Geddy's Voice - Question

[jnoble]

*HYF

[RushFanForever]

Hey Anchorman (a.k.a. Ron Burgundy), as a option besides asking about Geddy's voice on here, you should consider searching out the answer via the band Pavement. I recommend asking the band members the following question in 'stereo'.

 

What about the voice of Geddy Lee

How did it get so high?

I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy?

[bootruss]

As someone who didn't particularly like his higher singing, especially on his early album efforts, the change for me was on signals. Can remember thinking at the time how his vocal sound had changed. The human voice is not designed for sustained abuse, 200 shows a year for 10 years will take it's toll. It's a miracle that he can make any sort of musical noise at this stage of his life.

[Blue J]

It was said that Rupert Hine advised Geddy to not sing so high when they were writing the Presto album but I can't think of many songs on HFY where he was straining at the top of his range

 

The range he stayed within on Presto was definitely a bit lower than it ever had been before- and I agree, there was no straining on HYF...I’ve said previously that what sounds to me like his ‘purest’ singing was around GUP, and I think he was singing quite a bit higher even on Power Windows, and sounded fantastic...just a slight bit lower on HYF, but still sounding just great- and then generally lower on Presto and RTB.

[Blue J]

And at odds with what seems to be the general consensus in this thread, I think he always sounded really good, ranging from there to great. I mean, you do what he did for 40-45 years, and see what your voice sounds like.

 

“He sounded awful on this, he sounded awful on that”...seriously?

 

No! It’s incredible that he continued singing as he did, at such a tremendously high level of quality, for their entire career.

[Fridge]

And at odds with what seems to be the general consensus in this thread, I think he always sounded really good, ranging from there to great. I mean, you do what he did for 40-45 years, and see what your voice sounds like.

 

“He sounded awful on this, he sounded awful on that”...seriously?

 

No! It’s incredible that he continued singing as he did, at such a tremendously high level of quality, for their entire career.

 

Oh come on.....

 

He did extremely well for a fairly lengthy period....For me, his style changed with PEW and again with Signals

He remained an accomplished singer up to around the late 90s, but since then it's been a gradual downward slide since.

 

His last outings sounded truly painful and I really think they would have benefited by lowering all the material a half-step and him figuring out alternative ways to sing some songs without pushing himself.

 

This is not meant as disrespect, he did better than most, but there are singers out there whose voices have aged better.

[JARG]

And at odds with what seems to be the general consensus in this thread, I think he always sounded really good, ranging from there to great. I mean, you do what he did for 40-45 years, and see what your voice sounds like.

 

“He sounded awful on this, he sounded awful on that”...seriously?

 

God yes, seriously. But you need to keep in mind when Geddy's voice is found, shall we say, lacking, it's because it's being compared to a time when he was was anything but. So yes, Geddy at his worst is still a better vocalist than me at my best, but when I say he sounds awful, the only voice I'm comparing his voice to is his own.

[bootruss]

His live vocals have been sketchy at best for a few years, and singers on here will know, each night can be different depending on all sorts of things, health, tiredness, on stage sound, crowd response. But to keep things in some perspective, there is no way anyone at his age can replicate notes they had sung 20 or 30 years previous. The fact he could perform at all is incredible.

[SusanMistyT]

Geddy's voice on the 1980s was amazing because it brought his "screaming" voice down to a ear listening sound. While I love the 70s Geddy any day when I feel like it, I still goes for 80s Geddy tho. As for the 2000s and 2010s Geddy, there was a few times when I thought he didnt need to hit the high notes in the shows, like "Time Stands Still" from the TM Tour 2011, I thought, "what..?" On the chorus on that song, he sang low on the album, while on here, he sang those high..which bothered me and still sometimes do, as much as I love the song, I wished Ged sang it in a low voice than high on the chorus. It goes for the other songs as well. but that it.

[Jimbo66]

And at odds with what seems to be the general consensus in this thread, I think he always sounded really good, ranging from there to great. I mean, you do what he did for 40-45 years, and see what your voice sounds like.

 

“He sounded awful on this, he sounded awful on that”...seriously?

 

No! It’s incredible that he continued singing as he did, at such a tremendously high level of quality, for their entire career.

 

Oh come on.....

