History Music / Document

** A less prominent but still significant addition on this album is the band using synthesizers for the first time on their records, having previously shunned them out of a desire to avoid any radio-friendly cliches[[note]]so heavy was their early distaste towards synths that Stephen Hauge adding them to "Catapult" during production of ''Music/{{Murmur}}'' led the band to drop him in favor of working with ''Chronic Town'' producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter[[/note]]. Specifically, Carl Marsh is credited with playing the Fairlight CMI on "Fireplace", and "Oddfellows Local 151" features synth strings in the middle and outro of the song. The presence of synths is still incredibly light for the time (for one, the Fairlight is impossible to notice, in part due to it being sample-based), but it's definitely a noticeable step away from the total absence on previous albums; R.E.M. wouldn't more heavily incorporate synthesizers though until the Pat [=McCarthy=]-produced albums between 1998 and 2004.

''Document'' (R.E.M. No. 5) is the fifth album by Music/{{REM}}, released in 1987 through Creator/IRSRecords. Their final album with independent label Creator/IRSRecords, it laid the groundwork for the poppier style the band would adopt on later albums, continuing ''Music/LifesRichPageant''[='s=] shift away from their older, murkier sound. The album was also their first to be produced by Scott Litt, who would produce all of the band's albums up until Bill Berry's departure in 1997; Litt was hired at the recommendation of ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' producer Don Gehman, who the band initially wanted to produce ''Document'', only for him to be unavailable.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: [[Music/LeonardBernstein "LEO-NARD-BERN-STEIN!"]]

''Document'' (R.E.M. No. 5) is the fifth album by Music/{{REM}}, released in 1987. Their final album with independent label Creator/IRSRecords, it laid the groundwork for the poppier style the band would adopt on later albums, continuing ''Music/LifesRichPageant''[='s=] shift away from their older, murkier sound. The album was also their first to be produced by Scott Litt, who would produce all of the band's albums up until Bill Berry's departure in 1997; Litt was hired at the recommendation of ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' producer Don Gehman, who the band initially wanted to produce ''Document'', only for him to be unavailable.

* LongTitle: "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". Counting the parenthetical subtitle, the track holds the distinction of having the longest title of any of R.E.M.'s songs, at fourteen words and 44 characters (57 if you include spaces); if you discount the subtitle, it's tied by word count with [[Music/NewAdventuresInHiFi "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"]].

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Keeping in line with R.E.M.'s tradition of giving custom names to their LP sides, vinyl copies list a "Page" side and a "Leaf" side.

* MinisculeRocking: "Oddfellows Local 151" is the longest song at 5:21, "Strange" is the shortest at 2:31 and everything else falls somewhere in the middle.

** "King of Birds" features a similar sound and structure to "Time After Time (Annelise)" off of ''Reckoning''.

''Document'' (R.E.M. No. 5) is the fifth album by Music/{{REM}}, released in 1987. Their final album with independent label Creator/IRSRecords, it laid the groundwork for the poppier style the band would adopt on later albums, continuing ''Music/LifesRichPageant''[='s=] shift away from their older, murkier sound. The album was also their first to be produced by Scott Litt, who would produce all of the band's albums up until Bill Berry's departure in 1997.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_(album) The Other Wiki]].

** Some analysts [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq-lv3mRKM4 speculate]] that "It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is one to the general state of the world in the waning years of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, with the lyrics implicitly equating the United States and the Soviet Union as NotSoDifferent in their use of authority, military might, and control of the general public.

* RhythmTypewriter: "Exhuming [=McCarthy=]" starts with the sound of one, [[https://twitter.com/m_millsey/status/1404134000801820674 played by Michael Stipe]].

