More love for Mike Mills

Max · #1 08-19-2005, 12:08 PM

We got REM's Perfect Square DVD and I think he just gets better and better. Energetic, melodic bass lines. This show rocked. Highly recommended.

**j-raj** · #2 08-19-2005, 12:18 PM

Mike Mills has always impressed me with his strong and supportive role as a bassist.

jbennardo · #3 08-19-2005, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j-raj

Mike Mills has always impressed me with his strong and supportive role as a bassist.

+ 1 to that. He's a player I always seem to forget about.

James Hart · #4 08-19-2005, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbennardo

+ 1 to that. He's a player I always seem to forget about.

me too... I was HEAVILY into REM in the late 80s, I own everything they've ever done on Vinyl, Cassette and CD through Green. I played in a band for a while that was 50% early REM stuff....

Mike is a great player and I'd like to think he's influenced me quite a bit. I just always forget about him too

phxlbrmpf · #5 08-19-2005, 12:42 PM

While I can understand how someone could dislike his playing (even though I like what he plays in almost every REM song a lot), I think you simply can't argue with Mike's tone. I can't think of a single REM song where the bass doesn't sound nice, rich and fits the song 100%. Personally I've never come across a P bass I really liked but maybe some day I will, seeing how good it sounds on REM's records.

Max · #6 08-19-2005, 02:13 PM

Listening to What's the Frequency Kenneth right now. He really is amazing and underappreciated IMO.

phxlbrmpf · #7 08-19-2005, 02:42 PM

Yeah, on "Kenneth", his bass playing pretty much makes the song and Peter's junky-sounding distorted guitar antics are pretty much only the icing on the cake. Insanely catchy bass line. Man, I so wish Bill hadn't left...

Max · #8 08-19-2005, 04:22 PM

There are these giant shimmering backdrops behind the stage of Mills, Stipe and Buck. After song two, Stipe says to the audience "Hello. It's you, me, him and him (pointing to Buck and Mills). There are three other musicians in the band and the only time you see them is in a shot with the original three. I miss Bill too.

James Hart · #9 08-19-2005, 11:47 PM

Well, it's 1:30am and I had to pick up the DVD on the way home (between car shopping).

Besides his bass playing, I really dig how Mike does his backing vocals.... the way he contradicts Stipes' lines, the way he finishes Stipes' thoughts, the way they stay loose enough to feel they may trainwreck... but don't.

I remember seeing them at Rutgers the year "The One I Love" hit the top 40 stations.... they opened with it and Stipe announced after it was over that now all the yuppies can go home and we can start the show

I think it's time I buy the rest of their catalog. Revisiting my collection, I own up to 'Out of Time' but that one was a gift. I don't think I gave it more than a couple listens.

Wow, Orange Crush was pretty powerful!

Ok back to the DVD... Losing My Religion is on now.

Funkdified · #10 08-20-2005, 12:01 AM

If ya'll bought the last Dashboard Confession's CD it had a DVD special of them covering R.E.M songs from automatic for the people cd (REM's best album for me) and Stipe came out at the end and sang one of thiers. It worth checking out or download if you don't like DB.

Matt Till · #11 08-20-2005, 12:15 AM

Good bassist, I can't get past Stipe though.

slackdaddy · #12 08-20-2005, 10:52 AM

I must agree that Mike Mills is a great musician. He came to one of our shows one night and I asked him if he would sign my bass. He wrote "Better Than Me" on it (which is not true). The next night we played an outdoor show with Parliament/Funkadelic and I sweated the autograph off. Oh well, I know it was there. What a fantastic band and gracious, personable people.

chris4001asat · #13 08-20-2005, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phxlbrmpf

While I can understand how someone could dislike his playing (even though I like what he plays in almost every REM song a lot), I think you simply can't argue with Mike's tone. I can't think of a single REM song where the bass doesn't sound nice, rich and fits the song 100%. Personally I've never come across a P bass I really liked but maybe some day I will, seeing how good it sounds on REM's records.

Actually, he used a Rickenbacker for the first....4-5 recordings.

phxlbrmpf · #14 08-20-2005, 02:00 PM

I must admit that the earliest album I actually own is "Green", whose bass tracks sound very P bass-ish.

Vox Populi · #15 08-20-2005, 04:32 PM

I listen to R.E.M. pretty much daily, especially the early stuff. Reconstruction of the Fables/Fables of the Reconstruction is my favorite album. Life's Rich Pageant and Murmur are close behind.

Powerful music, and a great/underestimated bassist.

chris4001asat · #16 08-21-2005, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phxlbrmpf

I must admit that the earliest album I actually own is "Green", whose bass tracks sound very P bass-ish.

Yeah, that's right around where he switched. Do yourself a favor, go out and get Murmur and Reckoning. Those were the last two recordings where I HAD to sit down and play along with every song. I.R.S. records put out a "greatest hits" of the early stuff. It's called "Eponymous". That might not be a bad place to start either.

I think Fables is my favorite as well, but not a good one to introduce the early stuff to someone.

Mr Venus · #17 08-23-2005, 08:34 AM

I love Mike's playing, but it seems to me that he concentrates on keyboards these days - his bass isn't as upfront on the last few albums as on the early ones. His tone on "Document" is fantastic.

James Hart · #18 08-23-2005, 12:51 PM

I think "Life's Rich Pagent" is my fav... Document then Fables after.

I had Document blairing while I was getting ready for work today

chris4001asat · #19 08-23-2005, 01:07 PM

Yeah, Pageant is really good. I always thought that Begin The Begin into These Days was one of the best one-two punch openings of a recording.... It's hard to pick a favorite among the early 5 recordings...

The Golden Boy · #20 08-24-2005, 08:42 PM

Pageant, Document, Murmur. If you're unsure, get Eponymous- probably one of the best "best of" collections you're ever going to find.

I know it's all indie snotty to say something like "Green was the last real REM album," but there was a big big change between Green and the Shiny Happy People album.

If your idea of REM is shaped only by their 90's releases, and you wonder why people give REM so much credit, at least check out Eponymous.