Murmur (Deluxe Edition)

This 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition adds a 1983 concert from Larry’s Hideaway in Toronto that puts to rest any question as to R.E.M.’s early live capabilities. Though its studio albums were mysterious and weird for the ‘80s, the band was capable of reproducing this mystery on stage with a much more muscular sound than its reputation has suggested. With just drums, bass and Peter Buck’s thin, jangling guitar, the music is shockingly aggressive, as “Laughing,” “Sitting Still,” and “Gardening At Night” agitate singer Michael Stipe to enunciate beyond his station. A cover of the Velvet Underground’s “There She Goes Again” and previews of tunes that appeared on its second album Reckoning (“Harborcoat,” “7 Chinese Brothers”) and even 1986’s Life’s Rich Pageant (“Just a Touch”) round out the set that includes the bulk of Murmur and R.E.M.’s first EP, Chronic Town and its first single “Radio Free Europe.”