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From:R.E.M. , Capitol ,
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User Rating: Amazon Sales Rank:#6035 |
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2 of 3 customers found the following review helpful:
 A minor correction, 2005-01-24
Just a minor correction to the review submitted by David Zasloff -- the song Strange, although it may have been recorded by Pylon, was actually a cover of a song by WIRE, a post-punk late 70's / early 80's british band. :-)
By the way, REM's Document is a great album. "King of Birds" is a beautifully done, often underrated song.
Standing on the shoulders of giants...
1 of 2 customers found the following review helpful:
This one goes out to the one I love., 2005-01-23
And I LOVE R.E.M. With "Document" REM produced back to back classics. "Life's Rich Pagent" was one of the greatest albums ever. "Document" is the beginning of REM becoming more mainstream and more political, with songs such as 'Exhuming McCarthy' and 'Welcome to the Occupation' 'Disturbance at the Herron House' REM speaks on the injustices and outrages they see within both the government and the American people. With the popularity of the song "The End of the world" REM garnered much radio play, the benefit of which is oft debated by REM diehards. Did popularity and radio play ruin one of the greatest bands ever?? Unfortunately, I believe it did. Mainstreaming ones music is NEVER beneficial (except to the bands bank accounts). 'Document" I believe is the last truly great REM album. Every song on here is great, and the production is FLAWLESS. As on "Life's Rich Pagent" lead singer Michael Stipes voice comes throug loud and clear, perhaps even better on "Document" than on "Pagent". No longer is he drowned out by the bass guitar or the drums. Apparently he has decided that yes, he really DOES have something important to say and that we the listener should be able to decipher these little jewels of wisdom. This was my favorite album for about 3 years. With the release of "Green" REM became too popular for me and I felt the quality of their music suffered, radio uber-friendly 'Stand' being a perfect example of this. They even released a really bad "pop" like video. I wanted to vomit. REM videos up to this point were rare (I had to actually purchase a VHS !! tape of them and watch it repeatedly. The name of this tape slips my mind, and it was purchsed back in 1988 or so). If you're a new fan trying to get into REM, I really recommend you buy "Life's Rich Pagent" and "Document" and then work your way around their vast collection from there. This is a really great piece of work.
11 of 17 customers found the following review helpful:
 "fire on the hemisphere below", 2005-01-15
Chronologically, Document was the first R.E.M. album I was not crazy about. For the first time, there were more than two or three songs I did not like. These songs I despised so much that I leaped towards the fast-forward button as soon as they invaded my mini boombox.
Even though I was a history buff and would take extra time teaching McCarthyism to my class during my brief teaching career, I could not stand the track "Exhuming McCarthy." It is too noisy with too much going on and an annoying horn section. Joseph McCarthy, of course, was the Senator from Wisconsin who almost single-handedly put the nation through a Communist scare in the 1950s. I'm not sure if, lyrically, it is that good of a song on McCarthyism, but it does include the historically important response of Joseph Welsch at the Army-McCarthy hearings ("have you left no sense of decency"). I mentioned this song to the kids in my classes, none knew what I was talking about. Another song I do not like is "Strange" which I find very annoying. Only the quirky guitar solo is worth listening to.
Listening to Document now, however, there is much on here that makes it more solid than I remembered. The tracks I've always liked are still great: the rocker "Finest Worksong" still kicks, "The One I Love" is still one of my favorite R.E.M. singles despite it only having one verse repeated over and over, and the beautiful vocals in "Welcome to the Occupation" still make it one of my favorites. "Fireplace" and "Disturbance at the Heron House" are other tracks I've always liked as well as the beautiful slow track "King of Birds." I've gained a new appreciation for the unique and quirky "Lightnin' Hopkins" and the dark "Oddfellows Local 151." I've never been crazy about the single "The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" but it is a classic. I still do not regard Document as one of R.E.M.'s better albums, but it sounds better now than it did to me a few years ago. It is certainly better than Green.
Another great album by R.E.M., 2004-12-18
Released right after the stunning Lifes Rich Pageant, their next album had a lot of expectations to live up to... and this album really delivers. Not all the tracks are successful, but overall we have some memorable songs that make this album essential to any fan of R.E.M.
Finest Worksong is a brilliant opener to the album, in fact it took me by surprise when I first heard it, completely brought me to my attention! This album also contains the huge hit The One I Love, a simple song about a persons ability to use people. This song means a lot to me personally.
This album is heavily political, and this is brought across by great tracks like Welcome To The Occupation, Disturbance At The Heron House, and the fabulous It's The End Of The World... an all time classic that nearly everyone loves. Exhuming McCarthy is the surprise of the album, a bouncy, goofy political song.
Other winners on the album is the simple but catchy Strange, quite similar to The One I Love, and the mysterious, magical King Of Birds, with it's warlike drumming and well placed backing vocals... one of the best underrated R.E.M. songs yet!
Not all the tracks are winners, however. Fireplace and Oddfellows just don't do it for me, they don't grab me like the others do. And Lightnin' Hopkins is just bad, I'm afraid.
But don't let a few mishaps stop you from missing out on a great cd. Some of the tracks here are some of R.E.M.s best, and should not be missed under any circumstances. Good, intelligent rock music that will please any fan!
2 of 9 customers found the following review helpful:
One of the best albums from REM, 2004-09-28
Document is REM's finest. Regardless of the politics in some of the songs, they are of the highest accolades that all the songs gell together. Two songs I enjoyed the most were The One I love and It's the end of the world as we know it.
Can't wait till REM come to sydney, I will for sure see them in concert if they ever do. For any serious REM fan.
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