release date: Apr. 12, 1983
format: cd (1992 - The I.R.S. Years Vintage 1983)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Don Dixon and Mitch Easter
label: I.R.S. Records - nationality: USA
Tracklist: 1. "Radio Free Europe" (4 / 5) (Live on Letterman) - 2. "Pilgrimage" - 3. "Laughing" - 4. "Talk About the Passion" (4 / 5) - 5. "Moral Kiosk" - 6. "Perfect Circle" - 7. "Catapult" - 8. "Sitting Still" - 9. "9-9" - 10. "Shaking Through" - 11. "We Walk" - 12. "West of the Fields
Bonus tracks on 1992 extended edition: 13. "There She Goes Again" - 14. "9-9" (Live) - 15. "Gardening at Night" - 16. "Catapult" (Live)
Studio album debut by R.E.M. released on I.R.S. Records and produced by Don Dixon and Mitch Easter. I don't recall, buying this album until it was re-issued in the series "The I.R.S. Years" in 1992 but I listened to it at some point in the mid-80s before Document (1987).
The music is unpolished and simple, and the production is very one-dimensional. It's obvious that the band has great potential, but I think the songs lack more to acknowledge them as great. It feels more like a great demo.
Anyway, the classic R.E.M. tracks "Radio Free Europe" and "Talk About the Passion" are the best here, and they were later included on the 1988 compilation album Eponymous. The expanded re-issue Murmur "The I.R.S. Years Vintage 1983" is a fine document of the band as it contains four bonus tracks including two great live takes and a cover of The Velvet Underground classic "There She Goes Again" (written by Lou Reed), which is included on the original release of Dead Letter Office (1987). The cover songs really show their source of inspiration at this point of their style. The simplistic one-dimensional sound is much like the 'art rock' of the late 1960s. Their first hit song "Radio Free Europe" gave them their first tv live performance on Letterman. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Slant 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
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