Customer Reviews
Their step up to the commerical big time - By: russell clarke, 02 Sep 2008 
For me Document is the album that really propelled REM to the mega -stardom stadium embracing apex of their career. Good luck to them , they deserved it. Rarely is brilliance produced at the level this band had produced over five albums & rewarded with album sales to match.
So Document releasedin 1987 was their fifth studio album , coming after the odds & sods collection "Dead Letter Office". Its the first of a highly productive partnership with Scott Litt & the bands last album for the independent IRS label. Document is an album that very much rang the changes for REM.
What's also very noticeable , especially if you've been engagingin a lot of retrospective REM listening is how the music on Document has surrendered the inchoate tones of their previous albums & gone for a cleaner more muscular rock sound. This is immediately apparent from the steroid enhanced riffs. of the wonderful album opener "The Finest Worksong" . The album is full of bright ringing chords, surging arrangements, fat thunking bass lines & proud percussion. "Disturbance At The Heron House" , "The One I Love" ( actually a bitter nasty song often mistaken for some straight up love tribute) "Exhuming McCarthy" ( a biting political comment about Reagan era America) are all surging excellent rock songs eschewing any independent connotations.
This is nodded at with their vivid cover of post punk band Wires "Strange" & there are trademark Mike Mills harmonies on the frenetic rush of "It's The End Of The World As We Know It". "The slightly gnarly chords of "Fireplace" featuring a saxophone of all things leads into "Lightning Hopkins" which of all the songs on Document could have been recorded by Wire , with it's trebly guitars , arch nasty vocal tones & fat gulping bass. The harmonies are pure REM though. Dulcimer figures heavily on "King Of Birds" ,a stately track with military percussion which embraces Stipes fresh enhanced clarity to the fullest ."Oddfellows Local" is usheredin a scowling feedback & again centres around chunky gobbets of bass & a scratchy guitar refrain.
"Automatic for the People " apart REM were never this good again . It's possibly erroneous to say this , but it's as if ditching the independent IRS label leeched some of their spirit. That's, not to say that they haven't done much that is fabulous since Document . Though both "Green " & especially "Out of Time" are over eulogised the likes Of "New Adventuresin Hi-Fi " still showcased a certain maverick fortitude bubbling within the band. But as a defining pivotal force of American independent rock Document is their last will & testament ...their ultimate document if you like.
Rewards the persistent listener - By: , 21 Feb 2004 A few months after buying ‘Document’, I was largely unimpressed. I'd heard the fans rant & rave about this album - many said it was one of the band’s best albums. I disagreed & I began to write a negative review for it... how glad I am that I never submitted it!
This is easily one of R.E.M.'s best albums, but why was it so difficult to like? For a start, Michael's vocals are very squeaky at times - it is somewhat irritating, but also very fitting if you persevere. You see, the main problem with ‘Document’ is the vocals. Sometimes, they seem to go a bit over the top (‘Disturbance at the Heron House’ & ‘Strange’ are fine examples), but they are mostly only like this at the start, & I suppose this puts me off the rest of the song.
Having listened to the album sparingly for about 3 months (no joking there!), I finally realised that it is a fine record. Songs like ‘Finest Worksong’ & ‘The One I Love’ are simple yet effective songs, despite being overly repetitive. Another gem, ‘It's the end of the World as we know it’, is a fine example of pure chaotic genius.
‘Welcome to the Occupation’, ‘Fireplace’ & ‘Oddfellows Local 151’ all seemed a bit dull to me. Don't ask me why, but it doesn't matter anyway. They're all great instrumentally, & will be appreciated eventually. Some songs, as I said, were irritating. Unfortunately, I feel that all of them were ruined by poor vocals at the starts of the songs, but having gotten used to them, no song is irritating anymore. It is possible to appreciate even the worst song on this album - take your pick!
