I recently decided I should listen to this album after all the praise I've read about it (that old chestnut) and see what I thought about it. Is it good? Yes, yes it is. Would I go back and listen to it again? Probably not. At least, not in its entirety. Murmur is a consistent album in a number of ways - tempo, flow, style, etc., and whilst it avoids being what most people (including myself) as being bad, it doesn't have that excitement factor that I hope would materialize sooner or later. It's not bad, and the songs have the kind of tempo that usually keeps me awake. But it fails to interest me in the way a lot of other great albums do. I can see why people think it is a great and perhaps underrated album, but it doesn't float my boat, I'm afraid. I wanted to love this album, and whilst I do like it and respect it, I would have no qualms about giving it a miss if given the chance to listen to it again. That being said, if there are songs I would take away as being keepers, they would be "Radio Free Europe", "Laughing" and "Moral Kiosk." Everything is good, at least perhaps from a more objective perspective, but they're nothing that would have me dancing like a one-legged sparrow with a bung wing on a barbecue grill. Nonetheless, I recommend that you give it a listen, especially if you're partial to R.E.M. As for me - it could grow on me. But then again, maybe not. A-
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