Album · R.E.M.
Document by R.E.M.
Document is an album by R.E.M., released in 1987. 6 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 329 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”, on 138 lists with a best position of #2.
Document, R.E.M.'s fifth album, landed on I.R.S. in 1987, and it's the moment a band that used to bury its words cleared its throat and turned up the amps. It was their first record co-produced with Scott Litt, and following the lead of Lifes Rich Pageant, the words come through clearer and the guitars bite harder than on anything they'd done before.
It's a restless, jittery record. "Finest Worksong" hammers away like a shop-floor anthem, "Exhuming McCarthy" struts with a sly sneer, "Disturbance at the Heron House" and "Oddfellows Local 151" growl and grumble, and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a breathless, word-spewing sprint through the apocalypse with a grin on its face. Then there's "The One I Love", with a guitar riff that rings like an alarm bell and a chorus that's practically a howl.
"The One I Love" gave R.E.M. their first Top 10 hit, and the album became their first to crack the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, topping out at number 10. It was their biggest success up to then.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Document on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)#84 of all time | 138 | #2 | – | 1987–2026 | |
| 2 | The One I Love#91 of all time | 150 | #5 | – | 1987–2026 | |
| 3 | Finest Worksong | 25 | #67 | – | 1987–2026 | |
| 4 | Disturbance At The Heron House | 14 | #1070 | – | 1999–2014 | |
| 5 | Exhuming McCarthy | 1 | #432 | – | 1996 | |
| 6 | Oddfellows Local 151 | 1 | #1934 | – | 2000 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.