R.E.M. 'DOCUMENT' FIRST US PRESSING IRS 1987 COMPLETE EARLY CRC PRESSING EX

$

25

R.E.M. 'DOCUMENT' FIRST US PRESSING ~ 1987 COMPLETE EARLY 'CRC' PRESSING
R.E.M.  "DOCUMENT"  LABEL:  I.R.S.  IRS-42059 EDITION: FIRST U.S. PRESSING w/ INNER SLEEVE RELEASED: AUGUST 31, 1987 RECORDED AT SOUND EMPORIUM NASHVILLE ~ SPRING 1987 MIXED AT MASTER CONTROL ~ BURBANK, LOS ANGELES MASTERING: MASTERDISK NEW YORK CITY MASTERED BY BOB LUDWIG PRODUCER: SCOTT LITT MATRIX (SIDE A): (PXPY) IRS-7082 G1A G1  MATRIX (SIDE B): (PXPY) IRS-7083 G1A G1 
CONDITION:  VINYL: EX   INNER: EX- to EX   JACKET: EX
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 40 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this fantastic, clean, First Pressing copy of REM's classic masterpiece album 'Document' from 1987.
This is the album that put REM solidly into the mainstream of pop-rock music. 
This is my original copy, purchased 'new' back in 1987, that I've taken great care of for many years. 
This is a terrific, clean First Pressing copy and also comes with the original inner sleeve.
This is the 'Columbia House Record Club' edition, which was known for it's high quality pressings at the time. Some collectors claim this pressing is the best sounding version of this 1987 release. 
This has No Barcode on the jacket and 'CRC' printed on the label.
This pressing has the odd "File under Fire' on the spine and No price code, like later copies. The later 90's BMG 'CRC' pressings don't sound very good, but these first pressing 1987 CRC copies sound fantastic.
The sound is just amazing. Well balanced and crystal clear. The music just jumps out of the speakers. This pressing is full, rich, and very dynamic. The soundstage, the instrument separation, the performance, and the vocals are all fantastic. 
A great sounding mix. Punchy songs, and wide dynamics. Scott Litt's production puts Bill Berry's drums front and center, huge and echoing. Peter Buck's guitar no longer just jangles along, it crunches and roars.
Michael Stipe’s vocals are superb, clear, and show remarkable range and depth. Stipe’s vocals are finally articulated clearly here. He's  fully intelligible on every track, and his lyrics have moved beyond the cryptic poetry of the band's earlier releases. Much more socially and politically conscious.
Lively, punchy, angry, smart, and a lot of fun. The best REM record since their debut, in my opinion. 'Document' is an accumulation of everything that the band had done up to that point. It contains their biggest hit singles of the 80’s (“End of the World As We Know It” and “One I Love”) but it contains so much more.
I can see why many people feel that 'Document' is considered REM's best album. 
~~~~~~~~~ 'Document' was REM's final album for IRS, and the one that really established them as one of the great bands of the 80s. A masterpiece, one of the best 80s albums by any band, in any genre.
On this early, crisp, original pressing, you can hear all the clear details just jump off the vinyl. Each instrument is given equal importance in the mix; Bill Berry's simple but effective drums, Peter Buck's jangly, spiky guitar, Mike Mills' deep melodic bass, and Michael Stipe's ambiguous quirky voice. 
The album shows just how tight and cohesive the band was by 1987. It shows off the unique chemistry of REM's individual members. They were all equally important to the band's overall sound. REM insisted that each member had equal strengths, so all of their songs, every track, received equal songwriting credit as well.
The members of R.E.M. at this time included: Bill Berry ~ drums / Peter Buck ~ guitar Mike Mills ~ bass / Michael Stipe ~ vocals
~~~~~~~~~ 'Document' sounds tight, unified and full of energy. It has the great Garage Pop sound of their early 'Chronic Town' EP, but it's slightly darker, more political and more mysterious. It shows the band's more mature songwriting, tighter performances, but still has that Southern Pop/Americana feel. The band has a propulsive 'kick' that make the songs seem intense, powerful, vital and alive.
The songs sound like old classics, like they've existed for years, but also brand new, refreshing and immediately accessible.
'Document' contains amazing, well constructed, well written, catchy songs, which have really held up all these years later. A nice collection of great songs. The record just flows and works effortlessly from beginning to end. The four bandmembers complement one another perfectly. 
The songs on this album include:
Finest Worksong Welcome To The Occupation Exhuming McCarthy Disturbance At The Heron House Strange It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) The One I Love Fireplace Lightnin' Hopkins King Of Birds Oddfellows Local 151
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REM had a perfect, strange and wonderful chemistry. They were the right band, the right sound, at the right time.
REM had the perfect balance of old-school NYC avant-garde Rock and conventional Pop. They were able to blend the sound of the darker, 'arty' side of the New York scene (Velvet Underground, early Talking Heads) with Southern Power Pop (Alex Chilton/Big Star, Tom Petty) and bring it up to date with a modern punky, energetic feel. 
Bill Berry's drumming, often overlooked, adds just the right touches to this album. The driving rhythm and his 'punctuation' of high-hat and snare strikes are perfectly placed. Berry's drumming holds everything together and makes it all work  perfectly.
The drumming, blended with Mike Mill's deep, rich, melodic basslines, gives many of their songs a fantastic drive, urgency and force. REM had a great rhythm section.
The interplay between Peter Buck's amazing ringing Rickenbacker guitar and Mike Mill's melodic Bass playing is amazing. Mills didn't just play chords, he and Buck intertwined around the melodic leads, creating a very unique sound that was the core of REM.
