No. 470: Document

Band: R.E.M.
Album: Document
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: R.E.M.'s great strength was intelligent lyrics backed by souped-up Byrds-style indie rock. The political lyrics and Stipe's tenderness back up R.E.M.'s further implementation of difficult instruments into the mix.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Along with “Automatic For The People,” “Document” is the band's strongest album. This should be higher.
Best song: “Welcome to the Occupation” is a classic Stipe protest song. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is great, though overplayed.
Worst song: I don't love "Lightnin' Hopkins."
Is it awesome?: Yes.

One of the great things about ambigous lyrics is that we all can project whatever we want onto the lyrics. Michael Stipe's greatest strength in songwriting is his ability to create these ambiguities while still injecting the songs with passionate, emotional vocal tracks.

Sarcasm is similar. I've misinterpreted my fair share of lyrics (hello, Eric Clapton!) simply based on the sarcasm of the lyric. “The One I Love” and “Finest Worksong” have similarly been misconstrued. “The One I Love” is often seen as a love song, while Stipe's other lyric "A simple prop to occupy my time" isn't exactly complimentary.

“Document” sticks out because the songs finally got an easy-to-understand focus that was missing in earlier records. Ambiguity stopped being the playbook and Stipe's criticism of the socioeconomic situation of the mid 1980s became a theme of a few songs on the record. “Exhuming McCarthy,” “Finest Worksong” and “Welcome to the Occupation” all criticized the Reagan years.

Stipe, of course, isn't the only reason to love “Document.” Peter Buck's guitar riffing is at its riffy best on “Document.” The arpeggio of “Disturbance at the Heron House” contrasts well with the dark-toned Stones-style riff of “The One I Love.” Mike Mills' harmonies fill “Exhuming McCarthy.” Bill Berry's supercharged drums fill “It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” and the wole band shows its skills with their cover of Wire's “Strange.”

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“Document” was the band's first real commercial success and the record was the final one for independent IRS records. In the early 1990s, a lot of R.E.M. fans found that the band has lost its way by signing to Warner Bros. This, of course, is ludicrous, as the band produced – in my humble opinion, obviously – three of its greatest songs (“Man on the Moon,” “Drive” and the brilliantly perfect “Losing My Religion” on Warner Bros. and a contender for the band's strongest album in “Automatic for the People.” An independent label is always great, but an indie band can move to a major and not lose its creativity, there's nothing wrong with making a little money.

No. 247: Automatic For The People

Band: R.E.M.
Album: Automatic For The People
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: I can't see this record clearly because I love it so much. It came out when I was relatively young, but I ended up rediscovering it in college and continue to find it fascinating.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: There is certainly debate whether this is the best R.E.M. record. The fanbase mostly falls into three camps: the "Automatic" people, the "Document" people and the "Murmur" people. The "Murmur" people are idiots. The "Document" people often are the same people who yell "sellout!" whenever an indie band makes any money. Needless to say, I'm in the "Automatic" camp.
Best song: "Drive" remains one of my favorite songs. "Man On The Moon" was a hit single and is beautifully crafted.
Worst song: This is going to surprise some people, but I don't really care for "Everybody Hurts."
Is it awesome?: No doubt about it.

Back when I was in high school and college (Jesus Christ, that was 10 years ago. I'm getting old), the idea of "selling out" was a curse on anyone with ties to the independent rock community. The grunge superstars were able to bypass it, but even some people continue to claim that "Bleach" is better than "Nevermind" or that "Kingdom of Come" is better than "Superunknown." This, of course, is patently ridiculous.

The threat of a band signing with a major label is that the label will come in and tell the band how to augment or change its sound to sell more records. Maybe the label'll ask for a duet with Rihanna. Maybe they will want a cadre of Swedes to punch up the sound.

Thanks to the explosion of Nirvana and R.E.M., this didn't happen as much as a lot of people think. However, a lot of bands do get fat on major label money and decide to add all kinds of orchestral bullshit to their records. I think specifically of Elliott Smith's major label debut, "XO," filled with pianos and ridiculous arrangement. The songs still remain, but the arrangements are bloated.

I understand that this discussion has become moot in recent years. The generation that screamed "sellout!" is mostly listening to NPR these days and any band worth their salt has sold songs to a car company. The record industry just isn't a place where you can make any money without selling a little of yourself.

Still, there's nothing wrong with making money.

Nevertheless, R.E.M. did it right. The band's major label, debut, "Green," was a distinctly R.E.M. record and didn't deviate much from the previous album. The band evolved two records later, using the major label money for their opus and masterpiece, "Automatic For The People."

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"Automatic" doesn't really sound like an R.E.M. record. The jangly guitar isn't really there. Michael Stipe's lyrics are considerably easier to digest (admittedly, still not very straightforward). The band did add strings, though in this case, they hired a real professional to do them right (John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin bassist and fantastic producer).