 

He did extremely well for a fairly lengthy period....For me, his style changed with PEW and again with Signals

He remained an accomplished singer up to around the late 90s, but since then it's been a gradual downward slide since.

 

His last outings sounded truly painful and I really think they would have benefited by lowering all the material a half-step and him figuring out alternative ways to sing some songs without pushing himself.

 

This is not meant as disrespect, he did better than most, but there are singers out there whose voices have aged better.

 

I have to agree with this, I thought his voice was great until the 2000s. Whether it was the screetchy early stuff, or right through the 80s and 90s - he was pretty outstanding IMO. I’ve bought all the recent live blu-ray releases though and it’s sometimes quite painful to hear an old favourite sang so badly. The musicianship is still spot on as far as I can tell but with the vocals, I find it a bit like watching a bad Rush tribute act or something. I absolutely love Rush and I don’t say this lightly, but it just upsets me a bit to hear classics sang like that. I grew up with Rush and an awful lot of the songs mean a helluver lot to me, which is why it hurts I guess.

 

No ones voice is going to hold throughout their whole career though, especially if it’s a long career like Rush - it’s just a fact of life I’m afraid. I’m glad they stopped when they did, obviously not that Neil died, but that they stopped before it became too embarrassing.

[Blue J]

And at odds with what seems to be the general consensus in this thread, I think he always sounded really good, ranging from there to great. I mean, you do what he did for 40-45 years, and see what your voice sounds like.

 

“He sounded awful on this, he sounded awful on that”...seriously?

 

No! It’s incredible that he continued singing as he did, at such a tremendously high level of quality, for their entire career.

 

Oh come on.....

 

He did extremely well for a fairly lengthy period....For me, his style changed with PEW and again with Signals

He remained an accomplished singer up to around the late 90s, but since then it's been a gradual downward slide since.

 

His last outings sounded truly painful and I really think they would have benefited by lowering all the material a half-step and him figuring out alternative ways to sing some songs without pushing himself.

 

This is not meant as disrespect, he did better than most, but there are singers out there whose voices have aged better.

 

I have to agree with this, I thought his voice was great until the 2000s. Whether it was the screetchy early stuff, or right through the 80s and 90s - he was pretty outstanding IMO. I’ve bought all the recent live blu-ray releases though and it’s sometimes quite painful to hear an old favourite sang so badly. The musicianship is still spot on as far as I can tell but with the vocals, I find it a bit like watching a bad Rush tribute act or something. I absolutely love Rush and I don’t say this lightly, but it just upsets me a bit to hear classics sang like that. I grew up with Rush and an awful lot of the songs mean a helluver lot to me, which is why it hurts I guess.

 

No ones voice is going to hold throughout their whole career though, especially if it’s a long career like Rush - it’s just a fact of life I’m afraid. I’m glad they stopped when they did, obviously not that Neil died, but that they stopped before it became too embarrassing.

 

I feel a need to clarify what I said, a bit- I mean certainly I’m not of the opinion that Geddy’s voice never changed in quality or in tone- yes, he had to strain to hit those high notes more and more, as time wore on- especially in the latter half of his 50s, and then 60s. But I cannot agree that his voice was in steady decline after the 1990s...for the Vapor Trails tour, R30, and Snakes and Arrows tours, he sounded incredible. I think overall on Time Machine he was also in very good voice.

 

The five years between the recording of Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels definitely elicited a difference in his vocal chops...he definitely sang in a lower register overall on the CA material, and in the song selection for the supporting tour, he played it safer. And with regard to R40- my god, they gave us fans all that we possibly could have wanted, and more (that’s my take on it, anyway). Do we focus on the fact that the vocals were not up to snuff with the way he USED to sing Lakeside Park, in the ‘70s? Or even Tom Sawyer, or Xanadu, or any of the others?

 

Geddy gave his all, every single night. All three of them did, for sure, but I think particularly on the R40 tour, he was the heart and soul, the living, breathing pulse and rocking spirit that always was Rush.

 

:rush: :rush: :rush:

 

So don’t anyone sit there and tell me that he was in steady decline for their last 15 years of touring.

 

I’m so glad that I don’t feel that way about this band, that I have loved since I was six years old.

