Day 0710 - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of...

Arrested Development "3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of..." (1992) - got it

I picked up a copy of this album a few years back on the strength of the single "Mr. Wendal".  The rest of the album didn't overly thrill me.  Another of those ones where it's perfectly listenable, but not one that I tend to revisit much.

The book points out that this group of socially conscious rappers were one of the first big hip hop exports from Atlanta, infusing their music with a southern flavour and acting as inspiration, or opening the door for acts like Goodie Mob, Cee-Lo Green and Outkast (all of which I do enjoy quite a bit).

0518 - Murmur

R.E.M. "Murmur" (1983)

Quite a different beast to the R.E.M. who would eventually break on the scene with their earnest emotional ballads and occasional rockers.  This is much more folky shoegazer stuff, with twangy Rickenbacker guitar behind Stipe's mumbled poetry and much less of Mike Mill's backing vocals.

There are moments of the future band shining through, but I can certainly understand why people who got into the band at this stage of their career might have been disappointed with their later direction (though I'm a fan of their mid-era albums myself).