The result is wonderful and -- as R.E.M. knows how to do -- achingly beautiful. Pain fills the record, as evidenced by the hit single, "Everybody Hurts." "Everybody Hurts" is not my favorite R.E.M. song, but it has a great deal of resonance with people. Similarly, "Drive" has the same feeling, but without the overt lyrics. Possibly due to its dark key (d minor) but "Drive" has a feeling of real desperation.

That's not to say the whole album is down. A tribute to Andy Kaufman, "Man On The Moon" is the closest to a classic R.E.M. song and certainly the closest to their jangly sound. Still, it's lyrically playful and a masterpiece of putting a song together.

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The minor songs (aka the non-singles) are great, as well. "Monty Got A Raw Deal" takes a great deal from the band's previous album ("Out Of Time") and "Nightswimming" is a pretty, soft ballad. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" is a raucous upbeat number while "Sweetness Follows" is similarly haunting.

It's the band's most mature record and certainly its best. Sellout or no, "Automatic For The People" is brilliant.

No. 197: Murmur

Band: R.E.M.
Album: Murmur
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Easily the most mainstream of the college radio jangle-rock of the 1980s, R.E.M. was a seminal band that straddled the line of mainstream and underground success. Their 1983 debut, "Murmur"is filled with influence from bands diverse as Big Star, The Byrds, Gang of Four and The Psychedelic Furs.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: "Murmur" is, by no means, the best R.E.M. record.
Best song: "A Perfect Circle" is sad, sublime and excellent. Mills' doubled piano is just perfect.
Worst song: "We Walk" isn't great.
Is it awesome?: Yes.

In 1983, post-punk was in its nascent stages and R.E.M. were the type of band to nurture it to fruition. Building off the New Wave of bands like the Talking Heads and the protopunk of the Velvet Underground, R.E.M. added Big Star's pop and The Byrds' jangle and set the stage for years to come. In adding Stipe's lyrics with the band's pop sensibility, R.E.M. became a style of their own.

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One of the R.E.M.'s early trademarks is that Michael Stipe's lyrics are a complete artistic bunch of nonsense. There isn't really a decipherable way to understand what Stipe's talking about; He's overly abstract and arty in a way that really engages the listener.

"Radio Free Europe" has some theme, but otherwise, regret and melancholy basically rules "Murmur." The song titles themselves show a picture of downturn ambiguity: "Pilgrimage," "Moral Kiosk" and the wonderful "Talk About The Passion."

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R.E.M. is what U2 wants to be. Outspoken children of '70s power pop and '60s folk, Michael Stipe and Co. are able to use jangly Rickenbackers and Stipe's nasal whine to reinforce a dark world view. The band's attraction for college students in the underground, non-punk rock scene opened the door for bands like Pavement and their ilk. U2, on the other hand...

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I'm going to do something a little sneaky here (and something I did earlier in the week with that Green Day record). Just as a politician answers the question s/he wanted to answer (as opposed to the one actually asked), I'm going to write about a song released eight years after "Murmur:" "Losing My Religion."

As someone who has about 50 songs on his 10 favorite songs list, I guess my recommendation for the track is mostly meaningless. Still, "Losing My Religion" is the best R.E.M. song ever released, which is saying a lot for a band that's put out "Drive," "Man On The Moon," "Fall On Me," "Welcome To The Occupation," So. Central Rain" and "Talk About The Passion."

But, "Losing My Religion" is such a striking song that it takes the cake. Because of a video heavy in imagery evoking Saint Sebastian, a lot of people find the song to be religious, but it simply speaks of religion in a laudatory, subtle tone. It's based on the Southern phrase of losing one's temper (example: "That's made me so mad I'm losing my religion."), it's a breakup song. Stipe himself has said the song is thematically linked to "Every Breath You Take" and a glimpse into the lyrics (specifically, the famous "I think I though I saw you try") evokes a quiet desperation that R.E.M. has perfected. In this case, it's the jilted, angry lover.

And that mandolin part is exquisite. Based around a G/D chord progression, it sounds enough like "Battle Of Evermore" to be great, but the song's tempo makes it sound wholly un-R.E.M.-ish. The acoustic guitar backs up the band's folkish bona fides (especially after the more rock "Green") while Bill Berry's drumming is more energetic than on previous efforts.

Stipe's voice cracks and modulates perfectly on "Losing My Religion." While he had worked in a rock form on "Document" and "Green" and a more college-radio sound on earlier IRS releases, "Losing My Religion" was Stipe's peak as a vocalist. Finally, his nasal whine would work off the guitars, as opposed to under them (something the band would reinforce on "Automatic For The People").

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R.E.M. is one of the bands that made college radio into what it was for almost 20 years. Along with other post-punk bands of the era, R.E.M. appealed to a totally different demographic than your average underground band. As New Wave catered to an art student crowd, college radio's post-punk genre combined the art students of New Wave with the suburban geeky punk rockers. And so, you have R.E.M., a facsimile of The Byrds.

The band's sound is constantly evolving, but R.E.M.'s first record sounds timeless, basically. While it's not as fully realized as their later work, it's equally somber and sonically marvelous.