Murmur

I was listening to this while cleaning my apartment and folding laundry. Nothing stuck out, but then one song came on that really struck my fancy. I threw the laundry down to check what the title was, all giddy and excited to have found a gem. And then I pick up the phone only to find that this album had ended without me realizing and The Cure’s Jumping Someone Else’s Train came on as one of Spotify’s recommended songs.

C Radio Free Europe - 2 Pilgrimage - 2 Laughing - 2 Talk About the Passion - 2 Moral Kiosk - 2 Perfect Circle - okay, this is an actual sleep aid 1. Catapult - 3 Sitting Still - 2 9-9 - 1 Shaking Through - 3 We Walk - 5 West of the Fields - 2

Before REM refined their style, it's the definition of Middle Of The Road.

Welcher Spacko meint denn, in dieser Liste müssten zwei R.E.M.-Alben enthalten sein? Kann ich nicht durchhören.

got to be honest, never really got into REM that much. this was pretty boring, in my opinion.

It's ok, but not a memorable album from REM. It leads with its most memorable song, and kinda flatlines after that.

I felt like I was having a stroke with how similar all the songs are and how incomprehensible the singing is. I wanted to like it but it just brought almost nothing by to stand out for me. 4/10

tava escutando a mesma música por 1h??? todas pareciam iguais, nenhuma se destacou. não vou procurar para escutar mais por conta própria.

música de rádio, não fede nem cheira. Gostei da primeira música mas as outras não se destacaram muito individualmente, ficaram meio blended together.

It's a murmur all right - there's little in these songs to stick for more than a few minutes after the record is over - and is especially start when you know R.E.M. have composed some of the most stubborn of earworms. Disappointing.

Scale: 1: Dissapointing 2: Didn't enjoy 3: Decent 4: Enjoyed 5: Would listen again (My first impression if not mentioned otherwise in a comment) Radio Free Europe: 2.5/5, ok Pilgrimage: 1.5/5, rather annoying Laughing: 2.5/5 idk Talk About The Passion: 1/5, worst one so far Moral Kiosk: 3.5/5, decent Perfect Circle: 1.5/5, boring Catapult: 2/5, idk Sitting Still: 2/5, idk 9-9: 3/5, fine Shaking Through: 1/5, bad We Walk: 2.5/5, fine West Of The Fields: 2/5 idk Overall: 2.08/5, pretty mediocre and rather boring

Great throwback to REM, but not a huge fan of their style in general or this album specifically.

Was fine, nothing special. Fine for the background but not planning on listening again

Before they were good

boring old R.E.M. I think there just overplayed and that's why it's boring to me who knows

Music for staring absentmindedly at a blank wall.

It was fine. I guess I don't like REM.

Pretty generic drone- acoustic. Meh.

Man I like the singer of this band and like 50 percent of the instruments but I feel like rems stuff isn’t connecting with me. Nothing is really sticking out for me aside from the hits and they need to drop the mandolin ffs

I want to like it, really I do, but there just isn’t something there I connect with. By the time ‘Sitting Still’ came on, I found myself ready for the album to end.

Okish album from one of the most overrated bands. Mostly background music but refreshing in that Stipe hadn't yet developed is full whine of a voice.

This is bland and boring.

Not a huge fan of R.E.M. Nothing particular stood out to me

murmurmrmurmurmur. R.E.M. are kinda boring.

Better than I remember but still not very impressive

T3B 1. Talk About The Passion 2. Radio Free Europe 3. 9-9

Not their greatest album, interesting sounds for the time but not songs that I’m a huge fan of, don’t really like the mumbling lyrics.

Boring…

OK - it's REM, and it's early, so not too douchey, but still it all sounds very much of a type

Best Song: Moral Kiosk. I think I just like this song lyrically and the drums bounce in a pleasant way. Worst Song: 9-9. A spastic song that never goes anywhere. Overall: I know a handful of R.E.M. songs that I kind of like. None of them are on this album. Not sure why this album was included, but it really gave the impression that R.E.M. has only one speed, and that speed isn't particularly exciting.

