R.E.M. - Document
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- 23 hours ago
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Written By: Moti Kupfer
Release date - 31.08.1987
"There are a few things on this album that could do well on Top Forty radio, but then again I can't imagine it happening."
The speaker was Peter Buck, guitarist for "R.E.M.", sounding pessimistic, almost indifferent, when discussing the band's commercial prospects with "Rolling Stone" shortly before the release of their fifth studio album, "Document", on August 31, 1987. Buck went on to explain that he had virtually no commercial expectations for the record and certainly did not see it as the album that would suddenly tear up the charts.
Buck and his bandmates had recorded no fewer than five studio albums in five years, all for I.R.S. Records. It was certainly an impressive output, but their reputation as a college rock band had prevented them from making the next major step. They felt that what they really needed was a breakthrough hit that would push them into mainstream consciousness across the United States, and perhaps internationally as well. That hit, however, had yet to arrive.
Meanwhile, the musical landscape was dominated by Hair Metal bands such as "Mötley Crüe", alongside stadium rock giants like "Dire Straits", "U2" and "INXS".
After their previous album, "Lifes Rich Pageant", had presented a richer and more direct sound, partly thanks to producer Don Gehman, the quartet of Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry wanted to do something slightly different this time. Their intention was to create a looser, almost semi-live album, with a somewhat tougher edge than its predecessor.
For that purpose, they turned to producer Scott Litt, whose résumé was rather diverse. On one hand, he had worked with pop band "Katrina and the Waves", best known for "Walking on Sunshine", while on the other he had produced New York power-pop band "The dB's".
Litt first worked with "R.E.M." on "Romance", recorded for the soundtrack of the fantasy comedy film "Made in Heaven". The band members were pleased with the result and chose him to produce their next album.
It may sound like a match made in heaven, but Litt was not actually an "R.E.M." fan at the time. He felt that their sound was too dark and murky, and believed that if the band wanted to reach a wider audience, they needed a broader sonic range. One of his main areas of focus was bringing the vocal harmonies of Mike Mills, Bill Berry and Michael Stipe further forward in the mix.
The recording sessions also introduced instruments that had rarely, if ever, appeared on previous "R.E.M." albums, including saxophone, mandolin and dulcimer, a traditional instrument strongly associated with folk music and famously used by artists such as Joni Mitchell.
The album's first single, "The One I Love", became "R.E.M."'s first genuine mainstream hit, reaching No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. In the UK it initially peaked at No. 51, before climbing to No. 16 when it was reissued in 1991. Despite its seemingly romantic title, the song is anything but a conventional love song. Its lyrics describe a cold and destructive relationship in which one person treats the other as something disposable, pushing the idea of love into the territory of emotional exploitation.
The next single achieved only modest chart success at first, reaching No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, but over the years it became one of the band's defining cult classics, "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)".
Throughout "Document", the lyrics once again move between politics, relationships and the anxieties and fears of songwriter Michael Stipe. The album ultimately became the major turning point in "R.E.M."'s career, marking their transition from college-rock heroes into a band capable of filling arenas and stadiums. It also paved the way for their departure from the independent-minded I.R.S. Records and their move to major label Warner Bros. Records.
It was the first album by the quartet from Athens, Georgia, to be certified platinum in the United States, representing sales of more than one million copies. It also marked the beginning of a remarkably fruitful partnership between "R.E.M." and Scott Litt, who would work together on six consecutive albums, from "Document" through "New Adventures in Hi-Fi", a period that transformed the band into one of the biggest alternative rock acts in the world and, in many ways, positioned them as natural successors to "U2".
The album cover itself is something of a document of ideas. It features the band's name alongside the number 5, referring both to its place as "R.E.M."'s fifth studio album and to "R.E.M. No. 5", one of the working titles considered before "Document" was chosen.
The fragmented artwork resembles a collection of images and objects pulled from a surveillance file, with several photographs layered over one another. Among them is Michael Stipe, hiding behind a camera and photographing the photographer at the very moment the photographer is taking his picture.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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