R.E.M. - Document
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.97 You Save: $3.01 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $1.00 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Document
Free Music Review: R.E.M. Heads Into Mainstream
Hit: 5 Stars
"Document" was R.E.M.'s first breakout album that took them out of the obscurity of indie rock. Although R.E.M.'s guitars and Stipe's voice are louder, they added some cool guitar effects and some saxophones too.
Although this album eliminated R.E.M.'s softy band status temporarily, this album added a stadium sound that increased R.E.M.'s accessibility. After all, listeners had a hard time hearing the words in R.E.M.'s first albums. In fact, with the opening track, "Finest Worksong," Stipe shows off his stadium voice, bellowing "The time to rise has been engaged/You'd better best to rearrange." As guitars blast in the background, Stipe calls people to take their instinct by the reins.
R.E.M. also prove that they can still sing great soft songs, in the part acoustic, part-electric guitar ballad "Welcome to the Occupation." Stipe continues his political edge about the government, with lyrics such as "Listen to the Congress/where we propogate confusion/primitive and wild/Fire on the hemisphere below."
But this isn't completely a political album at all. In fact, Stipe sings some really wacky line in the song "Strange," where he sings to a cool drum beat "There's something strange going on tonight/There's something going on that's not quite right/Michael's nervous and the lights are bright/There's something going on that's not quite right, uh-huh." The next few lyrics don't really elaborate much, but it proves how much R.E.M. is interested in utter absurdity at this point of their career.
And of course, no song is as absurd as "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." Stipe mouths off fast strings of lyrics, such as "The other night I dreamt of knives/continental drift divide/Mountains sit in a line/Leonard Bernstein." Of course, the first parts of the song make more sense, where he sings "Eye of a hurricane/listen to yourself churn/World serves its own needs/don't misserve your own needs." Although I don't think anyone who heard the song could make much sense out of the words, it was still a fun, original song that became a huge hit.
Of course, there is another song that received plenty of recognition, named "The One I Love." Don't be fooled by the title--it isn't a love song. In fact, Stipe sings that "This one goes out to the one I left behind/A simple prop to occupy my time." Obviously, that girl wasn't much of a person, if she was just a prop. But the guitar strums and drum beats accompanying Stipe after crying "Fire!" made this song legendary.
In fact, Stipe proves that his band is just as capable of blasting cool guitar strums, frets and feedback effects. And "Fireplace" really shows off the guitarist's talent with a saxophone playing a hot improv accompaniment.
Even though some songs, such as "Exhuming McCarthy," sound way too happy to be taken seriously, the album is a very strong effort from R.E.M. It proved that R.E.M. was a band that deserved to enter into the limelight.
Free Music Review: Asi-asi
Hit: 3 Stars
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. Free Music Review: REM - Gain Mainstream Success
Hit: 5 Stars
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". Free Music Review: Their last good album
Hit: 5 Stars
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.
Free Music Review: Ends the I.R.S. days on a high note
Hit: 4 Stars
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"