Murmur a bit and then go back to the main R.E.M. page... Murmurmurmur Overall Album Score: 9.5 out of 10 On this very fateful morning, I sat down on this chair in front of this computer of mine and I was attempting to write the track review of "Radio Free Europe" ... the very first song from this album. And, I just couldn't think of anything to say about it. I knew that I definitely *liked* it but I couldn't really pinpoint exactly what it is I liked about it. Murmur has the honorable distinction of being one of those rock albums that I bought back in the summer of 2002 back when I used to actually make money. (Now, I just work for my school newspaper, and I only make enough money to afford this web site, pay for gasoline, and purchase a CD or a DVD every two weeks or so.) And, after hearing from multiple sources on the Web and where-ever that Murmur by R.E.M. was the greatest thing since meatballs (the movie), I went out and bought it with that load of cash that I used to make from delivering sandwiches across the city to lazy people. (The purpose of me telling you this, I suppose, is that I've been listening to this album for quite a long time ... most of these reviews, I've only listened to a few days before actually reviewing it.) Anyway, I immediately knew that Murmur was a great album. Even today, when I go on long car trips, I'm sure to bring this CD with me, 'cause it's one of my fav'rites. ... And I really have no idea why it's so danged good. I clicked onto George Starostin's review of this album, and he has the same problem with it. It's good, but it's not obvious *why* it's good. Starostin says it probably has to do with the singing. I agree. The singing is not starkly passionate. It's, as he put it, a "muffled passion." (Heck! Why are you reading this review? Go and read his! I'm nothing but a shameless music review rip-off artist!) With this "muffled passion," it brings forth a sort of attitude ... a cool attitude ... that makes this album seem like the soundtrack to a nice, cool, and sunny spring day. That quality is probably why Murmur sounds so nice! Overall Album Score: 9.5 out of 10 (This album is maaaaaaaahvellous! Enough said there.) Average Song Score: 9.5 (Perhaps this is the biggest flaw of Murmur. With there not being ONE bad song in sight, it's hard to appreciate them ... 'cause they're all consistently good!) Album Tilt: 9.5 (Oh my goodness, they've stumbled upon it! The album that's good and artistic, but it's thoroughly unpretentious and one hundred percent entertaining! Ya gotta dig this one.) Artist Rating: 9.5 (Well, this wasn't really a major artistic breakthrough ... or anything. It's very tasteful on the artistic front, though. Can't deny it that.) Track Reviews Radio Free Europe 10/10 And the album begins with this wonderful little ditty ... I wouldn't necessarily say that it has the world's most wonderful melody, but it definitely has a "formidable" one ... Heck! R.E.M. is probably not even *liked* for their melodies! It's the cool atmosphere! The cool spirit! The great, yet simplistic, instrumentation! And, it's 101 percent likable. No wonder this band has so many bloody fans! Pilgrimage 9/10 I'm going to tell you right now that these songs are basically similar to each other. They're all "cool" ... they all have a "formidable" melody ... great but simple instrumentation. All I really have to do is tell you how much they measure up compared to each other. "Pilgrimage" is a nice song. It's very nice, in fact. It's not as "magical" as "Radio Free Europe" seemed to come off as ... but there's still a lot of "magic" here, especially when we're talking about the chorus. Laughing 9/10 Another mighty fine song! This one has a nice riff. It might sound mild, but it is essentially as good as everything else on this album. Talk About the Passion 10/10 This one is slower and ... dare I say it ... more dramatic? That is not the only measurable difference when you compare this to the other songs ... but the melody is catchier, the instrumentals are more passionate ... Yep, "Talk About the Passion" is a very good song. Moral Kiosk 9.5/10 I really like the riff ... and then the two beats of that loud drum ... That's pretty cool. Other than that, this isn't fundamentally different from everything else on this very excellent and very consistent album. Perfect Circle 9.5/10 This one has one of the better melodies in the album. It's also quite distinguishable from the other songs in here, 'cause it's so slow! But it's masterful! Catapult 9/10 Holy crap! ANOTHER GOOD SONG! ... At least at this point of their careers, R.E.M. probably didn't even know how to suck. It sounds like most of the other songs, so there's really nothing else to say here. It's masterfully performed, etc., etc... (Unfortunately, the track reviews are going to get very juvenile beyond this point. I have multiple personalities, and I cannot control them. Sorry for the inconvenience.) Sitting Still 9.5/10 Hey this one has a faster beat! COOL!!!! 9-9 9/10 Strange title. VERY COOL RHYTHM STUFF!!!!!!! Strange song. VERY COOL WEIRD ECHOEY VOCAL THINGS!!!!!!!! Shaking Through 10/10 WHOAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I lahke deeess! The melody is GREAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Somebody! Please shoot me so I can preserve this moment foreverrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!! (Holy crap! Does anybody else know what this guy is saying? I know a fruitcake when I see one, and let me tell you that he is CRACKED.) This song ends with a nice little groove thing ... that was completely unrelated to the regular song. That's okay, though. We all do that sort of thing after going completely bonkers. We Walk 9/10 We do?!?? Oh. I'm not walking right now, though. It's kinda hard to walk and type on this keyboard at the same time. Oh! Hey! Listen to this song! It's pleasant! Yay! I! Like! Dees! West of the Fields 10/10 Hey! This is a nice concluding song of this very cool album. It's one of the more rockingful things on here. Yes. All right. I'm done reviewing this album. I think I'm going to go to sleep now, even though it is currently only one o'clock in the afternoon. Good night. Don't Murmur! Type! An e-mail! And send it! here! bobtendy@aol.com (bob tendy) received Feb. 2, 2005 My friend, Russ Banham, was in the Movie "Meatballs." Check it out, he played "Bobby". I went to college and High School with him. Pretty smart guy. Murmur is a great album (some very nice noise gates on the drums, advanced for, what was it, 1983?. But once R.E.M. started writing songs where you could actually understand the lyrics, they went downhill very fast. Now they are a bunch of greenie whiny "thoughtful" rockers like Coldplay, et al. "Shiny happy people." Gimme an 'effin break. Don Ignacio responds: I always thought "Shiny Happy People" was a pretty song.

All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. He picks his nose at intersections.