Murmur by R.E.M.

Murmur, R.E.M.'s first full album, came out on I.R.S. Records in April 1983, following Chronic Town, and it sounded like it had drifted in from somewhere else entirely. The band cut it that winter at Reflection Sound Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina, with Don Dixon and Mitch Easter producing, and the two of them wisely left the fog in the mix.

That fog is the whole point. Michael Stipe sings like he's letting you overhear half a conversation, lyrics blurred and cryptic, the words mattering less than the ache in them. Peter Buck's guitar jangles and chimes in bright, ringing figures, and Mike Mills plays bass like a second melody instead of the floor, winding around the tunes rather than pinning them down. Somewhere between post-punk nerve and folk-rock warmth, it all adds up to a mystery you can hum. "Radio Free Europe" rushes along with nervy momentum, "Talk About the Passion" and "Perfect Circle" slow down into something tender and haunted, and "Catapult", "Laughing" and "Sitting Still" keep the spell going.

Critics fell for it right away, mainly for that strange, unconventional sound, and it has turned up on all-time greatest album lists for years since.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.