R.E.M.s first album Murmur is 25. Jeez that means I was five when it came out...
The band is celebrating "The Murmur Deluxe Edition CD release party at the 40 Watt in Athens tonight promises to be a fantastic time for a great cause, so, if you're in the area, please be sure to stop by and check out the following bands who will be playing songs from Murmur in celebration of the record's 25th anniversary"
The 25th anniversary of R.E.M.'s Murmur package features two discs and liner notes with essays from producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, among others. The first disc is a remastered version of the original album and the second contains a previously unreleased concert R.E.M. played at Larry's Hideaway in Toronto a few months after the release of the album.
Pitchfork Media said
There's a historical component to Murmur that often gets lost: In 1983, R.E.M. sounded unique. No bands were combining these particular influences in this particular way, which made this debut sound not only new but even subversive: a sharp reimagining of rock tropes. Twenty-five years and 14 albums later, our familiarity with R.E.M. means that Murmur has lost some of what made it revolutionary upon release. Fortunately, rather than collecting obligatory bonus tracks and outtakes-- most of which would have overlapped with Dead Letter Office-- the set includes a second disc documenting a show in Toronto from July 1983, just after the album's release. It marks the first time a full R.E.M. show has been released on CD (LIVE, from 2007, was culled from two nights in Dublin), and judging by the intensity with which the band run through old and then-new songs, it could have held its own as a separate release.
Even the Huffington Post gets in on the Murmur celebration:
Wisely resisting regurgitating B-sides and rarities that have been recycled to death on previous reissues and Capitol's The Best Of The I.R.S. Years 1982-1987, this deluxe edition's second CD features a live set from July 9, 1983, recorded in Toronto, Canada, at Larry's Hideaway. Previously unreleased officially (though it's been booted a few times), the concert's track list foreshadows the band's next record, Reckoning, by including an early version of "7 Chinese Bros," and it interprets Lou Reed's "There She Goes Again." The set also reaches back to Chronic Town's emphasis track, "Gardening At Night," as well as "1,000,000" and "Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)" as Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry youthfully rock their way through much of Murmur's material. During this set, R.E.M.'s music is as captivating as the crazy kudzu plant featured on Murmur's cover, a vine that's been alleged to entwine itself quickly and effectively around the unsuspecting. With heartfelt liner notes by producers Mitch Easter, Don Dixon, label dude Jay Boberg, designer Carlos Grasso, promo guy Michael Plen and big fan Sig Sigworth, plus gorgeous packaging, beautiful mastering by Greg Calbi and expert project supervision by compilation producer Dana G. Smart, this Deluxe Edition is your best bet for the most-appreciated gift of music this season.
