R.E.M. - Murmur (CD 1992)

Twenty-five years old this year and REM’s ‘Murmur’ still sounds as fresh as a daisy. Remarkably accomplished for a debut album, because the band had already honed its sound with considerable touring and recording, REM’s blend of 1960s-style jangle pop beefed up with a post-punk sensibility and suffused with Deep South mysticism was a winning and influential formula.

Tracks like ‘Talk About the Passion’, ‘Radio Free Europe’ and ‘Perfect Circle’ are so brilliant and well-loved as to be almost part of our musical DNA, but the album’s less-celebrated cuts also delight. I love ‘Shaking Through’ with its soulful, piano-driven melody; ‘Catapult’s’ simply joyful catchy singalong; ‘West of the Fields’s murky mysticism and ‘ 9-9’s’ edgy, babbling backing vocal track which recalls the Velvet Underground’s ‘Murder Mystery’.

As REM progressed through its stellar catalogue of music the band undoubtedly delivered more mature and confident records with superior compositional acumen but the freshness and sheer joy of music that suffuses ‘Murmur’ makes it one of their very best, which means it must be one of the best albums of all time.