Maybe if I was 10-15 yrs older I would appreciate this band more

R.E.M. a été un band marquant d’une bonne décénie. Ils ont marqué le pop avec chansons bien construites, des refrains accrocheurs et des textes qui traitent de sujets inattendus d’une façon propre à eux. Cet album me laisse sur ma faim dans chacun de ces domaines. C’est comme s’ils n’étaient pas encore prêts. On fini l’écoute en se disant « bon, ok, ça va ».

ikkje spesielt minneverdig like rem i teorien men detta va ikkje så bra

nothing special

Definitely not my favorite from R.E.M. Nothing really stood out.

REM are a boring band with two good songs and neither one is on this album. REM basically sound like Husker Du if you stripped out all the punk and vitality and just left aborted scrapings.

I'm just not a fan of REM. I can't actually believe this is the third album of theirs on here!

Wasn't bad, but didn't feel like anything special. Most of the songs we good enough to leave on in the background but only a few actually had me invested enough to listen. Not sure if my opinion would change if I gave it another listen but for now it was very underwhelming.

Fairly bland indie.

meh

Murmur by R.E.M. (1983) Let’s be charitable and set the lyrics aside, given that (1) lyricist/lead vocalist Michael Stipe used the expression “complete babble” to describe some of his lyrics, (2) he mistakenly misgenders a mythical reference (Laocoön and “her” two sons on “Laughing”—I couldn’t stop), and (3) the sounds of the senseless syllables frequently are at odds with the musical mood and meter. Gibberish would be an improvement. While some have complimented R.E.M.’s lyrics with the term “indecipherable”, I would argue that there is no cipher in the first place. Words on this record are merely a device on which to hang the subpar lead singer’s voice. This album is all about the music, which is, well, okay. It’s mostly competent rock, with a tight rhythm section and inventive guitar composition, and including a few brief moments of really cool sound. In historical context, it was different, appealing to restless ears searching for options, but it was not quite different enough. Don’t get me wrong, rock is all about rebellion against the inherited verities. But rebellion without a projected aim fails as Revolution. The result is like invasive kudzu covering an abandoned railroad trestle, suitably depicted on the album cover art. If this is ‘alternative rock’, one might well ask, “Alternative to what? Ennui?” 2/5

Genre: Jangle Pop 2/5 Throughout the process of this 1001 Albums project, I've found that I absolutely love The Smiths. A lovely contemporary of the Jangle Pop era and a truly delightful continuation of the Beatles sound. Their American counterpart, R.E.M., does everything very similar to them, with similar structures and arrangements, but with absolutely none of the studio flair, none of the attitude, and nothing in terms of challenging the form. This album is surely a favorite amongst most whisper rock fans, but this album, aptly named Murmur, truly murmurs along. No sense of urgency, vocals from Stipes that I can't stand, and flat out boring execution of nearly every song here. It's all well-produced, and I'm sure at the time this sounded truly unique, but upon listening with fresh ears in 2022, this album flows like mush and doesn't sound much better.

kind of meh for me

Toe tapping music, but pretty forgettable for me. Felt like I was forgetting the songs as I was listening to them.

Just seemed very downbeat and dull to me.

L'album est moyen selon mes goûts, ca ne bouge pas beaucoup et j'ai l'impression que le 45 minutes de l'abum est très long. aucune chanson ne m'a vraiment accroché et cela semblait du pareil au même. 2.50

Clever, but boring, and I really do not like his singing

Bemerkenswert wie alle Songs sich wie Losing My Religion anhören

Only went through 3 songs. Snoozeville

Tyhjänpäiväistä rokkirallattelua, joka oli varsin puuduttavaa jopa REM:in tuotannoksi. Yleensä REM:in levyillä hittibiisit jaksavat pitää mielenkiinnon yllä edes hetkellisesti, mutta tältä levyltä nekin loistivat poissaolollaan. Kolmella kuuntelukerralla yksikään kappale ei jäänyt mieleen erityisen positiivisesti, joskaan ei myöskään negatiivisesti. Toistaiseksi listan heikoin REM-ehdokas, jonka 2,5 pyöristyy alaspäin.

2/5 nope

It's not the cool opinion but I prefer the pop period REM to the indie period. Not my favourite of theirs

Eh

I don't own this one and have never heard it.

Listened to the whole album and could only tell the songs apart due to the youtube ads. Yes they had a good sound but can't imagine this being anyone's favourite album.

Least favourite R.E.M. album

trash

not my cup a tea

Michael Stipe sounds older here than he is now. Snooze..

