ALBUM REACTION: R.E.M. - Document

[@AlexHaitz]

More R.E.M. Reactions: Chronic Town EP: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHOvZGZ8mcSoqac Murmur: kzbin.info/www/bejne/maiao2eXor6Nipo Reckoning: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5DMfKSHbdyCqNk Fables of the Reconstruction: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZibmJ57jb-cqaM Lifes Rich Pageant: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4uuXoVqdqd3gqM Green: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f56wnIyboJtsi8U Out of Time: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip6QppiEeNqoZtU Automatic for the People: kzbin.info/www/bejne/npCtpnutadqqj7M New Adventures in Hi-Fi: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4CYaqeZpNKKaM0 Fall On Me: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZicc2R8eqh7q7s Here I Am Again: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f56pnnmagJ6tqNE Nightswimming: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYaoiayKgM-VfM0 Tongue: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2XCqpiqe7Z5jtk

[@jonathanharmon2284]

“Strange” is a cover of a Wire song. Kinda new to your channel, but if you haven’t checked out the Wire album “Pink Flag”, I would highly recommend it. Cheers!

[@richardmose]

Thanks for another great reaction. This is another great REM offering that I truly love and adore.

[@tricolore31]

People say document is only good because of the 2 hits end of the world and one I love, but in my opinion. It's solid all the way through. No bad songs.

[@ikesweat8749]

Oddfellows Local 151-where Peewee gathers up his proof, scratched his head, fell down and hit the ground again. It's been noted this is another adventure in the Wendell Gee saga. I feel it as a powerful closing piece to cap a great album. In fact the last 2 songs are outstanding. The first side is perhaps the greatest opening 6 songs of any of the 15 studio works.

[@stephanevilleneuve9450]

The opening song and The One I Love are my favourites. More cohesive compositions and give a good idea where they're going in the future 🤩

[@jamiebroadbridge4776]

Very nice reaction. But I really think you will enjoy Out of Time, UP and Reveal. At least you are gonna do New Adventures in HIFI….. I am really looking forward to seeing your reaction to Find The River (closing track from Automatic For The People). My all time favourite song by any artist pure perfection in every single way….

[@joeschmoe487]

I don't know if kids these days even see that EOTWAWKI is an homage to Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues.

[@AlexHaitz]

I haven’t heard a lot of Dylan yet so I wouldn’t know.

[@tricolore31]

I like lightning Hopkins it's a fun song. King of birds is beautiful too

[@debjorgo]

This may be my favorite. Out of Time is great. It has Radio Song, Losing My Religion, and Shiny Happy People (with Kate Pierson from the B52s).

[@MichaelBosley]

I find Document didn't age quite as well as previous albums. The production is technically good, but I find especially the guitar work is showing its 80's influence and isn't quite as cohesive as an overall album for me. It's still the most "punchy" album of the IRS years so far though with some solid bangers. I think Green will be a bit more consistent.

[@j.r.a.f.t.m.]

Great reaction as always Alex, with 'Document' I think the first 7 tracks are almost on par with the consistency of 'Murmur' (obviously not as good, but consistently solid), 'Fireplace' continues to grow over listens but the last 3 tracks really make the album suffer for me and that's why it can't be near my top 5, despite that 'Exhuming Mccarthy', 'It's the end of world' rank among my favourites by them.

[@tricolore31]

Personally I love the last 3. Different strokes for different folks. Especially king of birds.

[@kevtruth]

Document is better than I remember it being. I really like King Of Birds. The only dud to my ears is Lightnin' Hopkins.

[@BetheQuail]

The next three records have some incredible songs. Feel free to skip Out of Time, but on your own do listen to Half a World Away and Country Feedback. In the post-IRS era, Warner bros put out mostly fun jangle-pop singles, but their darker, sadder stuff started getting incredible. Stipe has called Country Feedback his favorite REM song. They put out an artful film of Green tour footage, Tourfilm. They do a version of King of Birds on there that blows this album version out of the water.

