“The expanded reissues of albums from R.E.M.'s I.R.S. years continue, as the brilliant follow-up to Murmur is augmented with a 1984 live show.”
“Murmur is the more inventive of R.E.M.’s early albums, but their second disc, the powerful Reckoning, established the band as bona fide leaders of the new American indie-rock underground. Drummer Bill Berry shines here, propelling the spiky interplay of guitars and bass on "Harborcoat" and clarifying the chiming, radio-friendly folk rock of "So. Central Rain […]”
“Murky yet emotionally winning, brainy but boyishly enthusiastic, R.E.M.’s debut album, Murmur, burst onto the pop scene last year with minimal fanfare. Though some critics lumped the Athens, Georgia, quartet with the big-guitar bunch (the Alarm, Big Country), R.E.M.’s approach was more delicate and pastoral. Their sound was a curious fusion of vocalist Michael Stipe’s […]”
