10 More Rock Music Albums That Were Way Ahead Of Their Time
3. Murmur - R.E.M.
Considering that R.E.M. are held up as one of the greatest alternative rock bands of the 1990s, it is insane to think that they actually first formed in 1980.
In fact, the group released their first six albums in the '80s, before finally evolving into their most famous form with 1991's Out of Time. The one that started it all though was Murmur, which came out in 1983.
During the recording process for Murmur, the band refused to be tied down to the gimmicky tropes of the day. They forbade the inclusion of synthesisers or guitar solos, leading to an album that sounded unlike anything else around.
R.E.M. had just planted their flag in the ground of alternative rock before that ground even existed. It wouldn't be until Out of Time that people would revisit Murmur and realise that the band had this formula down almost ten years earlier.
Whilst critics loved it at the time, the rest of the world took a lot longer to jump on this record's hype train. Imagine if they'd done so sooner - the '80s would have sounded very different.