Would R.E.M. have been successful with Mike Mills as lead vocalist?

No. He's ok doing the occasional song but hasn't got the vocal talent or showmanship to be a lead singer, which is probably what he would say.

 

No. Stipe's singing was no doubt an acquired taste, but it was very distinctive and probably defined how the band sounded. Take Stipe's lyrics and voice out of the equation and you have a capable strummy sounding band that probably would remained limited to gigs around Athens

 

Yeah and what if Mills was the guitarist and Buck was the bassist? What if Bill Beery never has an anyerism?

All these questions and more....

 

i fell off the fan bus for R.E.M. after Life's Rich Pageant when it came out, but I always thought Mike's vocals could sometimes sound a tad 'yelpy' if thats a word...most times he really complimented the songs, sometimes just sounded.....like a yelp!!!

 

This is proof he couldn't do it!

 

Anybody have a list of songs Mills sang lead on?

 

POTD!

 

They would have been as successful as The dB's or Game Theory, and I would probably have bought everything they released, but something tells me they wouldn't have threatened Mariah Carey's supremacy in the Billboard album charts.

 

While I don't think the band would've been as successful without the mysterious Michael Stipe in the lead, I wish they had taken advantage of Mike Mills and his vocals a little more. Maybe a few more leads and singles here and there. My biggest gripe with rem, in fact, is the prominent use (in the studio) of stipe's voice as harmony vocals to his own leads instead of using Mike and/or Bill for the harmonies... seemed like they started doing this more and more about the time of Green. If you've got a back-up singer, use them!

 

I just hopes he releases a solo album at some point. He's excellent at creating exquisite melodies and his singing is decent. He's kinda like to R.E.M. what Joe Perry is to Aerosmith.