Powerful 5th album scrutinized and expanded for 25th anniversary box-set edition
8/10
R.E.M. may well have split up just over a year ago, but this isn't stopping their first record-label from continuing its archiving programme with a vengeance normally reserved for dead pop-stars. Of course you can forgive Capitol (IRS' big daddy) - they've spent a bit of money and time on the packaging, sprucing up the original masters and offering tempted buyers with an entire concert recorded in Holland in the band's heyday (yes folks, I mean the heyday before "Everybody Hurts" sold you Stipe's other, later and more lucrative heyday).
Document is one big, bold album - from the opening blast of Finest Worksong, you know that you are witnessing something rather special. Here, R.E.M. were not only singing a lot of references to fire, they were themselves blazing a trail and refusing to be extinguished. They were yet to eschew political comment, social awareness and odd cover versions, all of which are present on 1987's call to righteous-thinking arms. The band made simple but effective use of studio time with producer Scott Litt (the start of a lengthy relationship) and came up with a surefire winner, both critically and financially (although Document didn't quite break the band in the UK, it did enhance their credibility with curious students).
Look at the nuggets on here - Welcome to the Occupation, one of R.E.M.'s most understated songs ever, Exhuming McCarthy with its weirdy typewriter intro and anti-pop lyrics, Welcome to the Heron House..... I mean what the hell is a Heron House? It doesn't matter because here are MTV's biggest anthems of the year, The One I Love and It's The End Of The World (and I Feel Fine), two contrasting examples of a band in full swing and still able to deliver it sweetly or raucously. These manage to be both. The other notable belter on here is their cranked-up rendition of Wire's Strange, a song from Pink Flag that in its original form is, well, strange and slow. Here, Stipe and co opt for doubling its speed and turning it into a near-whistleable pop-song - almost an improvement on the sullen (although still superb) properties of the original.
The rest of the album slowly grinds to a halt via more powerful histrionics and more references to flames (Fireplace for one), before hitting the buffers with the lengthy and drawled closer, Oddfellows Local 151. It's difficult to fault Document, even if it does have the occasional blemish - Lightnin' Hopkins is a brash unattractive rocker, rather than a wizened blues paean to the Deep South and the guitarist of the same name. But, while later REM releases earned them overdue platinum status, albums like this one, Life's Rich Pageant and Reckoning remain, for me, their most complete works.
And so to the extras which include an extensive biography, a poster and an additional CD which contains an entire concert recorded in 1987 in Utrecht and complete with mistakes and mistimings. Finest Worksong starts with clumsy trepidation and booming bass-guitar, but by the time they strike up These Days soon afterwards, Stipe and co have hit their stride and the hits (from the IRS era) come thick and fast. Driver 8, Fall On Me, So.Central Rain, Begin the Begin from earlier albums are interwoven with Document excerpts, the best a poignant reading of The One I Love, already a crowd-favourite - they all sing along before the band joins in at a hurried canter. 20 worthy tracks later and I'm wishing I had been there.
It all comes in a nice sturdy box as well - what more could you want, apart from some rare b-sides?
8/10
Document is one big, bold album - from the opening blast of Finest Worksong, you know that you are witnessing something rather special. Here, R.E.M. were not only singing a lot of references to fire, they were themselves blazing a trail and refusing to be extinguished. They were yet to eschew political comment, social awareness and odd cover versions, all of which are present on 1987's call to righteous-thinking arms. The band made simple but effective use of studio time with producer Scott Litt (the start of a lengthy relationship) and came up with a surefire winner, both critically and financially (although Document didn't quite break the band in the UK, it did enhance their credibility with curious students).
Look at the nuggets on here - Welcome to the Occupation, one of R.E.M.'s most understated songs ever, Exhuming McCarthy with its weirdy typewriter intro and anti-pop lyrics, Welcome to the Heron House..... I mean what the hell is a Heron House? It doesn't matter because here are MTV's biggest anthems of the year, The One I Love and It's The End Of The World (and I Feel Fine), two contrasting examples of a band in full swing and still able to deliver it sweetly or raucously. These manage to be both. The other notable belter on here is their cranked-up rendition of Wire's Strange, a song from Pink Flag that in its original form is, well, strange and slow. Here, Stipe and co opt for doubling its speed and turning it into a near-whistleable pop-song - almost an improvement on the sullen (although still superb) properties of the original.
The rest of the album slowly grinds to a halt via more powerful histrionics and more references to flames (Fireplace for one), before hitting the buffers with the lengthy and drawled closer, Oddfellows Local 151. It's difficult to fault Document, even if it does have the occasional blemish - Lightnin' Hopkins is a brash unattractive rocker, rather than a wizened blues paean to the Deep South and the guitarist of the same name. But, while later REM releases earned them overdue platinum status, albums like this one, Life's Rich Pageant and Reckoning remain, for me, their most complete works.
And so to the extras which include an extensive biography, a poster and an additional CD which contains an entire concert recorded in 1987 in Utrecht and complete with mistakes and mistimings. Finest Worksong starts with clumsy trepidation and booming bass-guitar, but by the time they strike up These Days soon afterwards, Stipe and co have hit their stride and the hits (from the IRS era) come thick and fast. Driver 8, Fall On Me, So.Central Rain, Begin the Begin from earlier albums are interwoven with Document excerpts, the best a poignant reading of The One I Love, already a crowd-favourite - they all sing along before the band joins in at a hurried canter. 20 worthy tracks later and I'm wishing I had been there.
It all comes in a nice sturdy box as well - what more could you want, apart from some rare b-sides?