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).

Day 0491 - Mask

Bauhaus "Mask" (1981)

 
I don't know if I'm maybe not in the mood, but this one seems just 'okay'.  On the face of it it seems like something that I'd be into; a gothy post-punk offering that mixes skittish whiteboy funk, electronic elements, gothic backing vocals and a number of other elements.  I enjoyed all of it and really wanted to LOVE it, but it just wasn't happening.

This was viewed as being Bauhaus' more poppy accessible album.  They released 2 more albums before going their separate ways with all the members pursuing separate music projects (testament to the combined creativity contained within the band).   They reunited and released an album in the 00s.