Is R.E.M. underrated by new music nerds?

@roxy54 Gotta take issue with the statement "I think thatt hey were average musicians". IMHO Mike Mills is one of the top 10 bass guitar players of all time. He carried the band, drove the music forward, and sang some decent backup vocals to boot. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that REM saved rock music, coming on the scene at the peak of the pompous, overwrought arena rock era and before the emergence of grunge and the whole Seattle scene. I can remember driving home from college in 83' cranking "Murmur" on my tricked out car stereo and feeling that music was alive again. A pivotal band that with an amazing discography until "Out of Time" when they lost their way and then fizzled out altogether. 

@dodgealum 

Well, I don't think that rock music ever needed "saving". It's just a loose category that has many variations, and within that, REM certainly made their unique contribution. They were exciting, different and passionate, and not afraid to throw in an unusual instrument here and there. My apologies for underating Mike Mills. I saw them three times live, and I will agree that he is very talented. I don't know if you will agree with this, but I am someone who always pays attention to drummers, and I don't think that Bill Berry was much of a drummer at all. It's fortunate that the rest of the band was so interesting that it didn't matter much. He never had any interesting fills. He just sort of "kept time".   

I’m a-bit above 50 and REM music was never "tasty" on my listening plate, because they’re extremely boring on each and every track they’ve created. Their marketing was fantastic though, because they were able to sell feces for diamonds. Therefore overrated is a lot more precise word, then uderrated.

@czarivey 

Count on you for an ignorant comment like that. Since you're such an expert on the band, give specific critiques of which discs you are even familiar with. 

Let me guess, you know one song like "Losing My Religion", and you didn't like it. Well neither did I, but they had 4 earlier discs which were very good.

Idk; Out of Time was a benchmark album of the early 90's. It set up Automatic before the pivoted to Monster. I just found an original pressing of Out of Time and was transported not just back three decades but to a solid album. 

Still, think of the successful, sound-defining 90's bands that have not stuck around over the last 30 years: 10,000 Maniacs; Pearl Jam; Jane's; Live. I think REM was a much appreciated, zeitgeist capturing act of the time.