ReviewsRanked #7 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1983"., 4 stars out of 5 -- "MURMUR was a friendly ghost -- brooding but elegant, new-wave moody but folk-rock sunny, hesitant but hopeful.", Included in Spin's list of the Top Ten College Cult Classics - "...an unmitigated delight....spawned the entire breed of what has become known as `college rock'.", 5 stars out of 5 -- "MURMUR promised not so much a new American underground, as an undergrowth, rustling with secrets.", 5 stars out of 5 -- "It is no exaggeration to suggest that MURMUR amounts to a Rosetta Stone for what is now thought of as indie rock...", Rating: A, Included in AP's "10 Essential '80s Albums" - "...REM made jangling guitars and mumbled lyrics hip again for American youth...", 5 stars out of 5 -- "Disarmingly beautiful music that mixes '60s folk significance with '80s new-wave ambivalence.", 4 stars out of 5 -- "MURMUR remains the cornerstone of the R.E.M. legend, the reason they are important....An incredible collection of songs...", 5 stars out of 5 -- "Anthemic on a bedroom scale, danceable but not robotic, experimental without being oblique.", "Their sound emerged so fully formed that even after 26 years and 15 proper albums, it's still arguably their best.", Ranked #8 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey.
Additional InformationCombining Byrdsy, folk-rock jangle with obscurantist lyrics and a post-punk compositional sensibility, R.E.M.'s full-length debut is a landmark album that set the standard for the next 10 years of indie rock.