Alternative starts here. The 1983 debut that proved smartyboots underground rock could be optimistic classic rock, too, R.E.M.’s Murmur was a friendly ghost—brooding but elegant, new-wave moody but folk-rock sunny, hesitant but hopeful. Michael Stipe’s mush-mouthed evocations of childhood memories and directionless travel hinted at feelings and worries he could never pin down, but they melted like butter into guitarist Peter Buck’s reassuring chime. (And let’s not forget it was college rock: This deluxe edition adds an ’83 live show that underscores the U of Georgia campus-kegger scrappiness of songs producer Mitch Easter turned into abstractions.) By now, a generation of bands from Nirvana to Arcade Fire have aimed for the kind of charming, heraldic opacity Murmur pioneered. It’s a hard target to nail because it’s always floating just beyond reach.

DOWNLOAD “Radio Free Europe,” “Sitting Still,” “Laughing”