Peter Buck’s guitar sound and style on this album went on to influence many other bands and guitarists and changed the direction of Indie Rock forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michael Stipes vocals on this album are terrific. His cries of "Fire" in the chorus of "The One I Love" are classic Michael. "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" may be Michael's best vocal performance ever; spirited, goofy and ecstatic. 
Over the past several REM albums, Michael's voice has gotten slightly clearer and more understandable, yet it's still both cryptic and amazing.
His voice is more like a fourth instrument in places, and very different from any rock singer before him. It's more the sound, and the inflection in his voice, rather than the actual words that makes the songs work. 
On 'Document', he still doesn't enunciate his words fully, and I still have no idea what's he's singing about on some of these songs, but it doesn't really matter. The 'feel' and 'intention' are there and somehow it works perfectly. His abstract and confounding lyrics are all part of the overall charm of the music.
Stipe's voice can have amazing force but also deep emotion, feeling and vulnerability. It's both powerful and fragile at the same time. I can hear both Lou Reed's and Graham Parson's influences on his vocal style.
On this pressing, you can really hear Michael's voice up front and clear. All his little inflections and vocal tics are present.
I've never actually looked up the 'correct' lyrics to some of my favorite REM songs. I somehow feel that might 'ruin' them for me. I think not knowing exactly what Michael's singing, somehow lets us add our own interpretation to the music. 
It's sort of like Abstract Art, it's about how you interprete it, how you feel about it, not what the artist's actual intention was. All Art is like that in a way; it's about the reception, not the creation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today, in 2023, people forget just how different, unique, and great this album was when it came out in 1987, over 30 years ago. REM defined the terms "Alternative" and "Indie" just as those words were starting to be used to describe the 'new' music emerging in the mid to late 1980s.
Nobody sounded like REM back then. ~~~~~~~~~~
'Document' is a fantastic album, with a strange cover, and with weird, but catchy, songs about who knows what, all sung by a weird, still mostly shy guy who couldn’t even sing or enunciate the lyrics properly. It shouldn't have worked, but it did, gloriously. It was, and still is, a fantastic album.
This album sounded outstanding back in 1987, like nothing else that anyone had ever heard before. I can see why many people feel that 'Document', their fifth album, is considered REM's best album.
This is not only, in my opinion, REM's best album, but it's one of the best albums of the mid 80's. If you only have one R.E.M. album in your collection, this is the one you should have.
Even now, 30 years later, 'Document' still sounds great. Fresh, interesting, and never dated or boring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures. I purchased this copy 'new' in the Fall of 1987, nearly 35 years ago, and have taken great care of it since. 
VINYL: The vinyl generally looks great. Crisp, clean and bright. No hairlines, scuffs, scratches or issues. I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.
LABELS: This is pressed on custom grey IRS labels, with the red IRS dude at the bottom. There is the 'CRC' printed under the side indicator. The labels are clean and bright. No marks or writing.  The spindle holes are still mostly sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over the years. The B-side spindle hole has the label slightly off center causing it to look a little odd. Other than that, a beautiful, clean, crisp record.
This still has the original Tan inner sleeve with recording information on it and odd artwork that mimics the record's back cover. Some very mild edge wear from re-sleeving, but still excellent.
JACKET: As you can see, the jacket looks fine. Corners are sharp. No damage. Clean and bright. Spine is fine, no ring wear, no seam splits. The printing makes it appear that there are 'scratches' in some of the black areas, but that's intentional and part of the jacket's artwork.
As mentioned, the spine has no price code and has the odd "File under Fire" on it.
This has been sleeved and stored properly for years, and is still fantastic. You can see from my pictures it's quite nice.
Overall, a very nice, crisp, clean, complete, original CRC First Pressing of this classic REM Album from 1987. 
This is a great record to add to any REM, 80's, or classic Rock collection. Original pressings don't turn up for sale that often and it's a real keeper.
I'm sure you'll love it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
My grading is fair and honest. I have had over 3,400 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years, with 100% positive feedback, and I have been buying/selling on EBay for well over 20 years, so please bid with confidence!
I'm a 0ne-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love music, love collecting vinyl and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time listening, researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any record that I personally would not want in my collection.
As you well know, packing and shipping rare records requires special care and attention, therefore, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $5.00 on this item. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media/Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN