R.E.M: Is Mike Mills a better singer than Michael Stipe?
R.E.M. were simply one of the best bands of the 20th Century. They possessed a truly talented lineup comprised of Michael Stipe on vocals, Peter Buck on guitar, Bill Berry on drums and Mike Mills on bass. But as well as playing bass, Mills is a more than proficient backing vocalist, so much so that many have praised his singing abilities more than those of Michael Stipe.
When Eddie Vedder inducted R.E.M. into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he said: “Now, if R.E.M. had a secret weapon, I would say it was Mike Mills. He plays bass, piano, a number of instruments and is the writer – a genius writer – of music but, uh, the secret weapon, I believe, is his voice.”
Vedder added: “It’s really not a background vocal, it’s almost like a second lead vocal, and I think it really is what makes so many of their songs absolutely haunting. It’s stealth – he’s stealth.” Mills’ voice is indeed something of a secret weapon. There are several instances throughout the R.E.M. catalogue in which Mills’ voice comes to the fore, either as a lead vocal or as a backing vocal, occasionally eclipsing Michael Stipe’s vocal takes.
A shining example of this comes on ‘Fall On Me’ from R.E.M.’s fourth studio album Lifes Rich Pageant. When the chorus arrives, Stipe sings: “Don’t fall on me”, while Mills backs him up with: “What is it up in the air for?”. But rather than Mills merely providing the harmony for Stipe, his vocals are what we are genuinely drawn to. In the same song, Mills sings the bridge solo in a beautiful high register, showcasing his effortless singing ability.
Let’s remember that Mills takes lead singing duties on several brilliant R.E.M. tracks, amongst them ‘Near Wild Heaven’ and ‘Texarkana’ from Out of Time and ‘Superman’ from Lifes Rich Pageant. On the former, it is Stipe who provides the backing vocals, and strangely enough, he performs them with more aplomb than usual. It may be a sense of confidence for the band’s singer.
Stipe once admitted to having a crushing sense of shyness in the band’s early days. “I had hair in front of my face. I was really, really, really shy and did not anticipate that I would actually have to talk about my work and look people in the eye,” he said (via Pressparty). Stipe would let Mike Mills and Peter Buck take care of any interviews with R.E.M. as he thought they were the most “well-read” people he knew.
Eventually, though, Stipe overcame his shyness and became the sensitive frontman of one of the best bands of the 20th Century. “By the mid-80s, I had my big nervous breakdown, which lasted 18 months,” he added. “But I emerged out of that a different person, and I’ve learned how to articulate my thoughts. I’ve learned how to sit there without sweating and shaking. I grew out of my shyness.”
However, perhaps that shyness and that mystique gave Michael Stipe his allure in the first place. He was a far cry from the stereotypical vision of the frontman of a rock band in the 1980s, with his thrift store chic and unassuming appearance. So that’s what Michael Stipe is all about, delivering beautiful lyrics in his unpretentious style.
Does the fact that Mike Mills can hit higher notes than Michael Stipe make him a better singer than his bandmate? Not necessarily. It may make him a more technically proficient singer than Stipe, but what makes R.E.M.’s dual vocals so glorious is that Mills can contribute to them in the first place. Remember that Mike Mills is the bass player of R.E.M. first and foremost, and he provided a unique melodic style of playing across much of the band’s oeuvre.
The fact of the matter is that R.E.M. has two outstanding singers at their disposal. One with the ingenuity of a master poet with a gorgeously vulnerable yet deep register of vocal style, and another with the confidence of a man unashamed of wearing questionably colourful suits for a large part of his career and an ability to hit the high notes effortlessly.
To say one is better than the other is missing the point entirely regarding the relationship between lead and backing vocals. Michael Stipe and Mike Mills are simply two sides of the same beautifully shiny coin.