But having said all that, there is a gem on here that seemed to stick out. That song is ‘King of Birds’ - I managed to fallin love with it immediately. It is,in my opinion, the best song on the album - but only just. The high standard of all the songs makes it almost impossible for me to select a second best song, & I couldn't single out a set of songs for being the worst songs.
‘Document’ can be worse than average at first. If you are a fan & wish to get another album, this is a great place to continue. If you haven't bought an R.E.M. album before, steer clear for the mean time, & try something else (I recommend ‘Murmur’, ‘Automatic for the People’, or ‘New Adventuresin Hi-Fi’). If you're a casual listener / collector, consider this album – it’s amazing how my opinion of this album changed after I was persistent - you'll have to be persistent if you want to be rewarded.
Allin all, I would rank this as one of R.E.M.’s top four albums. If you get it, be prepared to persevere, &in the end, you’ll be rewarded with a musical masterpiece.
There's something strange going on tonight... - By: , 04 Aug 2003 
This is hardly the most conventional indierock album I've heard, but then R.E.M. have never been a particularly conventional band. This is the second album I've bought of theirs, after Automatic For The People, & it's certainly not up to that standard. (AFTP is probably one of the best albums ever)
Yet there is much to enjoy here. Opener Finest Worksong begins with the lyric "the time to rise has been engaged/your better best to rearrange" & I'm pretty sure it's about worker unrest. But, as Thom Yorke said, I could be Wrong. Anyway, it's a great tune, probably my second favourite on here. The next three tracks are not as catchy but are all well-constructed songs with interesting lyrics, & are never taxing on the ears. Michael Stipe's voice is always soothing. Welcome to the Occupation, like most of this album, is a politicised social commentary: "Hang your collar up inside/hang your freedom higher". The thing about this, Exhuming McCarthy & Welcome to the Heron House is even if you don't understand the deep significance of the lyrics (and a lot of people won't) there are still singalong hooks, jangly guitars & nice melodies which anyone can enjoy.
The fifth track, Strange (from which my title was taken) is a cover, more punkrocky than 2-4 & featuring the clever use of backing vocals which was utilised so impressively on later tracks like Try Not To Breathe.
Next comes by far the finest cut here, the magestic intelligent powerpop bustle of It's The End Of The World As We Know It. This is one of R.E.M's finest moments. This pinpoints the confused, take-no-crap attitude which is a recurring theme throughout this record. "Offer me solutions/Offer me alternatives/But I decline".
And, as with later songs like The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite, Stipe's lyrics & singing style have a warm, funny feel which as well as making you think, often make you laugh at their sheer ironic absurdity.
A lot of people will know track 7, The One I Love, a nice soothing tune with a rough edge. It's sounds vaguely cynical although I'm not sure how.
From then on the album becomes darker, more abstract but is still good. There aren't really any standout tracks, but they're mostly good tracks, & the only disappointment is Lightnin Hopkins, which is poor. You're unlikely to come back to songs like King Of Birds & Fireplace, but if listening to the album the whole way through I wouldn't skip them.
Overall, 7/10, a good buy for anyone who likes intelligent indierock.
#5: File Under Fire- - By: Jason Parkes, 28 Jun 2003 Document was their last album for IRS (originally releasedin 1987), prior to REM signing to Warnersin 1988 (a move that many bemoanedin the music press- REM being the best kept secret for manyin the 80s- the missing link between Richard Thompson & The Smiths!). 1985's brilliant Fables of the Reconstruction had almost split the band, the following years Life's Rich Paegent had Stipe singing clearly (no longer Mr Mumbles) & a robust sound captured by John Couger Mellancamp's producer Don Dixon. Document goes one further, REM finding a perfect co-producer with Scott Litt- this album becoming the one that pitched them from cult-college band to perhaps the next U2...
