Retro Spins: R.E.M. - Document

R.E.M. are one of those bands I tend to forget were around in the 80's. My introduction to them didn't come until the 1990 television series debut of Get A Life starring Chris Elliot. The song, Stand, is the show's opening intro, and one I quite frankly never gave a second thought to. It was a decent tune, but I never for a moment thought it was from an established band, let alone one which was on their 1988 album, Green.

The band didn't really land on my radar until 1991 with their hit, Shiny Happy People. A lot of this was also helped by the instantly recognizable voice of Kate Pierson of the B-52's and a quirky video which saw a lot of rotation on MTV. From there, I began to take a bigger look at them, and even dabbled a bit in their CD's, thanks in part to music clubs Columbia House and BMG.

While I had a few of their discs in the early 90's, I don't recall them really leaving an impact with me. They always remained that band that I liked a couple songs from, but never really gave a second thought to.

Well, until now. That second thought comes today with my listen to R.E.M.'s 1987 album, Document. It's notable for featuring It's The End Of The World As We Know It and The One I Love, but does it have anything else to offer? Rolling Stones seems to think so, ranking it number 41 on their list of top 100 greatest albums of the 80's. With that, I dove in to find out where it ranks for me.

Sigh...I'm beginning to think I need to just stay away from these top "X" lists flooded across the internet.

R.E.M.'s Document is nothing to write home about. It's not that the album is bad, but for me, it's also not memorable. I'm by no means a major fan of the band, but for something ranked on a top 100 list, I expected so much more than a bunch of throw away songs.

I guess, if for nothing else, I got the two hits that I know of off the album, but again, I wanted much more than this. I thought I may have found at least one more decent track in the form of Lightnin' Hopkins. It starts out with this killer beat, but then Michael Stipe starts singing, and it quickly turns awful. It made me start to wonder if this, Stipe's voice,  was the true reason I wasn't enjoying the album. Food for thought I suppose. If I had to wager an immediate guess, I think the biggest turn off for me is it sounds to 90's. Fans of the 80's who dislike 90's music will understand immediately what I mean by that.

At the end of the day, R.E.M.'s Document was not my cup of tea. I won't give up on them just yet, in terms of their other albums, but I'm not necessarily eagerly rushing to hear these just yet. This one was certainly enough for a while.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.