America hadn't thrown up a decent underground band for a while, then without warning, from the deep south, Athens, Georgia, came R.E.M. The music critics loved them, comparing Peter Buck's guitar playing to that of Roger McGuinn and The Byrds and seeing Michael Stipe as the heir to Jim Morrison, the new Lizard King.
Stipe hadn't wanted to be famous and tried to keep his vocal input low key, mumbled lyrics, deep in the mix. 'Murmur' covers all points of the American musical compass from East to West, from blues to quasi-funk, from metal to country. Stipe wanted to be mysterious and on 'Murmur' he managed it. With a 'normal frontman R.E.M.would have just been a new Burritos/Creedence/Byrds impersonators. With Stipe they were the future of rock 'n' roll. (Vox)
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