Neither nowt nor summat.

The wiki on this album is a good read. Solid album, though not a go to for me.

Bit underwhelming tbh. Couple of decent tracks. 3/10

A bit samey and not any stand out tracks makes this monatanous.

well made, but not really my style

Vanilla. I don't get R.E.M., soft soft rock. Nothing inspiring about it.

Bit harsh perhaps but it wasn't as good as Automatic for the People so...

Nettes Indie Album aber eines von 1001 ?!? Gelächter! Ergo: „Laughing“ einziger Lichtblick 1.7

It was fine. Had it on while I cooked dinner, only listened to a few tracks. Didn't feel much one way or the other.

Man, I just don't like REM. Never have. Moral Kiosk is fun. 9-9 is enjoyable. A lot of the songs sound the same to me. I think I hate Michael Stipe. He reminds me of a weird elementary school art teacher. His voice comes off as condescending. I would give this a 1, but I don't want Stipe to give me detention.

Not bad, but some songs lost my interest. 2 stars only as I have high hopes for the other albums on the list.

So iconically college music that it sounds like satire

Grand, I'm sure they have better albums

I didn't hate this album when I started. But I grew to hate how fucking boring it was. I give it a 2 as opposed to a 1 because the repetition on the last three tracks was nice to cook to.

Langweilige Radio Musik... Catapult ist aber schon catchy und vibey. Aber sonst ist das alles ehr Mittel. Ich will irgendwie 2* geben, weil Ihr so gemein zu the Verve gewesen seid. --> 2*

Own

not what they're known for

Boring! This had a grand total of ZERO bangers upon it. Only got two stars because Michael Stipe does has a good voice none the less.

I like REM but this wasn't my favourite of theirs.

Didn't really know any of the songs on this album and nothing really stuck out. Classic REM sound. probably could be better albums for this list.

Meh. Not my favorite. Not a huge R.E.M. fan to begin with. They definitely have a few songs I really like, but this album didn't have the feel of those.

Not bad, but not something that would compel me to listen again. If one of those tunes came on the radio, I wouldn't be compelled to change the station, but I wouldn't be compelled to listen through either. Not a lot of compulsion here. 2 stars.

Boring. Voice miserable

I just don't give a shit about REM.

Art school intellectual or pretentious? I’m still not sure. Its not on my playlist. Quite like the sleeve though a collaboration created by Ann Kinney, Carl Grasso, and Sandra Lee Phipps and Michael Stipe of course.

I can’t quite tell you why, but the more I listen to R.E.M, the less I like them. This just did not interest me at all. And I’m going to give it a 1 not because of the album itself, but because this is the 3rd R.E.M record I got in the last few weeks. And I know there’s at least one more coming. R.E.M, I’m not sure if it’s me or you, but I don’t think this is gonna work out.

1/1

I do not like REM

Pure cack

More painfully boring and nasally music from one of the most generically mainstream bands ever. An epitome of "coworker" music that must sound so good if you've literally heard nothing else before

Monstrously dull

1.42

It was good. Started to all sound the same to me.

this is the soundtrack to the worst episode of scrubs.

Nah.

Good music, but not for me.

Not a fan of hard rock.

im so sorry but it was so booty i didnt finish the album...

didnt catch me, but it dont means that its bad, just too indie for me, still added like three songs to playlist

Es un gran Meh este álbum.. Olvidable.

Despite its reputation, Murmur felt dull to me, with many songs blending together and sounding too similar.

Worst album yet by far. I hope the restaurant don’t like this. This is terrible.

I’ve never been an REM fan, and apparently I still am not.

Faggot mould

I've never listened to this album (34). Enough! No more Mr. Bald Guy!

Another boring band

Listening to this album is like listening to nothing... It's a murmur that mumbles instead of whispering something. It's bland and repetitive and, still, there's nothing. Nothing. I think I liked more the last album of R.E.M. I was assigned, and it wasn't of my like at all. But still it had something interesting, if I may say interesting for a R.E.M. album.

Not my style of music. All of the songs sounded very similar.

Boooooorrrrrriinnggggg

Bit of a dirge

I think i have Singles Expectation Disease with R.E.M.. Every time I listen to an R.E.M. album I'm waiting for it to become an R.E.M. album and most of them never do and it's disappointing.