[Wil1972]

I didn't notice a real decline until the CA tour, meaning his voice was getting hard to bear. But even then he had good moments. It was hit and miss. Same for the Time Machine tour but CA tour I really could tell it was getting tougher. Then R40 it's almost unlistenable. So hell, he made it nearly 40 years. With that intense high end approach. Other singers should be so lucky.

[Fridge]

 

 

Geddy gave his all, every single night. All three of them did, for sure, but I think particularly on the R40 tour, he was the heart and soul, the living, breathing pulse and rocking spirit that always was Rush.

 

:rush: :rush: :rush:

 

So don’t anyone sit there and tell me that he was in steady decline for their last 15 years of touring.

 

I’m so glad that I don’t feel that way about this band, that I have loved since I was six years old.

 

Sorry but just because you want to do a bit of fanboy gushing doesn't give you the right to tell others not to mention their honest take on it.

[Blue J]

 

 

Geddy gave his all, every single night. All three of them did, for sure, but I think particularly on the R40 tour, he was the heart and soul, the living, breathing pulse and rocking spirit that always was Rush.

 

:rush: :rush: :rush:

 

So don’t anyone sit there and tell me that he was in steady decline for their last 15 years of touring.

 

I’m so glad that I don’t feel that way about this band, that I have loved since I was six years old.

 

Sorry but just because you want to do a bit of fanboy gushing doesn't give you the right to tell others not to mention their honest take on it.

 

Fanboy? Haha...that’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever been called that before, not even when it comes to Rush.

 

Ahh, well...if one can’t gush about Rush on The Rush Forum, then where can one gush about Rush?

 

You’ve given your honest take, and I’ve given mine. You can think that I’m being disingenuous; I really don’t care.

 

Again, I’m just grateful that I don’t feel the same way you do.

[Fridge]

Geddy gave his all, every single night. All three of them did, for sure, but I think particularly on the R40 tour, he was the heart and soul, the living, breathing pulse and rocking spirit that always was Rush.

 

:rush: :rush: :rush:

 

So don’t anyone sit there and tell me that he was in steady decline for their last 15 years of touring.

 

I’m so glad that I don’t feel that way about this band, that I have loved since I was six years old.

 

Sorry but just because you want to do a bit of fanboy gushing doesn't give you the right to tell others not to mention their honest take on it.

 

Fanboy? Haha...that’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever been called that before, not even when it comes to Rush.

 

Ahh, well...if one can’t gush about Rush on The Rush Forum, then where can one gush about Rush?

 

You’ve given your honest take, and I’ve given mine. You can think that I’m being disingenuous; I really don’t care.

 

Again, I’m just grateful that I don’t feel the same way you do.

 

I didn't say you were being disingenuous, my only objection was you trying to say what people could or couldn't opine/

[Blue J]

Geddy gave his all, every single night. All three of them did, for sure, but I think particularly on the R40 tour, he was the heart and soul, the living, breathing pulse and rocking spirit that always was Rush.

 

:rush: :rush: :rush:

 

So don’t anyone sit there and tell me that he was in steady decline for their last 15 years of touring.

 

I’m so glad that I don’t feel that way about this band, that I have loved since I was six years old.

 

Sorry but just because you want to do a bit of fanboy gushing doesn't give you the right to tell others not to mention their honest take on it.

 

Fanboy? Haha...that’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever been called that before, not even when it comes to Rush.

 

Ahh, well...if one can’t gush about Rush on The Rush Forum, then where can one gush about Rush?

 

You’ve given your honest take, and I’ve given mine. You can think that I’m being disingenuous; I really don’t care.

 

Again, I’m just grateful that I don’t feel the same way you do.

 

I didn't say you were being disingenuous, my only objection was you trying to say what people could or couldn't opine/

 

I am not telling anyone what he or she ‘could’ or ‘couldn’t’ opine, and more than you didn’t ‘say’ I was being disingenuous. But the fanboy comment you made was dismissive, at best.

 

So, we disagree. That’s okay. Have a lovely day, Fridge.

[Jimbo66]

I would just like to add that maybe the reason I feel that I might be able any criticism at Rush (my all time favourite band) is that they’ve always been so perfect, so flawless. I’ve always been blown away by their live sound, right from way back when, when I was amazed how three guys could make such a wonderful sound with no backing musicians. As they themselves have always set the bar so high, perhaps that’s why when it’s not quite so perfect that it seems so off.

