''Document'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

by American rock band R.E.M., released in September, 1987, by

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave ...

. It was the first album by the band to be produced by

Scott Litt Scott Warren Litt (born March 10, 1954) is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s during the band's most su ...

. Continuing in the vein of their previous album '' Lifes Rich Pageant'', ''Document'' features more audible lyrics and a harder rock sound in comparison to the band's earlier releases. The album became R.E.M.'s greatest success at the time, giving the band their first top 10 hit (" The One I Love") and album, peaking at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Composition

''Document'' was R.E.M.'s first album to be co-produced both by the band and

; this was a collaboration that continued through the productions of ''

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

'', '' Out of Time'', '' Automatic for the People'', ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'', and ''

New Adventures in Hi-Fi ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was their fifth major-label release for Warner Bros. Records, released on September 9, 1996, in Europe and Australia, and the following day in ...

''. The album's clear production and muscular rock riffs both helped to move the band toward mainstream success and built on the work done by

Don Gehman Don Gehman is an American record producer, engineer, and executive, best known for his work with John Mellencamp and Hootie & the Blowfish. He was one of "the most successful producers of the 1980s and 1990s." As a sound engineer, he also helped ...

, who had produced their previous album '' Lifes Rich Pageant''. This release not only launched "The One I Love" — R.E.M.'s first Top 10 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 9 — but also gave them their first

platinum album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. "Strange" was originally recorded by

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

band

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is co ...

on their debut album ''

Pink Flag ''Pink Flag'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released in November 1977 by Harvest Records. The album gained Wire a cult following within independent and post-punk music upon its initial release, later growing to be hi ...

''. R.E.M. expanded their instrumentation somewhat on the album, adding a

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

to "King of Birds" and a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

to "Fireplace".

Steve Berlin Steven M. Berlin (born September 14, 1955, Philadelphia) is an American saxophonist, keyboardist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock group Los Lobos and, before that, Top Jimmy & the Rhythm Pigs, the Blasters, and the Fles ...

was brought in to add his saxophone skills because of a prior relationship with producer

. This experimentation would lead to their adoption of the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

, which featured prominently on their subsequent albums ''Green'' and ''Out of Time''; furthermore, the band's musicians began swapping instruments both in concert and the studio with an effort to create new sounds and avoid stagnation.

Packaging

The original sleeve for the album featured the message "File under Fire", a reference to what Michael Stipe considered to be the central lyrical theme of the album, and also references the chorus to "The One I Love". A similar message ("File under water") could be found on the cover of the band's second album, '' Reckoning'', as well as on the compilation album ''Eponymous'' ("File under grain") referring to the idea behind "Talk About the Passion", which was about hunger. Two rejected suggestions for the title of the album—''R.E.M. No. 5'' and ''Table of Content''—also appear on the sleeve artwork. Other possible album titles included ''Mr. Evil Breakfast'', ''Skin Up with R.E.M.'', and ''Last Train to

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

'' (the last one having been suggested by Peter Buck, who felt that America under the presidency of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

was beginning to feel a lot like the famed amusement park).

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

said the band had moved on from their past work's

escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or gener ...

and that "their discovery of the outside world has sharpened their sense of humor along with everything else", citing "

It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., which first appeared on their 1987 album, ''Document''. It was released as the album's second single in November 1987, reaching No. 69 i ...

" as an "inspirational title". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' reviewer

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

felt that the album was R.E.M.'s "finest to date", and said that "''Document'' is the sound of R.E.M. on the move".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

said that "where '' Lifes Rich Pageant'' sounded a bit like a party record, ''Document'' is a fiery statement, and its memorable melodies and riffs are made all the more indelible by its righteous anger." ''Rolling Stone'' went on to include the album in their list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s (in 41st place), and then ranked it number 462 on 2012 list of

the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...

. In 2012, ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yo ...

'' listed the album at number 17 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".

Reissue

In 1999, the album was remastered by Bob Ludwig and re-released on

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...

in the United States. This version came in a replica of the record sleeve made of cardboard. In 2005,

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

(whose then parent company EMI at that time owned I.R.S. Records' catalog) issued an expanded

DualDisc The DualDisc is a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including Michael Jackson, MJJ Productions Inc., EMI, EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, ...

edition of ''Document'' which includes a

digitally remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

version of the album on the CD side, a

DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The st ...

, DTS and

Dolby Digital Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3, is the name for what has now become a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Formerly named Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, the audio compression is loss ...

5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by

Elliot Scheiner Elliot Ray Scheiner (born 18 March 1947) is a music producer, mixer and engineer. Scheiner has received 27 Grammy Award nominations, eight of which he won, and he has been awarded four Emmy nominations, two Emmy Awards for his work with the Eagl ...

on the DVD side, and the original CD booklet.

Track listing

All songs were written by

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar ...

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his ca ...

, Mike Mills and

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence. Pos ...

, except where noted. Side one – "Page side" #" Finest Worksong" – 3:48 #"Welcome to the Occupation" – 2:46 #"Exhuming McCarthy" – 3:19 #"Disturbance at the Heron House" – 3:32 #"Strange" (

Bruce Gilbert Bruce Clifford Gilbert (born 18 May 1946) is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art punk band Wire,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 180-182 he branched o ...

Graham Lewis Graham Lewis (born Edward Graham Lewis, 22 February 1953) is an English musician. Lewis is the bassist with punk rock/post-punk band Wire, a band formed in 1976. Biography On Wire's first studio album Graham Lewis was credited as ''Lewis''; ...

Colin Newman Colin John Newman (born 16 September 1954) is an English musician, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as the primary vocalist and songwriter for the post-punk band Wire. Early life Newman was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire ...

, Robert Grey) – 2:31 #"

" – 4:05 Side two – "Leaf side" #

" The One I Love" – 3:17 #"Fireplace" – 3:22 #"Lightnin' Hopkins" – 3:20 #"King of Birds" – 4:09 #"Oddfellows Local 151" – 5:21 1993 ''I.R.S. Vintage Years'' reissue bonus tracks #

"Finest Worksong (Other Mix)" – 3:47 #*B-side of " Finest Worksong" 12" single #" Last Date" (

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

) – 2:16 #*B-side of " The One I Love" American 12" single and "

" American 7" single #"The One I Love" (Live at

McCabe's Guitar Shop McCabe's Guitar Shop is a musical instrument store and live music venue on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California, United States. Opened in 1958 by Gerald L. McCabe, a well-known furniture designer. McCabe's specializes in acoustic and folk i ...

) – 4:06 #*B-side of " The One I Love" American 12" single and "

" British 7" and 12" singles # "Time After Time, Etc." (Live) – 8:22 #*B-side of " Finest Worksong" 7 & 12 Inch & "

" 12 Inch UK #"Disturbance at the Heron House" (Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop) – 3:26 #*B-side of " The One I Love" British 12" single #"Finest Worksong" (Lengthy Club Mix) – 5:52 #*B-side of " Finest Worksong" 12" single Note *Although sometimes referred to as such, the first release of this edition does ''not'' have the original tracks remastered. They follow the first print of the album and only add the extra tracks. 25th anniversary bonus disc, recorded live at

Muziekcentrum Vredenburg Muziekcentrum Vredenburg was a music venue in Utrecht, Netherlands with a capacity of 5,000 people. It was designed by Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger. The venue hosted concerts by many famous artists, spanning many different genres. The old bu ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, September 14, 1987 #"Finest Worksong" – 4:10 #"These Days" – 3:36 #"Lightnin' Hopkins" – 3:43 #"Welcome to the Occupation" – 2:52 #"

Driver 8 "Driver 8" is the second single from American musical group R.E.M.'s third album, ''Fables of the Reconstruction''. Released in September 1985, the song peaked at number 22 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was not releas ...

" – 3:35 #" Feeling Gravitys Pull" – 5:31 #"I Believe" – 4:32 #"The One I Love" – 4:20 #"Exhuming McCarthy" – 3:23 #"Wolves, Lower" – 4:23 #" Fall On Me" – 3:05 #"Just a Touch" – 3:04 #"Oddfellows Local 151" – 5:01 #"Little America" – 2:50 #"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – 4:01 #"Begin the Begin" – 3:58 #"Disturbance at the Heron House" – 3:42 #"Moral Kiosk" – 3:02 #"

Life and How to Live It Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy tr ...

" – 6:28 #*Previously released on the 2006 compilation And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987. #" So. Central Rain" – 5:19 #*Previously released on the B-Side of the 1988 "Finest Worksong" single as part of the song called "Time After Time, Etc.", of which it comprises the final 5:19.

Personnel

R.E.M. *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

on "King of Birds" * Mike Mills –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, keyboards, backing vocals *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Additional musicians *

– horns on "Fireplace" *Carl Marsh –

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

on "Fireplace" Production *Bill Berry – production *Peter Buck – production *Mike Mills – production *Michael Stipe – production *

– production *Steve Catania –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

*Tom Der – engineering *Toni Greene – engineering *Gary Laney – engineering *Ted Pattison – engineering *Todd Scholar – engineering *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Que ...

– mastering at Masterdisk,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

; remastered at Gateway Mastering, Portland,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

, United States in June 1999 *

– mixing on 2005 re-release *Jim McKay – photography *Michael Meister – photography *Sandra-Lee Phipps – photography *Ron Scarselli – packaging

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Singles

Certifications and sales

Release history

Notes *†I.R.S. Vintage Years edition, with bonus tracks *‡Compact Disc remastered edition *•DualDisc remastered edition *†† 25th anniversary edition, with bonus disc *A truncated edition of ''Document'' was also issued on

Armed Forces Radio The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...

—catalogue number P-24576—with "Finest Worksong", "Welcome to the Occupation", "Fireplace", "Lightnin' Hopkins", and "King of Birds" on one side and tracks from

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

's ''

A Momentary Lapse of Reason ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in the UK on 7 September 1987 by EMI and the following day in the US on Columbia. It was recorded primarily on guitarist ...

'' on the other.

References

External links

R.E.M.HQ on ''Document''
* (I.R.S. Vintage Years edition) * (DualDisc edition) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Document (Album) 1987 albums Albums produced by Bill Berry Albums produced by Michael Stipe Albums produced by Mike Mills Albums produced by Peter Buck Albums produced by Scott Litt I.R.S. Records albums R.E.M. albums Reagan Era