''has'' no lyrics (arguably, however, there are a few loosely-connected phrases here and there -- "I can hear you," "up to par and Katie bar," and "talk until you're blue," among others), calling the words he's singing "an embarrassing collection of vowels strung together." This was lampshaded after its performance on the ''Live at the Olympia'' 2-CD set, where Stipe (who's been singing the lyrics from a website) notes the comment made at the end of the lyric set:
--> '''Stipe''': ''(reading)'' "Note: These lyrics are approximations. Stipe himself has no idea what he says." [[DeadpanSnarker Thank you, search engine!]]

* GratuitousFrench: "Talk About the Passion" has "Combien de temps?", translating to "For how long?"

----> '''Stipe''': ''(reading)'' "Note: These lyrics are approximations. Stipe himself has no idea what he says." [[DeadpanSnarker Thank you, search engine!]]

* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: The band would provide the TropeNamer later on, so it's not too surprising a lot of the lyrics are hard to make out...
** WordSaladLyrics: ...and once you have an idea what they are, it's still up in the air what a lot of them really mean.
*** WordPureeLyrics: Stipe has flat-out said in interviews that "Sitting Still" literally ''has'' no lyrics (arguably, however, there are a few loosely-connected phrases here and there -- "I can hear you," "up to par and Katie bar," and "talk until you're blue," among others), calling the words he's singing "an embarrassing collection of vowels strung together." This was lampshaded after its performance on the ''Live at the Olympia'' 2-CD set, where Stipe (who's been singing the lyrics from a website) notes the comment made at the end of the lyric set:

-->-- IRS radio promo for ''Murmur'', 1983

* EverythingIsAnInstrument: "We Walk" features lots of thunderous noise throughout, though the actual noise itself isn't thunder-- it's a recording of then-drummer Bill Berry playing pool. Producer Mitch Easter [[{{Overcrank}} recorded the billiard balls hitting at a sped-up pace, then slowed the tape down]] and added reverb.

* TruckDriversGearChange: Done in the last reprise of the chorus in "Shaking Through".

-->- IRS radio promo for ''Murmur'', 1983

* CompilationRerelease: The album was rereleased with the ''Chronic Town'' EP and ''Reckoning'' in LP replica sleeves as part of ''The Originals'' box set in Europe in 1995.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: LP copies don't label the sides, leaving the track listing on the cover and inner sleeve to determine the proper running order.

Since its release, ''Murmur''[='s=] acclaim has only increased: in 2009 the song "Radio Free Europe" was added to the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically important". The album was listed at No. #197 in ''Rolling Stone''[='s=] [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]], and is currently the 69th-most-acclaimed album of all time according to Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums compendium of various critics' lists]]. Among fans, it continues to be regarded alongside ''Music/{{Document}}'', ''Music/{{Green}}'', ''Music/OutOfTime'', ''Music/AutomaticForThePeople'', and ''Music/NewAdventuresInHiFi'' as one of the band's finest works, with many going so far as ranking it as '''the''' greatest R.E.M. album. Needless to say, it continuously stands as one of the most beloved and important releases from the first wave of AlternativeRock.

Understandably displeased with this environment, R.E.M. held out for the right to record with Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, two Southern musicians they knew and respected; Easter had also produced the band's earlier debut single "Radio Free Europe" from 1981 as well as ''Chronic Town'', and the good working relationship they had with him led the band to heavily prefer Easter over Hague. The resulting album became one of the seminal releases in JanglePop and AlternativeIndie in general.

* CoverVersion: Not included on the original release of the album itself (though it was originally intended to be), but a cover of [[Music/TheVelvetUndergroundAndNico "There She Goes Again"]] by the Music/VelvetUnderground is featured as the B-side to the single release of the re-recorded "Radio Free Europe"; the performance is also included on the 1992 ''The I.R.S. Years'' CD reissue as a bonus track.

* RearrangeTheSong: "Radio Free Europe" was a re-recording of the band's first single, which was released on Hib-Tone Records back in 1981. The re-recording is slower in tempo, has a more "slapping" percussion sound, and features a more prominent bassline at certain points, overall moving away from the more heavily PostPunk-influenced angle of the original. "Sitting Still", the B-side to said single[[note]]at least in its original release; the single release of the 1983 version features a cover of [[Music/VelvetUnderground "There She Goes Again"]] as its B-side[[/note]], is also featured on the album, largely unchanged from its 1981 recording except for a re-tuning of the background vocals and Mike Mills re-recording his bass line.
* RecordProducer: Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, who had previously produced ''Chronic Town'' and later returned to produce ''Reckoning''.

*** WordPureeLyrics: Stipe has flat-out said in interviews that "Sitting Still" literally ''has'' no lyrics aside from a few loosely-connected phrases here and there (e.g. "I can hear you," "up to par and Katie bar," and "talk until you're blue," among others), calling the words he's singing "an embarrassing collection of vowels strung together." This was lampshaded after its performance on the ''Live at the Olympia'' 2-CD set, where Stipe (who's been singing the lyrics from a website) notes the comment made at the end of the lyric set: