10 Greatest Classic Rock Singers Of The '80s
8. Michael Stipe - R.E.M.
At the end of the '70s, it was a mystery as to where rock was going to go next. For as much as the pompous arena rock and prog rock were still kicking, the new genres of punk and new wave had slowly fizzled out, leaving nothing to feed off of. Rock may have been lost in the woods, but it found its way back thanks to an incomprehensible madman from Athens, Georgia.
In the grand scheme of things, R.E.M. are not really looked at as anything spectacular, but the actual heart put into these tunes is beyond words. Starting with their debut Murmur, the band started what would become known as alternative rock, mixing the subtle quirkiness of college rock with pop smarts. The only problem was that hardly anyone could muster a guess as to what Michael Stipe was saying.
Across the band's '80s catalog, Stipe swallows most of his words, but the style comes off much more artistic than pretentious. You might not be able to pick up on the meaning of these songs, but that kind of works as a strength for the listener to add their interpretation of what the lyrics mean to them. Michael Stipe may be far from the greatest songwriter in the world, but his way with melody provided the template for bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam in the coming decade.