Now that it's remasterd and everything lets do an R.E.M.'s Murmur poll

xpost haha that first bit made no sense... edit failure :o

One of my favorite noodly warmup things on an acoustic. And the reason I voted for it :-)

24 years after figuring out how to play it, "Sitting Still" is STILL the song I play when I'm checking out a guitar.

"Sitting Still" is like their version of a Who song from 1966.

"Sitting Still" on Showtime's Rock Palace show in 1984. I still have the tape I recorded of this when it first aired.

What is Rainn Wilson doing, lying there all sweaty at the beginning of that clip? Is he reeling in post-coital bliss?

could've picked any of 8 tracks, went "Shaking Through"

"Sitting Still", a lot easier of a choice than I thought it would be. I love this song so much. In my most rockist days I made a mixtape that I called something like "the history of punk" or something similarly idiotic, and this was the last song. In my ridiculous drunk on beauty liner notes I scribbled something like "this song is the emotional culmination of punk". The thought is incoherent and I can't justify it, but I still think of the song as punk, and have always had a hard time understanding why this record got compared to the Byrds rather than the Clash or, as said above, the Who. I've listened to the Hib-Tone version of the song a lot more than the original recently, and I like it more: there's a harshness in Stipe's voice that works better than the sweetness in the Murmur version (same's true for me with the A-side, "Radio Free Europe").

After "Sitting Still" I'd probably vote for "Talk About the Passion", which meant a lot to me in high school when I spent a lot of time carrying the weight of the world (or at least talking about doing so).

Okay, I'm voting for Perfect Circle, but only because that's the words that would come out of my mouth if someone pointed a gun at my head over it, and because I dread RFE winning. Still, just fuck anyone who wants to listen to ONE track on this album at any given time. It needs to be heard in its entirety.

Also, what is the synth noise at the beginning of Radio Free Europe??? HANNETT ANYONE???

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Voted for Pilgrimage in the end, btw.

i've voted for "we walk". it's nothing like the rest of the album and it's kind of cheeky in that way.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Wow, I knew "West of the Fields" wouldn't do that well, but I didn't think it would do that badly. I'm glad my vote at least made it tie for last with something else. I think my true favorite may be "Moral Kiosk" though.

you haven't quite got the hang of this poll business, eh?

Why won't it let me vote anymore?!

woulda voted laughing

You cannot fuck with this album.

Thanks to Euler above for turning me on to the Hib-Tone version of "Sitting Still," which I somehow never knew about before! I'm not sure it's better, but like the single "Radio Free Europe" it has a welcome metallic punchiness. Wish it was on "Chronic Town."

Shaking Through is my least favorite on the record. Therefore, I am slightly displeased with the results of this poll.

On the other hand, hooray for Shaking Through.

Yeah, I don't understand the high placement of that song either.

Oh damn, so much harder than the LRP poll. I would have voted "Sitting Still" probably. Can't believe "Laughing" was so low.

Perfect Circle wuz robbed

ok wtf, here's the order in which I'd have ranked them, could we poll for second, third, etc. I don't really get the love for "Shaking Through" as it's kinda an embarrassing Stipe vocal but maybe that's the appeal? I don't really feel the ballads on this one anyway so maybe that's what I'm missing. Also fuck yeah on the Hib-Tone "Sitting Still", metallic punchiness is a nice way to put it.

B2 Sitting Still 3:18 9
A2 Pilgrimage 4:30 6
B1 Catapult 3:55 4
A3 Laughing 3:58 4
A4 Talk About the Passion 3:23 4
A1 Radio Free Europe 4:05 10
B5 We Walk 3:01 2
B3 9-9 3:05 3
A5 Moral Kiosk 3:32 7
A6 Perfect Circle 3:30 7
B4 Shaking Through 4:30 10
B6 West of the Fields 2

Shaking Through is totally embarassing, borderline Everybody Hurts, but it runs me through nonetheless.

you people embarrass too easily

I just bought & listened to this album recently, and I was surprised at how much I didn't take to it. Like seriously, I thought it was going to be like Chronic Town (which brought the awez), and instead it reminded me of highly unengaging albums like Document and Out of Time...

to these ears: Remy Zero's first album>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Murmur.
I guess I just don't get it

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/U1046283INP.jpg

DAM: Had to be there, maybe? I dunno. I was just floored when I first heard Murmur in the mid 80s (I discovered R.E.M. late). That energy and jangly guitar and big beat and gothic Southern vibe all sounded familiar, but somehow like it was floating in from outer space.

Too bad they've fallen so far since their pretty-damn good mid-career stuff.

Had to be there, maybe?

yeah, that's what I'm thinking...I heard and liked Fables decently and Chronic Town and Automatic are amazing, but I'm beginning to suspect that I think R.E.M. is shit...

You really need to distinguish between early-R.E.M., mid-career R.E.M., and late-career R.E.M. They're fairly distinct, in terms of their sound and the quality of their work.

early = CT + first four albums

mid = Document thru Up

late = everything afterwards...

is this what you mean?

I'd put Up in late-career (everything after Bill Berry left). Otherwise, yeah.

stuff I like from all 3 periods:

Chronic Town EP, Driver 8, prolley a couple other trax from Fables, Disturbance from the Heron House, King of Birds, Strange - the Wire cover, Losing My Religion, Texarkana, Shiny Happy People (mainly for Kate Pierson), ALL of Automatic, What's the Frequency Kenneth?, E-bow the Letter

only E-Bow the Letter, Driver 8, and the Chronic Town EP are on a patch with that first Remy Zero album tho...

Does "We Walk" have a vibraphone? I don't remember hearing it before!

not gonna blow anyone's minds here but what a fucking album am i right

You're completely correct, of course!

empty prayer, empty mouth

cambien du temps?

take the steps to dash a worried heart

When I was in high school, I assumed a "moral kiosk" was one of those four-sided bulletin board things (with little roofs to keep the flyers dry) you see on college campuses... because R.E.M. was a "college band"

combien, combien, combien du temps

Michael Stipe and I were in the same Elementary French class in 1980; he sat very quietly in the back and seemed to be hiding under his long hair. While I was struggling with pop quizzes, he was probably writing cool lyrics.

somehow gets better every time i listen to it

it’s an incredible album, there’s nothing else quite like it

I always imagine Lucy in her booth, dispensing advice to Charlie Brown, whenever I think of the phrase “Moral Kiosk”.

Brad C., that’s awesome!

Minty breath, minty mouth
It’s Gumby in reaction
Minty breath, minty mouth
Talk about the passion
Gumby in
Gumby in
Gumby into town

Lol

inside the cold dark fire twilight