Two of the singles were big US hits & got them noticedin the UK: both It's the End of the World As We Know It (& I Feel Fine) & The One I Love would be hits when reissued by IRSin the wake of Out of Time's huge success. It's the End...is a wild blend of rockabilly, Subterranean Homesick Blues & startling harmonies- Stipe's dream of people with the initials LB (Lester Bangs, Leonard Bernstein, Lenny Bruce...) occurs & Mills call/response vocals "It's time I had some time alone!" are superb. Just a pity that Billy Joel would rip it off for his dire 1989 (s)hit single We Didn't Start the Fire! The One I Love is an important song (even if it's a little similar to Smithereens single Behind the Wall of Sleep from 1986)- a brilliant riff worthy of Neil Young pins down a deceptively cruel song ("a simple prop to occupy my time")- this & Every Breath You Take remain the nastiest songs that people think are about love! There is an alternate version of The One I Love, originally called This One Goes Out here- which is sublime & more acoustic & was originally found on It's the End...'s 12" version (though the brilliant take of Maps&Legends is sadly not included).
The third single (&opening track) Finest Worksong advances a more political line ("the time to rise has been engaged/you'd better best rearrange")- a funky-bassline pins the song down, advancing on 86's Begin the Begin. Stipe oozes disdain onto Reagan's era- the theme of the album can loosely be seen as an anti-Reagan album (Welcome to the Occupation, Exhuming McCarthy). The alternate mixes of Finest Worksong has more brass in, but aren't that necessary (the other extra tracks are a live take of Disturbance..., the Floyd Kramer classic Last Date (though not the version rumoured to have been recorded with Debbie Harry) & the sublime medley of Time After Time/Peter Gabriel's Red Rain & South Central Rain: A MUST!).
Exhuming McCarthy is extremely caustic, seeping vitriol at the USA's behaviourin Central America, Iran-Contra & the ethics of yuppiedom (it's also namechecked by Douglas Couplandin one of his early novels). A great funk style bassline where Mills&Stipe bounce off each other "it's a sign of the times!". Odd that a song sounds so bouncy, when it's about such terrible climes. The Byrds-inflected guitars of earlier releases are present- notably on Welcome to the Occupation (another song that mentions fire) & Disturbance at the Heron House (apparently Stipe's most political song; I'm as baffled as everyone else!). There's also a lovely cover version of Wire's Strange (from 1977's classic Pink Flag)- REM introducing a more obvious pop element to their oeuvre (the following year's Stand would advance this somewhat).
The latter half of the album is slightly weaker- the sax ridden Fireplace, the odd beat-frenzy of Lightnin Hopkins being rather slight. King of Birds, alternately, is one of the great REM ballads- advancing on songs like Old Man Kensey, Flowers of Guatemala & Cuyahoga, & paving the way for songs like World Leader Pretend & I Remember California. The final track showcases suitably fiery guitars from Peter Buck- easily up there with Johnny Marr's huge sound on The Queen is Dead.
Document has aged well, though the following year's Green would perfect the rock-side of REM (Green has more variety, shifting from 60spop to acoustic ballads to rock songs). Document remains a highlight of the late 80s & with the bonus tracks is great value at this budget price. This is the record that put REM, seven years into their career, onto the path of global superstars that they remain today & along with Radiohead & Zoo-U2, the acceptable side of stadium rock. & the pics of the band are great- Stipey with lovely long hair & Bill Berry dressed like something out of The Wild One!
Average by REM standards - By: Jay M, 04 Oct 2002 
I can understand why this album became their first big hit album. That doesn't mean to say I really like it though. In fact I think it's their second worst album. Their worst being 'Out of Time'.
Even with an average REM album you get some cracking songs. The fans favourite 'It's the end of the world' always brings back happy memories. Other highlights include 'Finest Worksong' (which I do not like personally, but can see its quality), 'Exhuming McCarthy' & one of my favourite, if not my favourite, REM songs, the stunning, 'Welcome to the occupation'.
I really admire REM's political & social stance that they took with this album, it's just not that consistent musically. Some tracks are brilliant, while others are very, very ordinary.
