When Good Things Happen to Great Bands

Album: R.E.M., Document, 1987

Best Track: "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

Lasting Memory: As I wrote a long time ago, I saw R.E.M. in concert in 1987, when the band was touring in support of Document. While the boys from Athens were largely outshone as a live act by their Atlanta-based opening act Drivin' n' Cryin', R.E.M. did deliver for me my first lighter-waving moment.

It is such a cliche to wave lighters overhead when a band slips into its iconic power ballad that it can only be done ironically now -- and with cell phones.

Twenty-two years ago, standing on a basketball court, listening to "King of Birds," I would have raised my lighter high if I'd had one. I was already swaying like a mofo, and I may even have gotten a lump in my throat. I couldn't have told you then what the song was about, and I can't tell you now, but dang if "King of Birds" doesn't still grab me and make me all emotional and shit.

Document grabbed many millions of people. The Mrs. Now quatrain "The One I Love" broke R.E.M. into the Billboard Top 10, and the apocalyptic party anthem "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" secured R.E.M.'s promotion from "120 Minutes" poster boy to MTV after school staple.

The other thing Document did was set a rigid template for every subsequent R.E.M. album. It's a great template. Don't knock the template. But also recognize that every post-Document recorded document from R.E.M. contains precisely the same mix of mild political protest, quasi-electronica noodling, and sunshiny pop with a dark core. Further, almost all the later songs sound like slight variations of ones on Document.

By 1987, no band deserved superstardom more than R.E.M., and I'm glad the band got its due. R.E.M. just maybe didn't deserve its due for Document. Even though Time.com lists Document as one of the greatest albums of all time (only American, English, and Irish acts need apply), there is a strong case to be made that Document is only the fourth or fifth best album in R.E.M.'s own catalog. It is certainly not seminal in the way 1983's Murmur was, nor is it iconic in the way 1991's Out of Time would become.

Still, there is not even the faintest whiff of the sell out about Document. It's not as if R.E.M. completely changed its sound and look just so the band could enjoy some chart success. So, good on them.

Up Next: R.E.M., Dead Letter Office, 1987