[@TwelveDeck]

REM did depressing really well.

[@eboethrasher]

No, he should listen to Out of Time as there are far more good songs on it than just those two. Texarkana is wonderful, Me in Honey is a solid closer, and I like the Beach Boys pop of Near Wild Heaven. Belong and Low are great quiet songs that saw their debut on the Green Tour and have a nice vibe that offsets the rest of the album. And I even like the saccharine of SHP, especially Kate's vocals and the intro/bridge.

[@matthewowen2182]

What about out of time ? That comes in between Green and Automatic

[@AlexHaitz]

There was a debate on which to include at the time, and most people said Green over Out of Time.

[@matthewowen2182]

@@AlexHaitz hi I just presumed you were reacting to every album, as you have so far, didn’t realise you were doing selected albums. I must say in my opinion it’s a bit odd one to leave out , Out of time , such a big album for them, it’s when they really took off, the album has some real gems ; Country feedback, half a world away, belong, me and honey and low, please tell me you are not missing out on the album Up ( one of their best in my opinion .

[@tricolore31]

Can't wait til you get to automatic, out of time, monster and new adventures

[@khalidmusadaq2080]

Was that "Swan Swan Hummingbird" you were talking about after listening to "King of Birds"?

[@scottmcrae3355]

I figured that he was referring to “Underneath the Bunker” on Pageant

[@eboethrasher]

@@scottmcrae3355 I am pretty sure it was Swan, it has that Swan vibe. And hey, they both have bird titles!

[@mattjohn4731]

Stand is a Bop!

[@joycehall4866]

Welcome to the Occupation 👍

[@eboethrasher]

OMFG I swear sometimes your reviews are maddening, lol. You react so poorly to songs that are ones that I consider to be part of the permanent canon, ones that define their sound... Disturbance at the Heron House? Really? I think part of the problem here IS coming in at Murmur. It spoils the rest of the experience, of seeing how REM has grown into this college rock band that has pre-saged all of the 90s alt-rock scene, for better or for worse. I mean, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love bought the house they did BECAUSE Peter Buck was living right next door in Seattle at the time. One would not think of Nirvana as being particularly influenced by REM, but Kurt loved his pop sensibilities. Like it or not, Driver 8, Heron House, and some of the slower stuff really does kinda define the canon as much as some of the poppier stuff does. I saw them twice on the Green tour. It was amazing, and then I never saw them again. Don't ask why. Perhaps it could never live up to expectations, especially after Bill left.

[@Songwritersbehindthecurtain]

😯

[@14gilbertst]

Dead Letter Office has some great stuff....however, if you're ambivalent about REM, skip it. If you're writing a political song, what is there to distract from other than the politics? I'm confused. If you haven't heard anything by Mitch Easter's band, Let's Active, check out, Blue Line....for that DYI production era sound.

[@TwelveDeck]

There are of a lot of pre-Document REM fans out there, but I'm not one of them. All that murky shit where you can't understand what Michael is singing most of the time does nothing for me. From Document on it's clear diction from Mr Stipe, and the songs are all the better for it. For what it's worth, Automatic is a killer album- so dark and so depressing, but so amazing.

[@AlexHaitz]

I think I'll have a soft spot for their post-IRS output.

[@eboethrasher]

Life's Rich Pageant is pretty much the same band and vibe as Document, though. Not a lot of songs where the lyrics are obscured. I love Cocteau Twins, so mysterious lyrics I get to try to figure out are my love language, lol.

[@mattjohn4731]

More critical, unimpressed than I expected. Who pissed in your well :P

[@ornag7543]

I think document is their weakest 80's album

[@OutOfAmmoOutOfTime]

Welcome to the occupation, yes about politics and specifically about the history of meddling by the US in the affairs of south and Central American nations….which was highly topical at the time…..broadly the album is a reaction to Reaganism… (ie, Exhuming McCarthy)……