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Document | 
 enlarge | Artist: R.e.m.
Label: Capitol
Category: Music
List Price: $11.98
Buy New: $7.97
You Save: $4.01 (33%)
New (45) Used (42) Collectible (13) from $2.79
Rating:  93 reviews
Sales Rank: 2144
Format: Original Recording Reissued
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 93480
UPC: 724349348028
EAN: 0724349348028
ASIN: B000002UW1
Release Date: January 27, 1998
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Finest Worskong | | • | Welcome to the Occupation | | • | Exhuming McCarthy | | • | Disturbance at the Heron House | | • | Strange | | • | It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine) | | • | The One I Love | | • | Fireplace | | • | Lightnin' Hopkins | | • | King of Birds | | • | Oddfellows Local 151 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential recording
Singer Michael Stipe finally confesses that even he doesn't know what he's trying to say--among the lines flying by are "tryin' to tell you something we don't know" and "there's something going on that's not quite right." But R.E.M.'s roar is at its sharpest, as Peter Buck's guitars twist up surf riffs and the Bill Berry-Mike Mills rhythm section captures the force of forebears Big Star and the Byrds. After half a decade of college-rock heroism, R.E.M. achieved its first hit album thanks to the rambling "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and the gentle (but subtly barbed) "The One I Love." --Steve Knopper
Amazon.com
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| Customer Reviews: Read 88 more reviews...
 Asi-asi June 14, 2008
I really hate to admit it, but I've been a die-hard R.E.M. fan for almost two decades and this is the only record that never really much did for me. I decided to give it another spin because when I saw them in D.C. they opened with "Finest Worksong." Nothing has changed. It'll be a long time before I give this one another try. For those new to R.E.M., please, please, please start with something else. Once you hear "One I Love" and "End of the World" too many times, this one won't hold much water. It's not terrible, just nothing significant going on. It's really just a Diet-Lifes Rich Pageant.
 REM - Gain Mainstream Success February 12, 2008
It took me a while to warm up to REM. They were the darlings of the alternative music press after the release of their first album "Murmur" in the early 80's and steadily grew a more mainstream following with each sequential release. I kept reading about them and thinking about giving them a try, but it was not until this their 4th studio album that the band hooked me. "Document" is an album that divides fans of the band. This was the first album that saw REM gain any significant mainstream attention producing two big hits in the dark often misinterpreted "The One I Love" and the frantic "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". Older fans screamed "sellout" and indeed this would be the bands last album on an independent label. For me I think it is a great disc and filled with quirky yet satisfying songs. Full of jangling guitars and politically charge lyrics REM are able to capture a picture of the American 80's. Along with the singles the album is full of great songs: "Finest Worksong", "Welcome To The Occupation", "Exhuming McCarthy", "Lightnin Hopkins", "King Of Birds", and the aptly titled "Oddfellows Local 151".
Their last good album August 23, 2007
This album defined alternative music before the term became diluted and meaningless. Great lyrics and great melodies mean that twenty years later, this album is now officially a classic, and you will continue to reach for it long after you tire of the rest of your collection.
For those of us who were teenagers when this came out, it will bring back memories of how good music used to be, before the industry became a near monopoly and bands were assembled from random parts.
 Ends the I.R.S. days on a high note July 5, 2007
After years of being virtually unknown away from the indie/college scene, R.E.M. makes a break for the pros thanks to commercial breakthroughs like "The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World As We Know It." And unlike their next album, these hits were actually pretty darn good! This is an eclectic R.E.M. at their best; consistency in sound and mood reigns over their other great albums, but this one feels thrown together with purpose and sense. It also continues the progression towards a clearer, richer production that started with Pageant; too bad the overall quality can't match the previous record.
Because this effort does a good job of straddling their indie and popular phases, this is a good entry point for R.E.M. starters (along with Automatic). No one said that message songs need to be drab and somnolent, but is the goofy pop hook on "Exhuming McCarthy" really the best choice? And thus is the quarrel with Document: it's already pushing for the slick sound when the music would be better suited with an edge. Despite the hiccups, there are several quality moments here, and still a good choice for fans and newbies alike. "Disturbance At the Heron House," "King of Birds," and the aforementioned hits are the best bets.
Best cuts: "The One I Love," "Disturbance At the Heron House," "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," "King of Birds," "Finest Worksong," "Strange," "Welcome to the Occupation," "Lightnin' Hopkins"
Document of a Great Band at their Peak March 5, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
R.E.M. one of the few good bands of the '80's (along with U2 and a few others), and this is arguably the best record of the decade, not to mention easily the best thing the group ever did. This was also the group's breakthrough, containing their first Top 40 hit: The One I Love, which can best be described as Led Zeppelin filtered through The Byrds, only without each group's bad elements - none of the former's brainless lyrics or the latter's ill-advised forays into psychedelia. The One I Love happens to be their best song, with a jangly riff, simple yet cryptic lyrics (I'm with Michael Stipe's interpretation about how it's people who use others over and over, but that's just me), and a dramatic ending. Hit #2 was It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine) - Subterranean Homesick Blues for the information age, namechecking everyone from Lester Bangs to Lenny Bruce (Right? Right!) and featuring what may very well be the best sing-along refrain of all time. There have been several, let me add. Finest Worksong also got, and deserved plenty of attention - a straight ahead rock 'n' roller that's uncharacteristic of the group's classic sound, but rocks just the same. Some of this has been unjustly overlooked, though: King of Birds is an experiment with Indian instrumentation and rhythms that works better than most others do, calling to mind similar-sounding Beatles tracks such as Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown). Continuing in the bird thing, there's also the disquieting Disturbance at the Heron House. Plus this contains one of the group's most experimental tracks, period: Exhuming McCarthy, which works in keyboards, horns and even a vocal sample of Joseph Welch damming McCarthy. Pretty creative, and one of the best here. Strange and Fireplace (both featuring Michael Stipe's ill-advised hard-rock singer impression) don't really work out, but the rest does. It's too bad R.E.M. sold out RIGHT after this release, seeing just how good it is.
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