4 keepers
keeper avg .363
"Finest Worksong"***** is a rousing opener; between Peter Buck's layers of drones and harmonics, Mike Mills' soaring harmonies, and Bill Barry's jackhammer ride cymbal (or drum machine?) I can practically see the steel workers in a Soviet-era poster come to life, though it's lyrically more oblique. If not overtly political, the first side of the album at least feels markedly topical; besides the union rally feel of "Finest Worksong," the themes of unrest in "Welcome To The Occupation" and "Disturbance At The Heron House" are closer to the surface, while "Exhuming McCarthy" openly skewers Reagan-era capitalism." And under the era's threat of global annihilation, like Prince's "1999," "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"***** responds with a party (though unfortunately its stream of consciousness topical-ism may have inspired Billy Joel's bombastic "We Didn't Start The Fire"). As far as sound goes, it's clear Peter Buck has discovered the power of the drone, and all "The One I Love"**** needed was a series of riffs dominated by E and Michael Stipe's 20-or-so word lyric sheet to make an intense and memorable top-10 hit. Elsewhere, songs like "Welcome To The Occupation" and "Disturbance At The Heron House" are more examples of R.E.M.'s southern/bluegrass version of The Byrds's country rock, while with the addition of mandolin "King Of Birds" foreshadows the folk/Ren-faire vibe that would reappear on songs such as "Hairshirt", "Losing My Religion", and "Try Not To Breathe" from later albums. "Fireplace"**** (the "crazy crazy world" song, has a menacing grind played in a swinging 6/8; though another song with only twenty-something words it's one of the more interesting, with unexpected saxophone featured prominently. Elsewhere, "Lightnin' Hopkins" has a new-wave angularity that's weird for R.E.M, the speedy cover of Wire's "Strage" loses some of the impact of the more punctuated original (though Mills's harmonies are always welcome), and the brooding closer "Oddfellows Local 151" is reminiscent of the ominous tone of Fables of the Reconstruction. While not as catchy or consistent as the more up-tempo and straightforward Life's Rich Pageant, Document manages interesting development while keeping the distinctly R.E.M. elements that made the first four albums great.
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