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"Document"
R.E.M.
I.R.S. Records
***
Each previous LP of
R.E.M. has done well on
the rock ’n’ roll album
charts, but the band has
yet to release a single that
can match the success of
the albums. Since most of
the previous works of this
group were in the form of
concept albums rather
than collections of songs,
this comes as no surprise.
With “Document, ” the
band’s fifth album, R.E.M.
is trying to emphasize the
songs as separate entities.
R.E.M. started in
Athens, Georgia, where
the band was discovered
by I.R.S. Records. The
first EP, “ChronicTown,”
was recorded in 1982,
and the first LP,
“Murmer, ” was released
the following year. The
band members are
drummer Bill Berry,
bassist and keyboardist
Mike Mills, guitarist Peter
Buck and singer Michael
Stipe.
Stipe writes most of the
lyrics. The words he uses
do not tell stories as much
as create moods. Stipe
draws his inspirations
from a variety of sources.
The lyrics on “Fireside”
are a paraphrasing of a
speech by Mother Ann
Lee, a founder of the
Quakers.
The first single from the
album is “The One I
Love, ” a slow pop song
that includes some good
guitar work from Buck.
This song is the first on
side two, and is the only
bright spot of the side.
The other four songs do
not have any punch and
appear to be filler
Side one is much
better. “Welcome to the
Occupation” hauntingly
protests U.S. policy in
Central America.
“Exhuming McCarthy”
has a beatnik sound and
seems to be comparing
the attitude of that period
to the yuppie attitude of
today. The best song on
the album is “It’s the End
of the World (And I Feel
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Fine).” It’s an upbeat,
catchy song that does a
fair amount of name
dropping.
The vocals of Stipe are
more intelligible than on
any previous album and
the band seems more
accomplished at writing
songs. There are some
songs on “Document”
that are as good as on any
previous R.E.M. album,
but the album as a whole
falls short of the quality of
“Murmur” and “Chronic
Town.”
This could have been a
great EP if most of side
two had been omitted.
Instead, this latest release
is only a good LP.
R.E.M. will start touring
in October to support the
album, and one of their
stops will be in College
Station on November 19.
MSC Town Hall is
sponsoring the event and
tickets should go on sale
sometime next month.
-Review by Thomas
Reinarts
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Behind Krogers
'The Principal"
Starring james Belushi
and Louis Gossett jr.
Directed by Cristopher
Cain
Rated R
****
“The Principal,” an
early release of the fall
film season, could easily
prove to be one of the
best films of the year.
The movie tells the
story of Rick Latimer
(played by James
Belushi), a recently
divorced teacher in a
middle class high school
in some unnamed city.
His troubles begin when
he sees his former wife in
a bar with another man
and Latimer attacks the
guy’s car with a baseball
bat.
The next day at school
Latimer finds that instead
of being fired he is being
“promoted” to principal.
The only problem is that
the school he is to be
principal of is Brandel, the
most violent high school
in the city.
At his new school
Latimer quickly finds out
who his friends and
enemies are. His best
friend turns out to be Jake
Phillips, the head of
security, and his worst
enemy is Victor Duncan,
the leader of the top gang
at the high school.
Problems that the new
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