Fuck rating albums. Just let me listen.

I skipped through this pretty quickly, familiar enough with it that I know I don’t need to listen to it again before I die.

So, the best of indie pop? This is terrible. Michael Stipe's voice, while technically good, is worse than a prepubecent teens. Grating is an understatement. The music - every song - is now one of the 8 default settings on a Casio keyboard. I award it no stars, and may God have mercy on its soul.

Dårlig og kjedelig

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Nah Fick dich is ja Tod langweilig

For me, there wasn't a single remarkable track on the entire album. Seems like R.E.M. and Michael Stipe was kinda atonal and semi-punky from the beginning, and this just doesn't do anything for me. Yeah, their hits are poppy, but this album has nothing hit-worthy on it. My Rating: 1/5

My appreciation for REM has not increased over 30 years. Hard pass.

Isn't this simply the same radio friendly beige song 12 times? Heard nothing to distinguish the changes in tracks, and nothing of note to talk about afterwards

Boy, I didn't think I was an REM hater, I like their hits, but I don't know about this one. Didn't really connect with any song, and nothing stood out. I dunno, missed the mark for me

I wasn't going to give it a 1 until i read all the comments praising it... guys, we are not on the same plane of existence. I'll be real this is pretty boring repetitive and whiny. An absolute void of musicality. And each new song pissed me off more and more, just fuck these guys for real

One of those albums where you either dig the style or not. Except "Radio Free Europe", just didn't do much for me personally.

Gear: DCA ÆON 2 Noire Artwork: 😢🪦🩶 Production: 🧏‍♂️📏💩 Music: 🤷‍♂️🤢💤 Rating: 💤/5

Huh, I guess that’s an album you could listen to.

I’m sorry there’s no way I’ve had 3+ REM albums a quarter of the way through this list. Not happening. Wish I could veto but I’m in too deep at this point. Even more unfortunately, the music itself does nothing to prove its placement on this list. Outside of the rare almost catchy hook, this album offers nothing. Not memorable, not descriptive, not unique. I’m so sad about this. Have to give it a 1.

Not for me.

No me ha gustado mucho, me ha parecido como decadente

I just wasn't in the mood for REM today. I have a couple of their most popular albums and enjoyed listening to those back in the day but I'm not really impressed with this album. Maybe a 1 for me, nothing really memorable at all in my first listen.

Probably my favorite REM album this far, owing to the fact that Stipe’s voice seems somewhat less whiney than on later recordings. That said, I still couldn’t stomach much of it. I just don’t see why anyone would want to listen to this tripe.

This is what emo kids were listening to before emo and it is terrible. Go all the way and listen to The Smiths. This is not alternative, this is New Wave. I can't believe this dominated college radio in the 80s. I understand why a generation of kids turned to hip hop from rock n' roll.

While I enjoyed the change of pace from their other album that popped up before: Automatic for the people, I unfortunately did not find this album to be in anyway engaging.

REM is so boring

No thank you.

Must be the worst REM album they made

Just after listening to Led Zep IV.... shows how poor everything else is in comparison. Anyways, never liked the happy clappy REM, so this gets a 1. I didn't like a single song on this album - I did listen to them all!

not for me, thanks.

R.E.M. indeed; "Music to Sleep Through" would be an apt title. I have no nostalgic love for the group, and indeed haven't really liked much of what I have heard from them. This was simply a reinforcement of those opinions. Much of the same tip-tap drumming and strummy "feel goodness" melts through the entire LP and does absolutely nothing for me. Sounds like safe music for uninteresting suburbanites. Musicianship is competent. Stipe's vocals are interminable. All is meh. PS - listening to "We Walk" and "West of the Fields" ruined what little good will I had remaining for this album, *not good*

nicht meins

1. radio free europe - 0 2. pilgrimage - 1 3. laughing - 0 4. talk about pazzion - 0 5. moral kiozk - 1 6. perfect circle - 1 7. catapult - 0 8. zitting ztill - 1 9. 9 - 9 - 1 10. zhaking through - 0 11. uue uualk - 1 12. uuezt of the fieldz - 0

Hated it. Hated it then, hate it now.easily the worse album so far and we've had kraftwerk !!!

