Murmur is the first full-length album released by Athens, Georgia rock and pop band R.E.M.

Released in 1983, Murmur was preceded by the Chronic Town EP. Murmur's sound characterized the quieter, introverted side of the first wave of post-punk in the U.S.A. The sound was new at the time, though not stepping beyond the constructs of traditional rock music. The guitars have a bright ring like chimes that brought on comparisons to The Byrds, and the bass guitar has the bright punchy sound of the Rickenbacker favored by Mike Mills. As the most experienced musician in the group, Mills carries much of the melodic element of the music on the bass, contributing to the moody sound of early R.E.M. albums. Also contributing to this sound is the distant singing of Michael Stipe whose obscure lyrics lend to the mystery and depth of the music, and could lead one to imagine Stipe a person who might prefer the library to the spotlight in a rock arena. Though Murmur is a much-respected 1980s album, little about it would foreshadow the huge popularity that would eventually find R.E.M. In 1983, they were made for the glory days of College radio and to be enjoyed by the intellectual coffee-house crowd.

The atmospheric and stylistic success of Murmur owes much to the mix, with prominent bass and vocals diminished into the mix, similar to that favored by post-punk band The Psychedelic Furs on their first two recordings. The album was produced and engineered by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, recorded in Charlotte, North Carolina, and released on indie IRS Records. The cover art features sepia-toned photos of a tressel and weedy vines growing covering the ground and nearby trees. The song titles are written over the brown tones in blue, rendering them almost unreadable, particularly with Moral Kiosk cutting vertically through the titles. The arwork is truly evocative of the sound of the band, and true to Stipe's delivery of the lyrics. The photos of the band are blue as well, and present four young men who look more like college intellectuals than the rock stars they would later become.

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