 

Anyway, I love Rush, always have done and I just don’t feel right in saying anything negative about them. Yes, they may have done a tour or so too many but you know what - I’m glad they did. Their music has always been an enormous part of my life, and they will always be legends to me.

 

Rock on :D :haz: :rush:

[Disk98]

The Snakes tour was probably the beginning of the end for Geddy. Every live album after R30, he got progressively worse, except maybe R40 was a little better than CA. His voice got deeper after Rio, and I think he sounded good on R30, but things went downhill after that.

[jnoble]

He went from a singer to someone struggling to sing

[The400Boys]

And at odds with what seems to be the general consensus in this thread, I think he always sounded really good, ranging from there to great. I mean, you do what he did for 40-45 years, and see what your voice sounds like.

 

“He sounded awful on this, he sounded awful on that”...seriously?

 

No! It’s incredible that he continued singing as he did, at such a tremendously high level of quality, for their entire career.

I'm reminded of what comedian Marty Feldman (of "Young Franktenstein" fame) said about the logic of a comedy skit: When two people are dressed like carrots and a third one is dressed normally, you have to explain why the third person is dressed normally, not why the first two are dressed like carrots.

 

Geddy's voice is being criticized because of the baseline established by precedents ("carrots"): Carrot 1 is the younger sounding Geddy. Carrot 2 is recorded album Geddy.

 

In "The Image" Daniel Boorstin mentions that an album is a perfect, fictionalized entity. When a group performs something live, by comparison, there are always imperfections. La Villa Strangiato is an example of this. Rush tried many times to record it in one take. Due to the difficulty in playing, the final recording was splice of many separate sessions. As mentioned above, Geddy sang better at some shows than others. Listen to "Xanadu" is in AFTK compared to ESL, both Geddy's vocals and the little synthesizer bit (do de do do do , etc.) and notice how different that is. Seems that some frequencies (like his higher register voice) are reproduced better than others in concert.

 

The upshot of the precedents is that you expect Geddy should have sung differently than he did. As long as you have the precedents in mind, you'll think he should have sung better. If not, you might have enjoyed concert experience and the uniqueness of the live show.

 

 

(Quck aside: Years ago I was in an airplane and a flight attendant recognized Time Machine hoodie and struck up a conversation. He had seen a lot of concerts over the years and said of all the bands he had seen, Rush live sounded the most like their albums. It was nice to hear that coming from someone who was a music fan, not Rush specifically. )

[RushFanForever]

On the other hand, there's singers (Celine Dion for example) who's voices are perfect in pitch and timbre the majority of time, and I can't stand that.

[driventotheedge]

I thought he sounded incredibly good on a night-to-night basis all throughout the Snakes & Arrows tour. After that, he was a lot more inconsistent. I watched R40 again this week and he sounded ROUGH on that DVD, but I remember him sounding great on the two shows I saw that tour. Definitely more hit-or-miss.

 

Rush always seemed to have bad timing with when they filmed their concerts for a future release: I think Geddy was sick around the time GUP tour and ASOH videos were taped, Rush In Rio had no time due to the weather for a sound check and the sound levels and mix were all messed up, R30 was by the band's own admission an off-night and bad (by their own standards, I couldn't tell) performance, Time Machine Tour Geddy was sick, R40 was taped late in the tour when his voice was getting tired.

R30 is just not a great performance on the part of the band as a whole, and I remember thinking that before they ever commented on it publicly. There's a fan-made DVD of one of their Radio City shows on that tour that's a much better performance. I should try to dig that one up, I have a copy somewhere.

 

GUP and Snakes & Arrows Live are definitely their best live DVDs in terms of the performance/Geddy's voice. Rio is incredible too, for different reasons. The energy of the crowd at that show is unreal.

Yeah I have the Radio City DVDs. Much better performance all the way around. I also have the Atlanta boot DVDs from the VT tour and I like them at least as well as the Rio set because that attempt at immersing the listener in the middle of the audience on the Rio show just left the sound wanting badly.

 

If you can rustle up the Madison Square Garden boot from the Time Machine tour, his singing is much better than the official release from that tour. Not hard to top that one tho.

Edited October 26, 2020 by driventotheedge

[jnoble]

The biggest problem with the Rio show is Geddy's vocals are too low in the mix