10 Perfect Rock Albums Of The 1980s
7. Murmur - REM
Most of the greatest acts of the MTV generation pretty much lived and died on the image that they projected on screen. That's why most of the '70s bands couldn't catch up when the medium shifted...you just have to keep up with the times. So how the hell was one of the most celebrated records of the early '80s from a band that didn't have that much visual presence to begin with?
I'm serious, too. The aesthetic that REM were going for in the early days seemed like the polar antithesis of what rock and roll was supposed to be, being much too arty for its own good. When you actually listened to the songs though, all of the promotional BS started to slowly fade away, with fans falling head over heels for the jangly guitar parts and the amazing singing from Michael Stipe.
Hell, these guys didn't even need proper lyrics for most of these songs, with Stipe eventually claiming that he was mumbling over half of the words to songs like Radio Free Europe. Looking back on it though, you don't really need to understand the lyrics to get why this was so popular. Every so often, you'll have a band who hit upon emotion so well that the melody goes straight into your heart.