Michael Stipe mumbled his way through R.E.M.’s early albums, but on Document anger finally spurred him to clarity. “The One I Love” beats all comers as the most brutal love song ever to hit the Top 10 (“A simple prop, to occupy my time/ This one goes out to the one I love”), “Welcome to the Occupation” (“Sugar cane and coffee cup/ Copper, steel and cattle/ An annotated history/ The forest for the fire”) made imperialism rhythmic, while “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” proved Stipe’s pessimism was trumped by his sense of humor.