The album produced three singles: "The One I Love", "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", and "Finest Worksong". Of these three, "The One I Love" gave R.E.M. [[BreakthroughHit their first taste of mainstream commercial success]], becoming their first single to sell beyond just the alternative/indie crowd, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at No. 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album itself was also a major mainstream success, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the RIAA just five months after its release; the album would eventually be certified gold in the UK as well. This success would lay the first stone in the band's path to international superstardom, which would culminate in the smash success of their breakthrough album ''Music/OutOfTime'' four years later. Additionally, the success of ''Document'' and its associated singles would, alongside other releases that year such as Music/TenThousandManiacs' ''Music/InMyTribe'', Music/{{U2}}'s ''Music/TheJoshuaTree'', Music/MidnightOil's ''Diesel and Dust'', Music/NewOrder's ''Music/{{Substance|New Order Album}}'', and Music/DepecheMode's ''Music/MusicForTheMasses'', herald the entry of AlternativeRock into the American mainstream.

The album produced three singles: "The One I Love", "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", and "Finest Worksong". Of these three, "The One I Love" gave R.E.M. [[BreakthroughHit their first taste of mainstream commercial success]], becoming their first single to sell beyond just the alternative/indie crowd, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at No. 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It still remains one of their most iconic songs. The album itself was also a major mainstream success, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the RIAA just five months after its release; the album would eventually be certified gold in the UK as well. This success would lay the first stone in the band's path to international superstardom, which would culminate in the smash success of their breakthrough album ''Music/OutOfTime'' four years later. While initially not as big of a success (peaking at just No. 69 on the Billboard charts), "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" became even better known than "The One I Love" and would go on to become a nice candidate for R.E.M.'s SignatureSong, bolstered by its nigh-impenetrable stream-of-consciousness lyrics, which would go on to become the TropeNamer for SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein. Additionally, the success of ''Document'' and its associated singles would, alongside other releases that year such as Music/TenThousandManiacs' ''Music/InMyTribe'', Music/{{U2}}'s ''Music/TheJoshuaTree'', Music/MidnightOil's ''Diesel and Dust'', Music/NewOrder's ''Music/{{Substance|New Order Album}}'', and Music/DepecheMode's ''Music/MusicForTheMasses'', herald the entry of AlternativeRock into the American mainstream.

The album was also a major critical success in addition to its high sales, with reviewers praising its heightened sociopolitical commentary and sharper, more satirical humor. ''Slant'' magazine would go on to rank the album at No. 17 in its 2012 list of the best albums of the 1980's, and the album maintains a strong critical standing to this day. Among fans, it's also near-unanimously considered a major high point for the band, with many ranking it alongside ''Music/{{Murmur}}'', ''Music/{{Green}}'', ''Out of Time'', ''Music/AutomaticForThePeople'', and ''Music/NewAdventuresInHiFi'' as one of R.E.M.'s finest albums.

* RhythmTypewriter: "Exhuming [=McCarthy=]" starts with the sound of one.

The album produced three singles: "The One I Love", "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", and "Finest Worksong". Of these three, "The One I Love" gave R.E.M. [[BreakthroughHit their first taste of mainstream commercial success]], becoming their first single to sell beyond just the alternative/indie crowd, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at No. 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album itself was also a major mainstream success, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the RIAA just five months after its release; the album would eventually be certified gold in the UK as well. This success would lay the first stone in the band's path to international superstardom, which would culminate in the smash success of their breakthrough album ''Music/OutOfTime'' four years later. While not as big of a success (peaking at just No. 69 on the Billboard charts), "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" would go on to become a nice candidate for R.E.M.'s SignatureSong, bolstered by its nigh-impenetrable stream-of-consciousness lyrics, which would go on to become the TropeNamer for SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein. Additionally, the success of ''Document'' and its associated singles would, alongside other releases that year such as Music/TenThousandManiacs' ''Music/InMyTribe'', Music/{{U2}}'s ''Music/TheJoshuaTree'', Music/MidnightOil's ''Diesel and Dust'', Music/NewOrder's ''Music/{{Substance|New Order Album}}'', and Music/DepecheMode's ''Music/MusicForTheMasses'', herald the entry of AlternativeRock into the American mainstream.