To the uninterested or passing listener, Document will serve as a single song wonder. R.E.M., granted, had far more depths than those same flippant people will give them credit for, it just takes some time to dig deep into it. Jangle pop had left the studio by this time and R.E.M., committed as ever to finding a new sound for themselves from album to album, pushes that little bit further with Document. It’s a bold step for the Michael Stipe-fronted group to take, though a push that pays off. Another drift towards a stern, alternative rock sound which is only a good thing for the band. Stipe can work the jangle pop style well with his vocals but giving the band that toughness, a slightly harsher instrumental sound thanks to the instrumental work of Peter Buck, that’s what defines Document even now. Finest Worksong has the band claim this is their finest hour.
Every album up to this point had felt like that for R.E.M., the continued evolution of their sound would, in some ways, stop here. They found a sound that worked for them commercially, as is the want of many performers. Work, opportunities, and McCarthyism are all thrown together in the first three songs of Document. A series of bold and out-there commentaries from R.E.M. which does work brilliantly. They’ve found that fine line between modern culture and the lessons unlearned from just twenty years before Document released. Stipe still writes with that fluid, subliminal style and is drowned out a little by the guitar lead on Welcome to the Occupation, but his lyrical strength works wonders. It’s the instrumental drift which affects Document a little poorly. Not all the time, of course. Document has a strong feel to its instrumentals for the bulk of it but there’s a bit of a tepid feeling to Exhuming McCarthy, a shame given how much of a gut-punch political comparison it’s meant to be.
R.E.M. had not been a band to make their message as clear as it is on Document. Previous albums were steeped in a mystery which afforded the group some flexibility on their commentaries. They decide on an alternative route through Document and parts of it work, of course. They’re furious at the cultural decline which, forty years later, is still a valid critique. It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) maintains a worrying relevancy. Those pent up frustrations, the lashing out at pop culture figures and what names may stand the course of time is a magnificent experience. Preceded by Disturbance at the Heron House and Strange, it feels like the band are slowly but surely building up to that A-side ender.
What follows is a rumination on the blowout, the anxieties and attitude present from Document onwards with R.E.M.’s music. Frenetic the energy may have been for It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine), that sentiment continues with The One I Love and Fireplace. A little bit closer to what R.E.M. had done before this, before they started to shift slowly but surely into being a singles band. The B-side has some heavy lifting to do on Document but the band gets there well enough. Songs like Lightnin’ Hopkins are energetic thrills. They can do little, if any, wrong. But it’s the atmosphere they’re relying on from earlier songs that brings out the best in them, rather than any thrill or feel unique to the song. Stipe writes well and the band fall in line with this pursuit of an open sound. Document is solid but it does signal a slight decline from the band’s most sincere efforts.
