#141

Okay.

Third listen of Murmur in the past week.

It never really hit the heights for me in the past in comparison to some of what came later in spite of it having some really lovely tracks on it - wouldn’t have been in my top 5.

Re-appraising it in the past week has been a real eye-opener. It’s far tighter as a collection than I ever gave it credit for.

Previously unappreciated highlights for me:

Laughing - what a gem. The only word I can really make out is still ‘misconstrued’ at the end of the first two verses. Love Stipe’s voice on this - it’s just melts into the music beautifully

Talk About the Passion - First came across this on one of their VHS releases which was mostly videos to tracks on Document & Green. Am a sucker for a string arrangement, the ones on here are nicely understated.

Perfect Circle - Think I first heard this on the John Peel live show when they were promoting Up - preferred that version to the album version. I am fairly certain that the version on Murmur was played on an out of tune upright piano. Listening now, actually, I love it immensely, there’s a bit of a delicacy to the piano that I’d never appreciated. Bill Berry could write a decent tune. So so beautiful.

9-9 - I expect this would have been a fucking brilliant track to see them play live.

Aside from that, Shaking Through (“In my liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifffffffeeeeeee!”) and We Walk remain my two favourite tracks on the album as a whole.

Can’t wait for Reckoning this week - can still remember my first listen to that when I was about 15 or 16.

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#142

Nice summary!

One of the highlights of this past week has been Shaking Through establishing itself as possibly my favourite song on the album. Maybe overshadowed in the past by the big hitters early on and being buried away towards the end, but it’s an absolute belter!

#143

Funny how Perfect Circle divides opinion. I think it’s maybe because it almost has this power ballad quality about the chorus melody (if not the performance or arrangement)? I can almost imagine an X Factor contestant or somesuch reimagining it as an overwrought torch song.

Right…next album upcoming!

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#144

Ok, lots of great discussion over the last week, and now time to move on.

Another cracking album picking up where the last one left off, though maybe more of a direct sound than on Murmur or Chronic Town? Classic R.E.M. opener with Harborcoat too!

So, this week’s selection: Reckoning :grinning:

#145

Maybe my favourite R.E.M. album. Joint with Lifes Rich Pageant perhaps.

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#146

Will listen to it soon but from memory it has some really amazing standout songs like Camera on it but it’s not as coherent a whole album as murmur. I’m sure I’ll totally change my mind once I re listen!

#147

Was so tempted to break the seal and listen to it a couple of hours ago. Held off though.

Love this album so much.

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#148

I think Harborcoat is one of the greatest pieces of music ever recorded, it just sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard, it’s so beautiful and weird.

And So. Central Rain is almost as good.

THAT ACCEPTED I think maybe Reckoning is a tiny bit of a step down from Murmur and Chronic Town, it’s a bit more straighforward ‘indie rock’ maybe…?

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#149

So I’ve re listened and I agree with my younger self - the peaks of reckoning are just as good /better than murmur but it doesn’t, as a whole album, have the same magic running through the whole thing like murmur does. Murmur is that rarest of thing, the perfect album where not a note feels out of place.

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#150

I stand by my opinion that it’s a better album than Murmur. The singles are on a par and a number of the non-single cuts like Harborcoat, Second Guessing and Little America are rad.

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#151

I don’t even mean the singles, having checked. I mean the songs on the IRS Best Of.

#152

Heh well they’re both fab albums and I suppose it’s like having a favourite child or something (except don’t pick The Wrong Child…)

#153

There’s something of a weird throwback to earlier times for me listening to Murmur. I know the songs from the best-of comps like the back of my hand then everything else is brand new. Like when you’d hear the lead singles over and over - never really listen to songs in advance of albums these days.

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#154

Reckoning was the second R.E.M. album I ever purchased when I was about 15 or 16, I loved it then, it felt like a I was unravelling a mystery when I first listened to it.

Been listening to it again loads the last couple of days, it’s still my favourite album, certainly of the IRS years, if not overall.

It has a bit more of a defined feel to it, Stipe’s lyrics are clearer and that clarity provides some beautiful moments.

Camera is a thing of absolute heart-breaking beauty.

Don’t Go Back to (Rockville) really feels ‘of the South’ - I think it’s the jangly piano.

The harmonies on Harborcoat still give me goose-bumps.

Pretty Persuasion, So.Central Rain, Little America - so many bona-fide belters.

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#155

Been enjoying a few listens through so far this week. I must never have listened closely enough to Reckoning before as I’d always thought of it as Murmur part 2 - but it’s actually quite different. Much more of a live feel isn’t there - I’m thinking that the piano may be the only substantive overdubbing, and even that’s likely to be because either Mills or Berry can’t play two things at once.

All the little layers and experiments from Murmur are gone and the whole record is stripped down to its basics. Even the drumming feels consciously rudimentary in parts - and the kick is so prominent throughout, I like how much it drives the whole record.

I read that they recorded the whole album within two weeks - they were so convinced that IRS weren’t going to like it, that they tried to get it completed before anyone from the record label could make it over to the studio to hear it!

#156

Enjoying Reckoning. One mystery solved. I was confused why Murmur’s Talk About the Passion wasn’t as upbeat as I remembered it. Turns out I got the title mixed up with Pretty Persuasion.

#157

Been really great listening to these so much again. They’re so autumnal. I find it really hard to separate these albums out, although I think if I had to choose I’d go with Murmur over Reckoning - I think its vibe is more unique. Though maybe Reckoning does a better job at hinting at the greatness to come.

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#158

Glad these are being done weekly as I am only now able to re-listen to Reckoning and give it my full attention.

Echoing what has been said above, this is a continuation of the quality seen on Murmur but I think there is more confidence to be heard in the arrangements and production. What and opener in Harborcoat, everything in that song is a hook, just so damn catchy. Pretty Persuasion is also another highlight for me. I’ll be interested to see what everyone’s top 10 R.E.M. songs are across there whole back catalog after we are done with all their albums.

This album for me has always been about Mike Mills, his backing vocals just elevate almost all of the songs on this album up to something great.

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#159

This listening club idea is brilliant, I think because of the late stage when REM finally clicked for me (circa New Adventures) I’ve never given the earlier albums the attention they deserve. Harborcoat, Pretty Persuasion and Time After Time are all amazing songs that I’m pretty sure I’d never heard before, shamefully…

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#160

Yeah, these two are absolute highlights for me. I’ve enjoyed the remaster on both too as they seem to have a little more punch.

Agree on those Mills harmonies too - they’re so great. I can’t get my head around how you keep to time with the bass and sing those counterpoint harmonies at the same time - it’s like a pat your head and rub your tummy trick in my head…

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