#470 "Document" (1987) by REM
For a list with 11 Bob Dylan albums, 10 Beatles and Stones albums, 8 Bruce albums (etc.), I find it to be quite lacking in REM albums. I'm not saying that those acts don't deserve everything that Rolling Stone gives to them (although, c'mon, do they really?), but that for a list that seems to rely very heavily on going back to the same well over and over again, at times including mediocre albums by great artists, why isn't this band one of those, especially when their better-than-mediocre albums aren't even included? REM has a lot of albums that are better than the worst Bruce album, or better than the worst Beatles album. Instead, they have three on the list: "Automatic for the People," "Murmur," and here at #470, 1987's "Document."
"Finest Worksong", "Welcome to the Occupation","Exhuming McCarthy", "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", "The One I Love", "Fireplace", and "King of Birds" are all really excellent songs. In fact, this albums tracks 1-4 is one of the best runs they would ever have.
"Exhuming McCarthy" is a song about right-wing America during the Reagan/Bush years being almost over-patriotic. It's something that I think strongly exists today, especially in a post-911 America. There's the idea that we should just accept that everything American is great on face value, simply because it's American. There's people who believe that they're more honorable, or more honest, or more American than other people, and they get this belief from their antiquated ideas of what America actually is, which are founded in a document that rebels wrote over 200 years ago because they didn't want to pay taxes. The song has an audio recording of head counselor for the US Army in the Army-McCarthy hearings Joe Welch asking Joe McCarthy at the height of his communist witch hunt, "Have you left no sense of decency?"
"Welcome to the Occupation" is a song about a non-specific socialist worker's rebellion. "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a whirlwind of environmental politics that I'm pretty sure Michael Stipe couldn't even sing. Basically, the album is strong in its convictions in ways that Bono only dreams about, and it's more sonic and sure of itself than most of the albums on the list.
1. "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" (1963) by Bob Dylan
2. "Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ" (1973) by Bruce Springsteen
3. "Tapestry" (1971) by Carole King
4. "Document" (1987) by REM
5. "Tea for the Tillerman" (1970) by Cat Stevens
6. "Car Wheels On a Gravel Road" (1998) by Lucinda Williams
7. "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" (1974) by Richard and Linda Thompson
8. "Number One Record" (1972) by Big Star
9. "Bookends" (1968) by Simon and Garfunkel
10. "The Bends" (1995) by Radiohead
11. "Armed Forces" (1979) by Elvis Costello and The Attractions
12. "Stop Making Sense" (1984) by The Talking Heads
13. "Honky Chateau" (1972) by Elton John
14. "Tunnel of Love" (1987) by Bruce Springsteen
15. "Green River" (1969) by Creedance Clearwater Revival
16. "Burnin'" (1973) by The Wailers
17. "The Rolling Stones Now!" (1965) by The Rolling Stones
18. "Born Under A Bad Sign" (1967) by Albert King
19. "Heaven Up Here" (1981) by Echo and the Bunnymen
20. "The Slim Shady LP" (1999) by Eminem
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