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TheR.E.M.of 1987’sDocumentwas a sinewy, muscular rock beast, primed and ready to dominate the airwaves. Peter Buck’s distinctive jangle and chime was still apparent on “Disturbance At The Heron House” and “Welcome To The Occupation,” but, for the most part, his guitar playing took on a sharp, steely quality. Accordingly, he turned in some of his most memorable recorded performances: launching “Finest Worksong” with urgent, metallic riffs; embroidering the swampy funk of “Lightnin’ Hopkins” with Andy Gill-esque tension and atonality; and punctuating the band’s supercharged cover of Wire’s “Strange” with a neat,Nuggets-style psych-pop solo. Michael Stipe also summoned up a clutch of startling performances here: bending and twisting his voice like an old time preacher around “Lightnin’ Hopkins” and rattling off a rapid-fire alternate history of the 20th Century on the exhilarating “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”Document’ssavage break-out single “The One I Love” providedR.E.M.with their first major US hit single when it peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard singles chart.

1. Finest Worksong
2. Welcome To The Occupation
3. Exhuming McCarthy
4. Disturbance At The Heron House
5. Strange
6. It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
7. The One I Love
8. Fireplace
9. Lightnin’ Hopkins
10. King Of Birds
11. Oddfellows Local 151