Document (25th Anniversary Edition)

Document was R.E.M.'s first platinum album, with the hits "The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" leading the commercial charge. This anniversary edition adds a previously unreleased live recording of R.E.M.'s Sept. 14, 1987, show in Utrecht, Holland, which is heavy on selections from Document, along with choice tracks from Lifes Rich Pageant and key early songs like "Wolves, Lower" from Chronic Town and "Moral Kiosk" from Murmur. Despite essentially being a power trio with a singer, R.E.M. performed as a subtle, dynamic band that made the most of its physical limitations. Document, the album, remains one of the band's strongest, opening with the one-two punch of "Finest Worksong" and "Welcome to the Occupation" and including the Wire cover "Strange" and the dulcimer-driven "King of Birds," which adds a sense of exoticism to R.E.M.'s glorious sound. Document is both a vibrant, living, breathing album and a postcard from the college-radio end of the '80s.