This is what got me into (amateur) criticism in the first place. If you haven’t, you should buy his music guides for the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s and read them cover to cover, repeatedly. Doesn’t matter if you agree with anything he says…if you aspire to be a critic, he’s the man.
And now, part one of two, in true Jarmuschian fashion:
‘R.E.M.
Document [I.R.S., 1987]
Their commercial breakthrough eschews escapism without
surrendering structural obliqueness, and after six years of
mushmouth I wouldn’t have thought it possible either. Maybe
they finally figured out that intelligibility doesn’t equal
closure (can’t, actually). Or maybe they just wanted to make
sure everyone knew how pissed off they were. In any case, these
dreamsongs are nightmares of a world in flames, the kind you
remember in all their scary inconsistency because you woke up
sweating in the middle. How it will all end I couldn’t say, but
it’s a healthy sign that their discovery of the outside world has sharpened their sense of humor along with everything else.
Inspirational Title: “It’s the End of the World as We Know It
(And I Feel Fine).” A’
– Robert Christgau (Robertchristgau(dot)com)