Don Gehman was unable to produce R.E.M.’s fifth album, so he suggested the group work with Scott Litt . Litt would become the producer for the band’s next five albums. Document (1987) featured some of Stipe’s most overtly political lyrics, particularly on “Welcome to the Occupation” and “Exhuming McCarthy”, which were reactions to the conservative political environment of the 1980s under American president Ronald Reagan . Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote in his review of the album: ” ‘ Document ‘ is both confident and defiant; if R.E.M. is about to move from cult-band status to mass popularity, the album decrees that the band will get there on its own terms.” Document was R.E.M.’s breakthrough album, and the first single ” The One I Love ” charted in the Top 20 in the US, UK, and Canada. By January 1988, Document had become the group’s first album to sell a million copies. In light of the band’s breakthrough, the December 1987 cover of Rolling Stone declared R.E.M. “America’s Best Rock & Roll Band”.
Document released
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