Just the same song over and over

boring

T’was okay but I’m surprised there aren’t 1001 better albums in the world. Moral Kiosk is probably the best track.

Dreary. Three R.E.M albums have been presented to me within the first 25 albums of this list. The first I felt was enjoyable, since then, each one is becoming progressivley more dreary and bland to my ear. I don't know if this is the quality of each individual album or the sum of listening to a bunch of R.E.M in succession but, either way, their music is starting to grate on me. In this album, Stype's vocals are bleary, lacking dynamics with a too-laid-back demeanor that is uninspiring and sucking the energy from my soul.Stype seems to have a thing about singing happy songs and melodies in a reserved, pulled-back style that undermines teh joy of the melodies. I can see the appeal, but it is draining my life source. The musicianship is pleasant, the instrument pseudo folk - I hear a mondolin - the drums are pretty uninspiring. It's starting to remind me of The Cure, who pull off the off kilter vibe much more effectively in my opinion. Finding this the first really difficult listen in my 1001 albums experience.

2/10 entire thing sounds so samey and that same sound isn't even that fun to listen to

Boring, 2/10

REM sounds like a depressed male version of the Go-Go’s. And I think the Go-Go’s are great so sorry to drag you into this thought ladies.

ask me in a week, if I have heard this album. Most likely I've forgotten ever listening to it.

I am not liking this album.

r.e.m.'s first full length album leaves something to be desired. i'm sure r.e.m. was still finding their sound, because i found murmur to lack originality or variety. while i wouldn't call myself a fan of r.e.m., i can at least find more of a unique sound in their later albums--and at least *some* excitement. did the record company or producer hold r.e.m. at gunpoint to create this album? that's the only explanation i can gather. and not to mention, michael stipe's vocals are Not Good. ugh.

Didn’t enjoy the songwriting

bem paia

1/5 Best: Pilgrimage Worst: Talk About the Passion

Insanely boring album. I really hate this genre as well. Nothing outstanding whatsoever.

As I suspected, boring

This album stinks. All the songs sound the same and this band has no edge whatsoever. R.E.M? more like REM sleep! Boring and bad. Next!

First two songs were good, the rest of the album was some American proclaimers bs

I listened to something. Couldn't quite tell you what it was tho.

i have already listened to this and it is so indescribably bad

I do not like rem

Vibey but none of the songs stuck out to me

nope.

Meh

It all sounds the same.

couldn't even finish sorry! he has one of my least favorite voices ever and i also think the instrumentals didnt age very well at all. i always feel bad giving bad reviews but it's just my opinion!!! sorry mr REM

War zu seiner Zeit bestimmt Mal gut. Wenn ich heute dieses Album höre muss ich an alte weiße Männer denken, die in ihren SUVs und mit ihren 90er Jahre Arbeitsverträgen, sich denken heute höre ich mal was rockiges. Früher waren sie auch mal auf Demos und trugen lange Haare aus Protest, aber das ist lange her, was geblieben ist, ist der R.E.M. sound im Hintergrund. Dieser Sound läuft inmitten einer Weltweiten Pandemie und einer zunehmenden Klimakriese, doch darüber nachzudenken würde ja bedeuten man hätte etwas besser machen können. Jegliche Selbstreflexion verblasst wenn diese seicht melancholischen Klänge aus den Auto Lautsprechern klingt und man sich an eine bessere Zeit erinnern kann.

Mooie hoes

Boring

Everything sounded like a 90s sitcom theme and I couldn't tell where one song ended and another began. Also, lyrics were incomprehensible.

Der Track "Moral Kiosk" sehr programmatisch für das Album. Denn es scheint die Moral am Kiosk ausverkauft zu sein. Dieses Album hat keine Moral. Auch keine guten Tracks. Irgendwie wie der behinderte sabbernde Bruder von The Smiths. Einfach nur Müll, aber beliebter weil er besser drauf ist. 1* hab alles geskippt.

Boring AF, every song sounded the same. Outrageous I needed to listen to this before I die. Less REM ffs

Forgettable - what was the point of listening to that.

seeing REM live was like seeing an animatronic band live with how scripted it was.

THA'S NEE BONKMACHINE. THA'S A FENCE. <BR>

The order of the songs is important. Listened to it 3 times in order and then hit shuffle - don’t hit shuffle.

Good